Looks Do Matter
In his book Blink, Malcolm Gladwell makes the statement that people form opinions of others in the the first two seconds of seeing them. These impressions may or not be accurate. How accurate they are is irrelevant because people act on their first impressions.
I know this is stupid and doesn’t make sense. Heck, I am the same person whether I am wearing a pair of shorts and a tee shirt or if I am wearing a Tuxedo. It’s the person on the inside that counts right. Wrong, according to research that Gladwell points out. Knowing this you would be wise to package and present yourself in the most attractive manner possible. That means dressing in traditionally accepted business attire. Think banker here.
For years I had a full mustache. And a nice one if I do say so myself. I was proud of that mustache and considered it part of my personal identity. However, when I got in sales I read somewhere that 10% of prospects distrusted men with facial hair. So I shaved it off and have had a clean lip ever since.
If you desire to become a powerful person of influence in business you will ignore your personal preferences by packaging and presenting yourself in a manner that will be impressive to the people you are trying to influence and persuade.
In selling it ain’t about you it’s about them.
Nice blog by the way Steve and very valuable information. I totally agree with this blog. As a style and fashion engineer, i educate my clients on the value of having a personal style yet balancing it with the image you want to project. I don’t agree with “That means dressing in traditionally accepted business attire. Think banker here.” I pride myself on being modern, current, cutting-edge and up to date in my personal style and it’s important to my clients that i project that. They are paying for modern, new and fresh ideas. Nothing less. I want to do business with an individual who has a strong sense of style, someone who is “with it” and “gets it.” and their laser beam focus is apparent. I do not want to do business with a suit. It’s boring, it’s says nothing about your passions, likes and dislikes and i’m bored looking at you before i even get the opportunity to even care what comes out of your mouth. I want to know that you’ve got a creative edge, it’s the edge that i’ll expect to experience each and every time. If i wanted to look at a banker…I’ll visit a bank.