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21 Comments on Dress for Success
Nice Post,
Dress needs to mirror clients. Always better to dress up vs. dress down
Tony
My 2 cents...I wear polo shirts almost every day, no shirts and ties no matter what property I'm showing or trying to list...I've worn jeans, a sweatshirt and sneakers numerous times and written contracts in shorts in the summer...I don't promote an image I'm not...What you see is what you get, take it or leave it...I don't mean to sound cavalier about it, I've spent more than 35 years in sales of one sort or another and long ago discovered that most folks don't care about your appearance as long as you're clean, polite and willing to listen to them...Interesting post and I look forward to the comments.
Karina, I believe in the old ways. When working I am in a shirt and tie. If I am going to construction type property I will wear jeans and a nice shirt. I have never had any one say I was over dress, but I do stand out. I do drive a caddy as well.
I have eight different suits and I wear them .... hardly ever. I do wear clean and neat slacks all the time and polos not logoed unless it's our personal or our company's. I also wear my argyle socks all the time even with my tennis shoes, but since I wear K swiss they match
It isn't a "one size fits all" type of situation. It depends on the clients, what they would expect, and what you are comfortable with. Dressing a certain way is not indicative of being successful or unsuccessful just as driving a type of car does not portray your success.
Kathy
I agree with you. Business casual is where it's at. I will wear jeans sometimes but they are dark and neat. A short heeled boot tends to dress them up. I am not a t-shirt gal. Jewelry also can dress up an outfit.
Interesting Comments so far, 5 men and all tend to lean towards casual and my hats off to Frank who wears a suit and tie and drives a cadilac. I drive a mini van, but try to dress for success myself.
Look forward to more comments.
Good luck to all you active rainers in 2009.
Karina
I agree with Tony. It's more important to dress to mirror your clients whenever possible, but maybe that's just because I am working in an area that is partly rural.
I think it really depends on the market. You can get away with wearing much less clothing in Los Angeles or Southern California than you can in, say, Wisconsin. In some areas it works to your advantage to wear diamonds and show skin. In others, probably not. What's important is knowing your clients and the neighborhood.
Karina,
I believe in the professional look we should do our best to project that image if you are not a
real estate professional you can dress like one.
I contend why make how you present yourself in attire should never be an obstacle to your business. I do not believe in casual dress but professional dress shows respect for those you represent or hope to gain their business. Even if you show farm and ranch you still can dress professionally.
It depends on who and what I am showing. In my market one day it might be farms, next day upscale homes, and I still work with first time homebuyers too. All of these require different attire and I agree that what I am wearing speaks volumes about me and my preparedness for work that day.
All the Best!
Kathy Fisher
Karina,
I agree with the strategy of dressing like your clients. I try to match this. I used to wear a tie a lot but found I got little interaction when out throughout my day. The one thing that I have found is to have "Professional Attire". I have several long sleeved and short sleeved shirts with our company logo embroidered on them. I keep these heavy starched and they look good with slackk, khakis or jeans. In the summer I have several polos with our logo on them. We even got some quality long sleeved T-shirts at our office. They are great to wear when you stop by on moving day, go out sign checking etc. I have a "hoodie" with our logo embroidered on it and I get more comments on it.
I have been over dressed many more times than I have been underdressed. When door knocking or farming I think the polos and embroidered T's are a great combination of looking professional and getting people to meet you.
The key is to make a great, appropriate first impression then go with the flow.
Important issue. Good Luck to All.
It will be Fine in 09
I alwyas try to dress one notch over my clients. .anything more and you will make them feel uneasy
anything less. . and you aren't getting the business
i dress to match my clients or the property
I think you do have to gauge it somewhat to the people and property you are working with....I think dressing just l step ahead of them is a good rule of thumb.....Business casual means a lot of different things to different people, from khakis and polo shirt to jeans or even worse, sloppy SHORTS AND FLIP FLOPS...that I do not consider business unless you are selling boats!
Well so far business casual tends to be the norm,
Look forward to more comments.
Good luck to all active rainers in 2009.
Karina
HI Karina, I find that I perform better when I am well dressed. Although I love dressing casually when I am on my own time, I feel most comfortable in business situations wearing business dress.
Interesting conversations taking place on the thread...
Personally I dress business casual at our first meeting, and then I mimick their lead. Most of my clients are family, friends, and referrals so they know what to expect of me. I want people to see me as approachable and that is the most important message I want to convey.
I am with you but different people might think different. I know most IT people hate formal dress. Most artistic people abhor all normal dresses.