Sanders, & Power Tools|Your Questions, Our Answers
Nov
30
David Sanders asked:
To attract potential clients, smart small business owners make their personal image work for them. They are aware of how they look to other people. It is good to ask yourself, “Do I look like someone my potential clients would want to do business with?
A well known plumbing company actually promotes their services by marketing the image of their plumbers. Their ads tell potential customers that their plumbers never show up greasy or dirty. Just that promise tells the customer they won’t have to contend with grease spots on carpets, black marks on walls or residue on doorknobs. It also means the plumber that enters their home will not be wearing dirty overalls. By association, people feel that a non-messy worker is going to do a more professional job. This is an example of turning mage to advantage.
Most people judge us by how we look and especially by what we wear. When I started as a business consultant back in the 1970’s, I didn’t have a clue about this, and what I wore was not appropriate for a business consultant. In fact, I was wearing clothes that my dear ol’ Texas mom had chosen for me, and she didn’t have particularly good taste. I was wearing a chocolate brown double-knit suit with a cowboy cut. I had bright peach-color polyester shirts and polyester ties with a knot the size of a fist.
I could tell I was getting no respect, so I grew a beard. Still no improvement. So my girlfriend took me down to the garment district in Los Angeles and picked out a maroon suit to make me really stylish. I was sure something to look at, but it made it really hard to gain acceptance as a business consulting expert.
For example, one Friday afternoon I got my (small) paycheck and ran down to Crocker bank on Western Avenue in Los Angeles to deposit it. The bank had just closed so I knocked at the glass door. The guard inside took one glance at me and turned his back on me without opening the door. Maybe this kind of thing has happened to you, too.
During the following week Tom, a fellow consultant, showed me a newly published book by John T. Malloy called Dress for Success. I avidly read Malloy’s carefully surveyed data on what your clothes communicate to others. I started to apply it on my extremely limited budget. I went to the Salvation Army Thrift store and bought 2 silk ties and pieced together the best business look I could.
The following Friday, same time, I rushed to the same bank with the same small paycheck. This time the same guard took one look at the new, improved me, unlocked the door and invited me in after the bank had closed, like I was a big shot! The only thing that had changed was how I looked. (I was thankful that the gray color of the bank door glass made my maroon suit look gray.)
Years later I suggested to a friend who sold supplies to beauty shops that he get some good suits like I had. He discovered that conservative business suits are the wrong look to sell glamour. You have to look at the successful people in your field and get whatever survey data you can find about their image. Suits are not always the right image.
What you wear in social situations can make the same kind of difference and help you get ahead in other ways. Pick a look that communicates who you are. How much money do you want to make? You need to look the part. Really, it makes a difference. Try it.
Copyright© 2009 Creative Business Strategies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Rebecca
To attract potential clients, smart small business owners make their personal image work for them. They are aware of how they look to other people. It is good to ask yourself, “Do I look like someone my potential clients would want to do business with?
A well known plumbing company actually promotes their services by marketing the image of their plumbers. Their ads tell potential customers that their plumbers never show up greasy or dirty. Just that promise tells the customer they won’t have to contend with grease spots on carpets, black marks on walls or residue on doorknobs. It also means the plumber that enters their home will not be wearing dirty overalls. By association, people feel that a non-messy worker is going to do a more professional job. This is an example of turning mage to advantage.
Most people judge us by how we look and especially by what we wear. When I started as a business consultant back in the 1970’s, I didn’t have a clue about this, and what I wore was not appropriate for a business consultant. In fact, I was wearing clothes that my dear ol’ Texas mom had chosen for me, and she didn’t have particularly good taste. I was wearing a chocolate brown double-knit suit with a cowboy cut. I had bright peach-color polyester shirts and polyester ties with a knot the size of a fist.
I could tell I was getting no respect, so I grew a beard. Still no improvement. So my girlfriend took me down to the garment district in Los Angeles and picked out a maroon suit to make me really stylish. I was sure something to look at, but it made it really hard to gain acceptance as a business consulting expert.
For example, one Friday afternoon I got my (small) paycheck and ran down to Crocker bank on Western Avenue in Los Angeles to deposit it. The bank had just closed so I knocked at the glass door. The guard inside took one glance at me and turned his back on me without opening the door. Maybe this kind of thing has happened to you, too.
During the following week Tom, a fellow consultant, showed me a newly published book by John T. Malloy called Dress for Success. I avidly read Malloy’s carefully surveyed data on what your clothes communicate to others. I started to apply it on my extremely limited budget. I went to the Salvation Army Thrift store and bought 2 silk ties and pieced together the best business look I could.
The following Friday, same time, I rushed to the same bank with the same small paycheck. This time the same guard took one look at the new, improved me, unlocked the door and invited me in after the bank had closed, like I was a big shot! The only thing that had changed was how I looked. (I was thankful that the gray color of the bank door glass made my maroon suit look gray.)
Years later I suggested to a friend who sold supplies to beauty shops that he get some good suits like I had. He discovered that conservative business suits are the wrong look to sell glamour. You have to look at the successful people in your field and get whatever survey data you can find about their image. Suits are not always the right image.
What you wear in social situations can make the same kind of difference and help you get ahead in other ways. Pick a look that communicates who you are. How much money do you want to make? You need to look the part. Really, it makes a difference. Try it.
Copyright© 2009 Creative Business Strategies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Rebecca
