Dress for sales success

JESSICA ANNE advises how sales professionals can present the right image to their clients and prospects

Image matters. It’s important whether you’re a sales leader running a team or an individual executive; whether yours is a large public company or a small firm; and whether you’re in hi-tech, finance, media or manufacturing. Whomever you represent, whatever you sell, and whomever you sell to, it’s essential that you and your salespeople always look the part in front of clients and prospects.

But looking the part means much more than simply insisting that everyone wears a business suit, except on dress-down Fridays. The most effective or suitable clothing and grooming style for most sales professionals can change radically depending on their particular sales environment, so it’s vital to know what is best to wear in different circumstances. This will help individual salespeople build relationships with buyers, as well as enhancing their self-image and boosting their confidence. BRAND AMBASSADORS Many companies invest heavily in marketing efforts to ensure that their overall branding, including their logo, corporate colours, website design and advertising reflect how they would like to be perceived by customers and by other stakeholders. Quite often, however, they put too little emphasis on a key aspect – the professional image of their people. The right salesperson image will support the desired image of their business, reflecting its culture and brand values.

Employees are the face of a company to the external world – and salespeople are often the first to be seen. As such, they are brand ambassadors, creating the first impression of the company in the eyes of customers and prospects.

At best, the right salesperson image could lead directly to more effective client interactions, increased sales and improved business performance. At worst, an inappropriate image could do the exact opposite, alienating clients, costing sales, and ultimately negatively impacting the bottom line. It is therefore vital that salespeople portray the right brand values.

Among the issues that should be considered are: l Projecting the right professional image for your company l Professional etiquette, including casual and formal dress codes l Making first, final and lasting impressions l Using colour to best effect l Styling to suit different body shapes l Building your salesperson wardrobe l Creating a personal brand and reputation l Visual success and body language.

NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION As a salesperson, your visual image is the nonverbal communication you are sending to your

REBECCA: CONSERVATIVE CHIC Rebecca works as a business development partner in a professional firm in the City of London

Despite her evident success, Rebecca always lacked confidence in her appearance. She was especially unsure what colours or styles best suited her particular body shape and natural skin tone and colouring. Following a short session with her, I came up with a few simple guidelines that suited her natural look, her personality and the professional sphere in which she was operating. I explained to Rebecca that her make-up should be subtle and blended, and I ensured that the make-up colours she uses are suitable for her skin tone and complements what she wears. I also advised that her nails should be cleaned and trimmed to a short-tomedium length. When it came to her wardrobe, I advised and sourced “must haves” for a successful woman in a conservative business environment: l Structured matched suits for formal meetings l Unmatched “business casual” suits, for after work networking events and entertaining clients l A reasonable range of medium light to dark colours suited to Rebecca’s eye, hair and skin tone l Classically styled dresses l Tops and blouses, both solid coloured and conservative patterns, to inject her personality l High quality accessories. Since discovering her style and by following these guidelines, Rebecca has grown in confidence, especially through knowing how she can express her own personality, while still being perceived as highly professional by her clients. Since her image makeover, she has gone from strength to strength in her career, bringing in high net worth clients consistently for her company and creating solid, lasting relationships with them. Rebecca’s new mantra, reflecting her newfound confidence, is: “I dress every day for success – you never know who you’ll meet today.”

client or prospect. As such, it speaks on your behalf before your voice is even heard. Your style and standard of dress and grooming create a strong indication of who you are. Your personal presentation, along with your body language, makes a strong visual statement about how you see yourself, and it affects how others perceive you.

As the cliché goes, people buy people, and to a large extent that means they buy into the image of the person they see in front of them.

When looking to build relationships in business – and especially in sales – one of the key fundamentals is to show that you, and the company you represent, are credible, trustworthy and respectful to the person you are meeting. In effect, appropriate standards of dressing and grooming, state: “Yes, I made an effort to dress to impress and reassure you because I value you.”

BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND Every meeting should always conclude with a mutually beneficial outcome. Whether it is making an effective introduction, gaining a sale or nurturing a relationship for long-term business, the most important factor is to have clarity on your objective. So, before meeting a customer or prospect, think to yourself – what is the outcome I would like to achieve from this meeting? By doing so, you should begin to see how your appearance and how you come across could either assist or undermine you in your goal.

CREATE A MEMORABLE IMPRESSION When you are meeting a prospect or customer for the first time, it is all about creating that allimportant memorable (for the right reasons) first impression. The key areas to get right are: credibility, trustworthiness, likeability, personal attractiveness and confidence. All these factors are influenced by your image, led by how you look.

When an actor is in character, they dress to look and feel the part they are playing. Similarly, you should ‘look the part’ by dressing for the role you wish to play. If you want to come across as a successful and professional salesperson, representing a credible organisation, then dress like one.

