What’s up everybody? Today I want to talk about prospecting or recruiting, so stay tuned.
All right, so I wanted to tell you a story that happened to me yesterday that would kind of kick off this video, because I have something, really an interesting question, and I want to get your feedback and kind of hear what people have to say. Because I’ve heard many people talk from both sides of the spectrum on this topic, and it’s called, Dress for Success.
Here’s the story
Yesterday in one of my businesses, is a real estate business, and so in that business, yesterday we have a new property, commercial property we just bought. I go out there to the property and the builder had mentioned that we’re in this county, so I was recommended this attorney that’s here locally, so he can kind of represent here locally and if anything happens, he’s right there on demand.
It was kind of… Of course I’m going to say, “Sure, you know, I’ll be there tomorrow, let’s meet.”
I show up yesterday to the property, and this attorney is there, and the first second I see him, now again, this is probably at 2:00 PM in the afternoon, and the first second I see him I immediately notice that he’s in shorts, flip-flops, and a kind of Hawaiian shirt.
Immediately in my mind I’m like, “Wow, this is an attorney, it’s 2:00 PM, we’re talking, I mean six to 10 million dollar deal.
- Is this guy real?
- Is the credibility,
- Wow, is this what he does each day?
- Is this a real job for him?”
Okay, I haven’t even met him yet, and immediately, because of what he was wearing, instantly my brain kicked into, “Wow, is this who I’m going to trust my legal aspects to? And does he have the credibility to even do what we need him to do?”
It really got me thinking on the way home about what I did.
And you know, he is very competent gentleman, super passionate about what he does, but I just, you know, he lives by the beach and enjoys life, is enjoying what he’s doing.
But it struck me as I was driving home about immediately kind of how I judged him, and how I thought that maybe he wouldn’t be a right fit for this job, just because of what he was wearing.
It brings me back in the, let’s call it old school, little bit if you go back a little because today’s world has changed.
When I first started my first business with my father, it was all about relationships, and we didn’t have the go-to meetings, and the webinars, and even when WebEx was kind of the first, we saw it, my dad was always about,
“I don’t care about those. We’ve got to get on a plane and we’ve got to go shake hands and look somebody in their eyes and make them feel and understand our passion, and see what we’re about. See what our skills are and why we should be either a partner or a provider for them.”
So, I want to show you a quick picture of me literally in my first suit, so you got to imagine, I rented out some beds and umbrellas before this in the island of Leros, Greece, love to surf, had long hair down past my shoulders, never wore a suit. And as we started this first business, my dad took me to our first meeting, which was with a high level executive at McDonnell Douglas, which is now Boeing.
I go in there, and I have a wrinkled white shirt, wrinkled pants. And, I remember Timberland leather boots, a braided belt, and this long hair all slicked back.
I walked in and I felt so uncomfortable.
I felt so uncomfortable there because everybody’s wearing suits, they’re all sharp, short hair, dressed for success, and I felt so uncomfortable that I just told my dad, “If I’m committed I’m going to do this. I’m going to cut my hair and I need a suit. I can’t even afford a suit, can you help me buy a suit.”
He bought me this double breasted, I thought, “Double breasted are so cool,” green polyester suit.
So take a look at this picture.
Now remind you, that I am 23, it was around 1993, ’94, but I actually have that picture on my desk because it reminds me where I started, and it reminds me of what my father and I created, and our dream that we were trying to build together to really change the world, inspire people, provide solutions to people around the world to enable them, to empower them, to live the life of their dreams.
My question to you is this,
when people say dress for success, as you look at prospecting and/or selling in your business, or relationship building, just remember that people have that first immediate judgment. I hate to say it, but they do. And they look at you and they say, “Is this somebody that I want to do business with? Do they make me feel comfortable about what I’m trying to accomplish and where I’m going in my life?”
The reason why I say that is, there’s a lot of network marketing companies, or a lot of companies where in today’s world, we’re trying to be more casual.
I wear typically at events and things, I don’t wear the full suits anymore, a tie. A business shirt, usually a sport jacket, either slacks or maybe some jeans, but typically I like to wear a jacket or a sports jacket.
It makes me feel comfortable, but it also, I want to make sure I’m not in a room and everybody’s dressed better than me that I feel uncomfortable because why didn’t I take the time to dress up and invest in this meeting.
