You know that old saying; you never get a 2nd chance to make a first impression!
We have all heard this saying, right?
But how much thought are you really giving it on a day to day basis?
I recently attended a meeting where they had a “dress for success” expert speaking.
She had some basic and yet very good tips!
She suggested that you have at least two to three better quality suits for important presentations, suits in neutral colors with mix and matchable shirts and blouses for the ladies.
She also suggested that before you dress for your appointments, you think about who you are meeting that day. Are they a serious conservative banker or an eclectic owner of a new trendy restaurant? How should you dress to be more in rapport with the person you are meeting?
It just so happened this meeting was taking place in a beach community that often attracts out of town vacationers. She cautioned the agents that while it was a more casual setting, they should still look their best because they themselves were not on vacation!
She talked about making sure your shoes were polished, your jewelry isn’t too flashy, and to consider the generation and culture of whoever you’re meeting with.
It made me flash back on a couple of incidents from years past.
One – a great agent I was coaching shared with me that she had lost a listing and was devastated. She is a top producer so the fact that she lost one listing wasn’t what upset her almost to tears.
What upset her was that she had completely offended the potential sellers who were past clients of hers, and she had offended them quite by accident.
You see, she had just come home from a charity luncheon that was rather formal and it was snowing outside. She had on her nicest outfit, jewelry, and she had just hung up her fur coat on the hook in the hall.
The young couple called and asked her to hurry over if she could, they wanted to list the house. She didn’t think, she jumped in her car and raced over.
They told her at the end of the meeting that they would not list with her because clearly she was more concerned about impressing them with her jewels and furs than she was about selling their home and they were offended, in fact, that she wore fur at all.
The agent is a very sweet lady, who never had any thought of trying to show off her success in front of this young couple, but she just didn’t think before she raced out the door.
The other incident I remember is one Sunday morning years back I had an appointment with a listing agent to present an offer to her and her sellers.
She showed up late in sweats with wet hair, no makeup, plopped down at the table and said, “Wow, am I ever hung over! Do you have some coffee?”
Well, the seller didn’t accept my offer, but when the listing expired two weeks later they called me and asked me to list it because they were so impressed by my professionalism. I am not sure I did anything special, but at least I did show up looking better than their previous agent.
Each listing and each transaction is so hard to win. I get it, it shouldn’t matter what you wear, but clearly it makes an impression. You don’t have to spend a fortune on clothes, just take a bit of extra time to look the part of the professional and fantastic agent that you are so they will take the time to pay attention to the great things that you have to say!
Remember, it’s show time!