But acting the part is not sufficient on its own. For your image to be effective, it is also about authenticity – or showing the true you. It isn’t enough merely to create a temporary or illusory look, nor only impress someone when you first meet them. To sustain the right impression over time, your image must be genuine, based on your sincere actions, attitudes and personality. It is this true image that will create a positive, lasting impression.

THE POWER OF COLOUR Research has shown that colour plays an influential part in the non-verbal message we send out.

If, for example, you are looking to establish credibility and trust with a customer, blue is the most effective colour for both salesmen and saleswomen. Blue is a calming colour, redolent of perennial natural features of sky and sea. It is also a universal colour that everyone can wear, making it a staple in the professional wardrobe.

By mixing darker shades of blue and grey, you can create a message of authority. By using lighter shades of the same colours, you are more likely to be perceived as approachable. These colours provide an excellent foundation for a salesperson’s wardrobe, with the ability to mix additional colour through tops, blouses and accessories for women, or shirts and ties for men, to create a more defined image – and send out a clear message.

CONSERVATIVE CHOICES Within traditional, conservative sales scenarios, such as professional services and financial institutions, image equates with quality.

Conservative is the key word here, but it is also acceptable to show your personality – even flamboyance – through your selection of style, colour and patterns to avoid looking too uniform. Top tips: Top visual success tips in this environment, for both men and women include: l Dress according to your size and body shape l Wear the best quality you can afford l Wear a high quality watch and accessories l Pay special attention to colour l Ensure that your hair is clean, tidy and well styled. Men’s hair should be modest in length, while women’s hairstyle should suit their face shape l Keep nails clean and tidy – hands play a large role in communication l Avoid body odour/perspiration. It sounds obvious, but is overlooked surprisingly often l Care for your skin. Additional tips for men: l Be clean-shaven. Despite the current popularity of beards, research has proved that having facial hair is a liability in situations such as selling, where competence, credibility and trust are important l Wear conservatively cut, high quality, medium to dark suits. The darker the suit colour, the more authority and presence the salesperson is perceived to have, with dark blue seen as most trustworthy l Opt for medium to high colour contrast.

LESS BUTTONED-UP Many industries have a more relaxed approach to image and dress code than the ultra-conservative financial and professional services sectors. Industries such as software development, media and marketing, for example, are among a growing number that take a less buttoned-up approach when it comes to how their people look.

DARREN: CUTTING IT CREATIVELY Darren works in sales for a marketing services agency with a very relaxed approach to its employees’ appearance

Darren used to present himself in what he regarded as a professional manner, dressing conservatively. But he found he attracted clients who also tended to be rather traditional, and his manager gave him conventional projects to work on. There was nothing wrong with this except that, after three years, Darren found that his sales funnel was somewhat narrowly focused on banking and financial services firms. As a result, other sectors were under-represented in his client portfolio, and he was not able to bring in as much business as he was targeted for. Last, but by no means least, he was becoming rather bored, finding the nature of his work rather unadventurous and repetitive, and looking with envy at the success of colleagues working on highly creative projects for a wide range of clients in diverse, exciting sectors. It was quite clear that Darren’s image – although it was the look and style he had adopted for himself – had been stifling his career success and hindering his personal progress in a creative industry. Darren used to believe he was a creative person, but he had been pigeonholed as someone who would not be able to “think outside the box”. He had lost his confidence and become a little demotivated. Darren was about to leave the agency in search of pastures new, when his manager suggested a one-to-one consultation with a certified image consultant, with the cost, except for the wardrobe, born by the company. While unsure how this would help him, Darren felt he had nothing to lose and scheduled an appointment with me. I recreated his personal brand, which now reflects his true personality and his company’s brand values, while also complementing his lifestyle. My suggestions for Darren included choosing creative, but well put together, mixed outfits, high fashion boots and shoes and some grooming tips. Darren now presents himself much more confidently when engaging with prospects. He has boosted his self-belief by expressing visually the creativity that he always knew he possessed, but had kept under wraps for so long. This in turn has given Darren what he wanted professionally – to attract clients with a creative mindset and projects that he finds exciting and fulfilling. His manager is happy too, as she has retained an experienced and well-liked staff member who is now much more productive, hitting his sales targets and attracting new clients with big marketing budgets.

JESSICA ANNE is a certified image consultant and founder of Jessica Anne Styling, a London-based image consultancy providing one-to-one style consultations, corporate image workshops and seminars tailored to the needs of a business and its sector. Call: 07480 229896, email: Jessica@jastyling.com, or visit: www.jastyling.com Top tips: Top tips for both men and women selling in a sector with a more relaxed approach include: l Show clients respect by dressing slightly more smartly than may seem strictly necessary l Wear creative, but well put together outfits l Opt for mixed suits l Consider high fashion boots and shoes l Stick with great grooming, with a hint of personality. Additional tips for women: l Choose unusual, but not eccentric, colour and fabric combinations l Wear solid colour or patterned tops and blouses l Select innovative accessories and jewellery l Go for non-classic hairstyles, but nothing too extreme or eccentric in either cut or colour.