4 Ways to Be More Professional at Work

I was going to start this story with a line about how times are tough, but the cliché meter went off in my head. You already know this.

Still, there are some positives that come out of this sort of economic situation.

Here are some things that you can do to improve your chances for a better outcome. Some of these ideas will cost money, but some can be implemented with no cost at all.

When you improve the professionalism of your company, you help justify higher rates, and you help differentiate your company from your competition.

Your Voicemail Needs Some Work

I'm amazed at the number of people who run their business with a horrible-sounding voicemail system.

If you're in the audio/video trade, shouldn't it sound like your message was recorded on dry land, not under water?

The message you are trying to pass on to incoming callers is that you care about how things look and sound. Does your outgoing message reflect that?

If you are still working off an old tape-based answering machine, take a look at one of the new digital recording devices, or consider buying voicemail services from the telephone company.

Are You Dressed for Your Customers or Peers?

Like it or not, folks often make judgments about how professional a company is by the way they dress and the way they act around clients.

Dress to the expectations of the customer, rather then your peers.

Consider coming up with a uniform dress code for employees who come in contact with clients. Your customers will feel more comfortable, and may indeed spend more money.

Clean Up After Yourself

Run a clean business. Even customers with homes under deep remodeling chaos will appreciate your taking the time to sweep and pick up the mess you made.

Make sure that all your wiring is nicely dressed and labeled.

If there's going to be painting or plastering going on, wrap in plastic and tape things off so that when you start work on the wire again, you aren't leaving a mess on the new floor or carpet.

Test it and Make Sure it Works

Test everything that you do.

We recently had a light fixture installed (not by me!), and the installer didn't bother to check whether it worked before leaving for the day. This fixture, of course, didn't work.

A jacket got nicked, and when the switch was thrown, the breaker popped. I was able to fix the problem, but I had to spend an hour of my time diagnosing and repairing the short.

Don't have your customer be the one to discover something doesn't work.

Take a look at all the processes you do. Are there things you can change or tighten up before the next on rush of business?