There’s lots of companies who are, I mean you hear online right, “We’re building online.” And you get the CEO who shows up in shorts and flip-flops, and a tank top, and he’s on stage and, “Yeah, we’re going to do this.” And everybody’s like, “Yeah, let’s do it. And hey, I live at the beach and we’re all going.” Awesome, I love it, I love it.
But here’s my question is, you know, many people, if you’re trying to build a professional business, an organization, are you going, is that the way to dress?
Is it the way to dress of, “Hey, this is what retirement looks like. This is what you can do every day.” Or do you dress a little bit more professional that, “Hey, I’m in this business and I’m a professional. And I treat my business like a profession. So this is the way I dress. This is the way I want to feel great about myself.”
One thing I’ve realized also, is when you dress up a little bit, you feel great.
You feel better about yourself.
And, you feel more confident.
You feel like, “Hey, I’m here. I’m more confident. I’m going to do something, I’m going to make something up today.”
As you look at prospecting and recruiting, and let’s talk offline first, so when you meet somebody, just be aware of what you’re wearing, even colors that you’re wearing. There’s a whole chart about what colors do between the blues, and the greens, and the yellows, and the reds.
Make sure that you understand that, maybe I’ll shoot a video about that at a later time, but colors that you wear.
Also, are you going to a meeting to where somebody is a professional? If you talk in network marketing, recruiting up, and you’re going to meet somebody that’s maybe in a professional business and they’re in a suit, then you need to dress up in a suit.
You need to show them that, “Hey, we’re on the same level and this is what we’re doing together.”
If you have somebody that’s super downplayed and relaxed in shorts and flip-flops, then I would probably wear jeans, and some, probably not shorts, but jeans, casual shoes, and a dress, very casual shirt and meet that person.
To show them that they don’t need to feel uncomfortable.
That I’m all stuffy and that I don’t understand them.
A person that’s worked and wants the relaxation of beach style type of living, they don’t want to go back to a corporate job, or a suit, which they typically might’ve worn, so you might make them feel uncomfortable.
Just be aware of this, as you’re building offline of how you’re dressing, how you’re presenting yourself to somebody, because it really does create that energy between you, even before you have ever said a word. They’re watching you and seeing if you’re somebody that they like, they trust, and they want to do business with.
Now online, a lot of people are going to this, “Online, and I can be in my underwear, and I can recruit the world. And I never have to talk to anybody.”
Okay guys, we still live in a world of people.
If you want to get away from people, then go online and play games into a fantasy world over here. But if you’re wanting to recruit online and build relationships online, these are still people. And I think that’s the biggest issue that I see all the time, is that people don’t realize that, offline or online, they’re just the same.
People still want to feel the same way online as they do offline.
People will do business with people they like, they trust, and they build a relationship with.
Online, make sure that whatever type of personality and whatever type of relationship you want to build, make sure that you’re dressing that part.
You’re showing people that you’re committed to whatever it is.
If it’s in jeans and a t-shirt, and I’m at the beach, then stay consistent, that’s who you are. If it’s somebody that, “Hey, I have a professional business, and you know I’m super excited about building professionals in a professional organization.”
There’s people that love that.
They want to join people that are professional, that they’re not swearing every day and doing crazy things. This is a profession, I want to build a professional business for my family, for me, and for the future.
You need to dress that part and show them because online, I will tell you, it’s relentless, it’s unforgiving. There’s so much information at people’s fingertips that they literally can just go search you and see who you are, what you’re really like, what your personality is, and that’s how they judge. They haven’t even met you yet. When you’re shooting videos, or when you’re writing your blog, or when you’re doing things, just be very aware of getting ready, making yourself up, what you’re wearing, and the personality and energy you’re presenting to your people or your prospects.
Conclusion
Hope you enjoyed this. It’s a debate. It’s something I hear all the time. People going, “Well no, we want to be in flip-flops and,” well great. I’m really curious of what you think about that.
Or hey, it’s a business and professional, and you need to wear a suit or you need to dress professionally.
What do you think?
Please, comment, share, I’m really interested.
This is really actually fascinating to me. And especially as the world’s changing, evolving, growing, how it is becoming a little bit more casual, but definitely there’s professions that still require and want more of that professionalism in their dressing.
While we are on the topic of success, I want to offer you 3 tools to help you get home business success. Just click here to get the Home Business Success Kit.
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