Your Appearance Does Make A Difference

 

Casual dress surrounds us in today's work environment. The dot com environment in our society has influenced the way we dress.

The difference between selling face-to-face and selling on-line is that our persona is seen. Our appearance makes a difference in the way we are perceived by the customer. How we dress reinforces (or diminishes) the believability of what we say. If we are telling the customer we are professional people who have vast knowledge of how to care for and maintain their garments, and we dress in tattered jeans and slovenly t-shirts,we send conflicting messages. It is perfectly acceptable to wear casual garments but make sure those garments contribute to a neat appearance.

 

Once you have established credibility with your regular customer, your appearance plays a diminished role on your perception. You are judged on your performance and the performance of your service.  Your customer's opinion of you does not change until you mess up. Once that happens, they tend to re-evaluate their opinion of you all over again. Now you again must start to look your best.

 

Appearance is critical. You are making a first impression that will last forever (which may only be a few minutes if you make a bad first impression). When you make your initial contact to an account they are judging everything about you. Often, they are skeptical of everything you say. New prospects occasionally talk with you just to be polite and get you to go away.

 

You never get a second chance to make a good first impression. First impressions stay with you. A bad first impression becomes a barrier that is difficult to overcome, even over time. A good first impression helps open the door for further conversation. You have done the same thing. When you meet someone for the first time, you form an opinion that quickly judges the person. "They are smart...they don't know what they are talking about...they seem nice...what a ding-dong." We have all judged people after meeting them for the first time. Forming an opinion about them based on first meeting them. We form that opinion based on our conversation with them and their appearance. We do it everyday, and so do our prospective customers.

 

We can't always measure how we look to others, but here are a few quick tips to consider when creating your appearance:

Use your Goals To Promote Your Success

 

Setting goals is wonderful; it confirms that we've taken those first awkward steps towards attaining what we desire in our lives. The simple fact that you've taken the time to plan out what you want to achieve puts you in a distinct class.

Amazingly very few people take the time to keep a running list of goals. Sadly, even fewer people actually work their goals. So take the time right now to give yourself a little pat on the back! You deserve it.

You're part of the elite group of people who have chosen to take an active role in their own success. If the whole idea of goal setting (and goal achieving) is a new one to you, don't worry; the important thing is that you've decided to take the bull by the horns and get started!

Here's a technique to add substance to the goals you've set! Remember, the more real the goal is in your mind, the easier your subconscious mind can get around your desires and jump into action and start helping you realize them!

This technique assumes you've already decided on the things you'd like to achieve. If you're not there yet then take the time to record your goal, dreams and the action steps you believe are necessary to reach them. Be sure to give yourself the room to adjust those items as needed. It's a journey and one that you should derive enjoyment from. Remember, you're taking the word chance out of the equation and are taking an active role in the reaching the destinations you set for yourself.

After you've listed out your goals and dreams, the next step is to actually visualize yourself reaching your intended goal. It is through visualization that we can actually program ourselves to reach that which we desire. 

It's one thing for you to say, "I want to start a business", and quite another to say, "My business will be growth oriented. I will find the stairway to success and it will grow with each new achievement. To reach this destination I will provide excellent service to my customers and continuously market my service to others.Through my efforts and the efforts of those whom I serve I will succeed."

The idea is that you're rehearsing these events in your mind. You're giving them vast amounts of power because as the saying goes. That which the mind can conceive, it can achieve. When using visualization with your goals try and do it as vividly as you can. The more real they appear the better.

To say I want to start a business someday is one thing, but to identify it and imagine myself doing this job (and taking the necessary steps to become a business owner) creates an added energy that will propel you towards making it a reality!