How You Dress Can Actually Help Grow Your Business
I have always been of the mindset that I don’t care about how fashionable I am or am not. I’m me, and I don’t care what anyone thinks. I could be a multi-millionaire and I’d still be wearing my t-shirt, joggers, and running shoes — I didn’t care how people perceived me. That was my mentality until I started my own business and everything changed by accident. I never thought about how you dress could potentially help grow your business.
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Fair or Unfair to Grow Your Business?
Many people decide on a daily basis to go for comfort over style. In the grand scheme of things, what you wear doesn’t define who you are as a person or even your value as a human being. Unfortunately, the harsh reality is, people look at you and make judgment solely off the way you look and present yourself. I found this out by mistake. Let me explain how what you wear can grow your business.
I’d say I have pretty good communication skills. I was a DJ of a radio station for years with my own show, I’ve done speeches and conferences in the fitness/supplement industry, I’ve presented at expos, and never once did I think twice about it. I’d generally wear running shoes, jeans, and a button-down or polo if I wanted to “dress up” in my mind — after all, I’m in the fitness industry where that type of wardrobe is acceptable and I’d never assume dressing better can help you grow your business.
I would on occasion frequent a local cigar lounge to relax and get my mind off of things. When I started my business, I found I would spend the day there occasionally to do work to get a change of scenery from my normal office setting (much quieter than a coffee shop). No one would bother me and I was able to either relax or get my work done that I brought. Mind you, my attire while there were my usual running shoes, jeans, and more times than not, a t-shirt and baseball hat.
One day I had a business meeting there and decided to wear a pair of oxford shoes, some chinos, and a button down. After the business meeting, I hung around to get some work done. While there, it seemed like everyone was coming up to me wanting to chat — both employees and patrons. I finished up my work and began to head home. While driving home, I was scratching my head as to why so many people were talking to me. No one would generally even look my direction in the past. Yet now all of a sudden, they wanted to know how I was, what I did for a living — what seemed like friendly small-talk. Little did I know that this was a great networking tool while outside of the office to not only expose me to other businessmen and entrepreneurs, but to also swap business cards and potentially do business with some of these individuals. It’s a great way to grow your business.
My next visit I again wore nice clothes and found other businessmen who were up there making their way over to chat and exchange business cards — that never happened when I wore jeans and a t-shirt. Putting two-and-two together, I figured out that how I was dressed seemed to change how people perceived me and I realized that this is a great way to grow your business. They looked at me as more approachable. I went from just some guy to a guy people seemed to respect and want to talk to. People were remembering my name, and when I’d see them they would make a point to come over and say hello. All of a sudden very established businessmen were asking my opinion and for advice on certain things. This was very early into me owning my first business and I was still trying to get my feet wet, yet I would answer their questions to the best of my knowledge — which appeared to be good enough.
Research
I went digging online to see if what I’m experiencing is indeed “normal.” It didn’t take me long to find more than enough information to validate my findings. Different research showed that your appearance influences what people think of you when it comes to intelligence, money, trust, and authority. I also found that when you combine good communication skills with nice clothing, people seem to comply with what you are saying and asking, more people are willing to do business with you (which will help grow your business), more people trust you, and are even willing to pay you a higher salary. In a 2010 national poll, appearance came second to communication when looking qualities associated with professionalism.
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How you dress also changes your behaviors. When you dress in a professional manner, more times than not, people act in a professional manner and get more accomplished during the day. When people were dressed more for comfort they were found to not be as productive. Clothing seems to have a psychological effect on how we view and conduct ourselves.
A Valid Way to Help Grow Your Business
Many companies today are lowering their dress code standards and in my opinion, this is a terrible mistake. By upping your wardrobe, you will come off more confident, more trustworthy, more professional — all things that can translate to someone wanting to do business with you and can help grow your business. You come off very well put together. People look at someone within the company and based off of how they are dressed makes an assumption about the business as a whole. If they are dressed very professional, they come off as being successful. Communication is also very important and will polish off your complete package. When you bring all of this to the table, it can translate into more sales for your company and grow your business.
Being that you never know who you’ll meet or run into and when is another great reason to dress appropriately. You only get one chance to make a first impression and that can help grow your business. Do you want to be remembered as the bum wearing sweatpants around town or the well put together professional that they bumped into by accident? What you wear makes a bold statement about you. Many people think you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but think about what draws your attention when shopping for a random book to read. The cover, right? It’s eye-catching and draws you in. You want to send the right message to those around you that you are a serious professional. Don’t dress for the job you have, dress for the job you want. Up your game, up your sales.
Dress Code
This article isn’t meant for you to think that you need to dress professionally 24/7 and sleep in a tie. There’s no need to wear a suit when going grocery shopping or to go watch your son play baseball. But if you are conducting business or working, dress accordingly whether you are in the office or off-site at meetings. Meet the dress code requirements or even take it up a notch to separate yourself from others. There’s nothing wrong with making a statement if you feel confident wearing a certain piece of clothing or accessory.
Something else to consider are your accessories. People take notice to that Rolex watch on a gentleman’s wrist. Or those cufflinks sticking out from under a man’s jacket. Those small items can get expensive. Yet, you don’t need to have a Rolex on your wrist to help grow your business. If you’re wearing a watch that is eye-catching and matches your wardrobe, it still shows you have a sense of style and respect people’s time by showing up when scheduled. Time is extremely important to you and others will respect that.
When you’re around town, it’s not a bad idea to wear jeans (or even chinos) and a polo or button-down to maintain somewhat of a professional look. Can you imagine closing a million-dollar contract with a business and that weekend while grocery shopping in your sweatpants and beat up t-shirt you run into the executive that you just wrote the contract for? What do you think will be going through their head when they see you dressed like that?
You don’t have to be pompous and walk around with your nose in the air everywhere you go, but dress in a manner that shows you’re someone important and want people to respect and trust you. The “I just got out of bed and didn’t shower today” look is not a good look on anyone. When you take your look more seriously, others will take YOU more seriously and that can help grow your business.
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