What is a Professional?

Have you ever wondered why hire a professional to do something instead of just doing it yourself? I sure have! I do my own taxes, install my own trim, and even spent an entire summer, in Las Vegas, hand mixing and pouring my 800 square foot patio. That is something I will NEVER do again!

So what makes a professional, and why is it important to hire one? By definition, professional means:pro·fes·sion·al

prəˈfeSH(ə)n(ə)l/
adjective

1. of, relating to, or connected with a profession.
"young professional people"
synonyms: white-collar, nonmanual
"people in professional occupations"

2. (of a person) engaged in a specified activity as one's main paid occupation rather than as a pastime.
"a professional boxer"
synonyms: paid, salaried
"a professional rugby player
noun

3. a person engaged or qualified in a profession.
"professionals such as lawyers and surveyors"
synonyms: white-collar worker,office worker
"affluent young professionals"

That last one is the one we are going to focus on- someone who gets paid to do what they do. But there has to be more than just that to be a true professional, I think.

I spent some time at a homeshow this weekend, as a vendor. As I was at the show, I spent some time watching the other business owners as they interacted with their potential customers, and it struck me how many of the sales guys were just that- sales guys. I didn't see very many professionals in their field, but a lot of guys looking just looking to sell something. Many of them had no clue what they were talking about, and would throw out terms that, to someone who understands better, are absolutely false. One person claimed to be selling an alkaline cleaner that was pH 7, so it was safe to spray in their mouth. Well, that doesn't make any sense at all- first of all, a pH 7 is neutral, and so is neither alkaline or acid, and there is a lot more that goes into it being safe to spray into your mouth than it being neutral. He also spent a great deal of time expressing that he hires the chemist to make the stuff, so he doesn't understand all the science behind it. I understand that, too. That being said, would it not be better to try and figure out what it is you are trying to sell, and how it works?

When I think of what it means to be a true professional, I think of someone who not only gets paid to do something, but someone who is actively engaged in trying to be the best at whatever that something is. I consider myself to be an Indoor Environmental Specialist, meaning I know how to take care and improve interior environments. That may be a fancy way of saying "I'm a carpet cleaner," but it implies far more. I look at carpet cleaning as a way to help improve my customers' lives, not as the ends, but as the means. What is the true problem I am trying to solve? It differs for every customer- it might be that you are trying to get your home ready for a new baby, or maybe your daughter is getting married and you have a reception at your house. Maybe you are trying to sell your home, or getting ready to move into a new home. Whatever your circumstance, you have a problem of dirty carpets, and I am here to help you solve that problem. It is easy to become a carpet cleaner- the equipment can be relatively cheap, and most carpet cleaners get trained in less than a day. Yep, that's it, less than a day. But a true professional will invest time, energy, money and effort into learning his or her craft, and becoming truly excellent in his profession.

We strive at Zerorez^® Carpet Cleaning Boise to be professionals. We have all the right tools, the right technology, and we invest time and energy into studying, into constantly learning how to be better. One of the most consistent comments we get on our customer satisfaction surveys is how professional our staff is. Our professionalism isn't an accident- we hire people that want to work, that look the part, and we teach them what it is we do. We practice teaching each other so that when we are in your home, we know how to communicate with you, our customer. Can we clean carpet? Absolutely! We have the best technology on the planet, and we take care of it, too. But more than being able to clean, anyone can do that, we learn how to be professional carpet cleaners. We understand the science behind what we are doing, and we use science to our benefit. We clean with technology, not with soaps. We don't just throw a bunch of soap down and suck up as much as we can, hoping it will work, we use Zr™ Water, a proven safe cleaning electrolyzed water that cleans without leaving a sticky residue behind. Understanding that technology helps our technicians know how to better serve you. It is not enough just to have some fancy gadget or solution (liquid) to try and sell that makes a person a professional, it is having the knowledge of what that gadget does, what that liquid will do, and how it will ultimately help you, the customer, that makes a professional. A true professional will look not only at the ends, but the means, and what the consequences of those ends are. A professional learns what the end result will be, and how to make sure that result is good for you, the customer. A true professional, in this professional's opinion, has the customer, first and foremost, in his or her mind.