Build Your Image!

2009-04-10T05:15:00.000-07:00

Image

In the next three articles, we want to look at a very significant part of sales; Image. In sales, it is essential to have three major themes in your individual salesmanship. First, it is very critical to have a process in how you sell your products. I will be introducing The Sales Cycle in the near future.

The second and third theme is product knowledge and support from your company, which we will discuss in the future.In the next three articles, I want to cover the greatest theme in salesmanship, Image. What is Image? The American Heritage Dictionary says: Image is the character projected by someone or something to the public. For us as sales people, who is the public? It’s a basic question, isn’t it? The obvious answer is; the public is the potential customer or customer, if you are a customer relations sales person. We want to look at two points of view by many in sales today. First, there is the point of view that all sales people should be dressed in suits for men and dressy suits or nice dresses for women. Of course, we need to be well-groomed, with good personal hygiene, too. This is the look for the trained professional in our business world. If you prefer, you can label it “The IBM look“. The other point of view is in two parts: First, there is the view that it really doesn’t matter the way you look. You can wear pants with holes in them or dirty shirts. People are going to buy your product, not you. I have heard this many times, as I do seminars throughout the country. The other part of point two is: it is okay for us to dress casually in today’s business world. You can wear polo shirts and a pair of casual slacks. Customers will accept this today. Who is the customer? Who is projecting this Image today? Where do you stand on dress? Owners, CEO’s and sales management may think a lot differently than a sales person. There are three different thoughts when it comes to dressing for success. You need to subscribe to one of them. In the next article, we will give you feed back from an owner/CEO who has an opinion on this subject, and I will give you my point of view, too.

Image II

In this article, we want to continue our series on Image. First, let’s review the two points of view on Image that are projected by different role models in the business world. The first point of view is that every sales person should always be dressed in suits for men, and dressy suits or nice dresses for women. Of course, we need to be well groomed, with good personal hygiene, too. Like in the last article, let’s label it the IBM Look. The other side says that you can dress casually today. Some of them say that it really doesn’t matter the way you look. “You can wear pants with holes in them, along with dirty shirts. People are going to buy your product, not you.” Some of the others in the casual dress camp say that we can “dress down” today. Polo shirts with a pair of slacks for men are proper. Then what can women wear? Should they wear polo shirts and slacks, too? Where is this view coming from?

In the business section of the USA Today, dated October 28, 2003, the following is stated: “ Business casual has become too casual. Fifty-eight percent of executives say workers are confused about what is appropriate workplace attire.” If they are confused in the work place, you can see how sales people can be confused, too.

This brings me to a business trip I took to California to visit three business leaders that I respect very much. They are the owners of Associated Coffee Services of Northern California; Hal, Diane, and Tom Steuber. I asked them in advance if we could have a round table discussion on “Image and Sales People.” I won’t be able to cover everything that we discussed, but I will give you some highlights. My wife, Beverly took notes as we all discussed what sales people should look like as they present themselves to the potential customer. First let me quote Hal Steuber. “ I have the right to wear a polo shirt in my office, but you as a sales person, when you visit me, wear a suit.“ Diane said, “ You show them, the potential customer, respect with your dress”. Tom added, “In San Francisco, they are going away from the casual look and starting to wear suits and ties again.” Hal said, “You take sales people more seriously, and they perform better. “Diane agreed by saying, “ When you dress, up you feel more confident about yourself.” Hal concluded, “I don’t appreciate sales people dressing casual just because I am casual. The first impression is very important. That’s why they put so much of their resources into making their product, and packaging creates a great first impression. Sales people represent the company and they create an impression, whether it is good or bad. When you are doing a cold call, the way you dress could determine your success.” Finally, Diane concluded, “Could you tie performance to dress? I think so. When you look good, you can relax and really sell. It does make a difference. Companies should meet with their employees and have ‘Dress for Success’ meetings.” So there you have it. The USA Today article and well-respected leaders are all saying that professional attire is important.

Finally, let me say that we were all in agreement that sales people needed to dress for their particular audience. In the next article, I will give you my opinion about dressing for success in today’s new business world.

Image III

This is the third and last installment of articles on Image. Let’s review the last two articles. In the first article, we discussed three different points of view on Image, when it comes to sales people. Today, there are different role models projecting these views. The first view is the IBM Look. Basically, this is the well-dressed male or female, both in business suits. The second view has been something that many are pushing today. It’s called the Polo Look. This is a polo shirt and casual slacks for both men and women. I will call the third view Anything Goes. This is the view that it doesn’t matter the way you look. There are some in our industry that really feel that if you have holes in your pants, it really doesn’t matter because customers buy your product, not you.

In order to write the last article, I went to interview Hal Steuber at Associated Services in California. We had a round-table discussion on sales people and how they should look. Here are just a few highlights from that interview: Mr. Steuber made it very clear, not to visit him without wearing a suit. Let me quote him. “ I have the right not to wear a suit, but the sales person should wear a suit.” and Diane Steuber added, “You show the potential customer respect with your dress.” Tom Steuber interjected, “In San Francisco, they are going back to formal dress.” I also quoted from USA Today, dated October 28, 2003, which stated: “Business casual has become too casual. Fifty-eight percent of executives say workers are confused about what is appropriate workplace attire.” If they are confused in the work place, you can see how sales people can be confused, too.

Before I state my opinions about dress, let me share one thought from one of the best service companies in San Diego, California. Sean Curtis, President and CEO emailed me right after the last article came out, to say, “Don, you are changing my mind about how sales people should look.”

I want to make three points about dress. First, as I travel across the country and around the world I see different types of sales people, but I have found that the IBM Look should be the standard for our dress. A sales person represents you, the company. Why would you allow them to look shabby in front of your customers or potential customers? Secondly, I have had a few role models in my career, like Diane Steuber who is still there giving me life lessons today. Let me quote Diane. “Performance is tied to dress.” I agree with her. Performance is tied to dress in many ways, and this is a point to develop in the future. Thirdly, as it has been expressed to me in many different e-mails in the last three months, that as sales people, we need to dress for the environment that we are entering. However, we still need to be very careful not to lower our standards.