I have spent a ridiculous amount of my time in airports, on planes and waiting in hospitals. This means boredom, a willingness to read ANYTHING, (remember, I just got digital reading options in the last five to six years). For these reasons, I watch people. Confession time- I judge people. I look at them and make up stories in my head about who they are, what they do, why they are there and often, what the hell they were thinking when they looked in the mirror and saw that assembly of how they look today? Often it starts with a signature item for that person, such as hair. It could be shaved, stacked, multi-colored, dred-locks, comb-over starting at one shoulder and ending at the shoulder. Sometimes the shoes are the eye-catcher. Anything over 2-3 inches in the heels for women, same with length for the pointed end of the cowboy boots for men and color and pattern are always distracting if they are in the neon family. I will confess weight to skin ratios as being a distraction. Too much of one combined with too much of the other can be distracting. Too little of one with too much of the other can be distracting. Ratios matter. I like jackets, coats, scarves and other wraps. These extra items can be used to put out a fire if one should occur or shed to allow for greater speed if you are running away. Practical and still comfortable. The rheostat on my judgement dial has moved from a 10 to a 2 on this and I would not mind if the switch got ripped out of my mental wall. I do have to admit amusement when there are clear choices that make me wonder if someone dressed in the dark. There are occasions recently when I have left the house, caught a look at myself in a restroom and wondered if I had dressed in the dark.
Almost dying a couple of times has caused me to just not care as much. This is not a religious conversion thing. It is just that practical and comfortable is more important than stylish. I try to buy and wear things that are not hideous. You do not have to be an idiot or look like a stowaway to be practical and comfortable. I just focus on what feels good to me. It reminds me of a photographer who was doing pictures of me for a promotion. I spoke to him on the phone and asked, "What should I wear?" He paused and said, "Anything that makes you feel at your maximum confidence and comfort." Best darn dressing advice I ever received. It still seems to be an issue of a lot of concern. My most popular article I ever wrote out of hundreds I wrote for Inc.™ magazine, CBS Moneywatch™ and other publications was this piece from back in 2013. For context, I was on a project to write a blog a day for 30 days for CBS Moneywatch™. I also had my blog each week for our newsletter and Inc.™ that was published weekly in their online magazine. I was giving speeches and doing workshops through all of this. All of the copy had to be unique, based upon commitments to each publisher. Candidly, it's not easy to come up with new ideas or the time to write that much. This article was put together when I was, as they say, "writing for deadline." It was just a quick, somewhat hack piece that I put together at the last minute to fill the commitment. I have written hundreds and hundreds of pieces and this is the most viewed, commented on and forwarded of all of them. I cannot express how annoying I find that. It is telling, however, that executives are still trying to give direction to the "next generation" on how to dress. Here it is: The New Rules for Dressing for Success – I have a number of clients in Silicon Valley who dress in ripped denim, Vans™ shoes and t-shirts. They are worth 9 and 10 figures and it seems to be a status symbol there to dress like the homeless for your board meetings. Conversely, I have worked with trash hauling companies whose executives dress in suits and ties every day of the week. This is a contrast that shows there has been a dramatic shift over the course of my career as to what is deemed appropriate attire for business. About 20 years ago I read “Dress for Success” by John T. Molloy. It gave me as a young executive a clear understanding of how to dress to impress. The “business casual” dress movement has turned all of that book’s ideas into quaint nostalgia. You can throw those rules out the window and move on. However, what got lost in this drive towards personal expression and individualization is that how you dress has an impact on your effectiveness. Maybe it shouldn’t, but those questions are better for philosophers and populists. For sales people, the moral fairness of clothing-based impressions must come second to more other, more pressing criterion, specifically, how to successfully build great first impressions. My daughters will confirm that I am not a fashion plate, but I do have some simple rules for successful dressing if you are in sales. 1. Know your prospect’s uniform. Before you meet with a prospect, you should know that company’s dress code. “Business casual” has a lot of meanings. Call the front desk at the company and ask what the company’s dress code is and what the men and women wear. Or ask your contact. The point is, part of your responsibility is to understand that company’s culture including its dress code. Ask for examples, especially of the senior most person who will be in your meeting. 2. First, never be wrong. Then worry about being “right.” My definition of never wrong is “one step up.” This means that if your prospect is in denim, you are in khaki. They are in khaki? You are in wool. Their version of business casual means polo shirts, then you are in collared dress shirts or blouses. They wear sport coats without ties, you are in suits without ties. The point is that you are always sensitive to your environment and you dress one step further up the clothing ladder than your prospect, but not two. One step says that you respect and value them. Two steps potentially sends a very different message. 3. Not just what you wear…but how you wear it. Tucked in shirts, polished shoes, pressed clothes…I know, I know…some of you are saying, “Does he really have to say this to people?” and others are saying, “Why do I have to tuck in my shirt?” 4. This is not a discussion of fashion expression, it is a statement of effectiveness. When you are pressed, buttoned down, tucked in, shoes tied and well fitted you send an impression that regardless of the age of your prospect says that you pay attention to the details and understand professionalism. 5. Grooming trumps style. Good suits with bad haircuts send bad messages. If you want to be a fashion-plate and live on the cutting edge of style, join a band and tour. If you want to sell, then you need to dress the part. As crazy as it sounds, this means all of the grooming punch lists – fingernails, facial hair, haircuts and oral hygiene. For some of the readers, this list is silly, however, you may have at least one person on your team you should send this post to for his or her review. 6. Know your company’s uniform. One of my clients has been able to ignore many of the guidelines and yet it has paid off for him in spades. When sales reps are making their sales calls, every one of them wears a very specific uniform. It doesn’t matter if the company is presenting in a board room, on a manufacturing plant floor, at a trade show or in an office. This simple uniform creates a brand continuity that is important to him and gets quick acceptance from his clients because they recognize the consistency that a company that sells safety products wants to emphasize. 7. Remember, in sales, first impressions are not about you, they are about you. You can dress in a way where your attire is the only message they remember, or you can dress in a way that takes nothing away from the message of value your company brings to them. CBS- Moneywatch 2013 How did this all make it into this book? Part of it is that it is timeless and worthy of passing on. It is simple, clean, and does not focus on fashion, but on impression. Besides, I am writing on deadline.