Networking: 2 Minute Training #17: Look The Part

Networking: 2 Minute Training #17: Look The Part

Last week’s networking blog entry came with a flood of email messages (not too many comments though… I’ll have to look into that) letting me know that the story aspect really caught their hearts and minds. So today, we’re going to talk about looking the part by opening with another story.

When my daughter was 3 years old, I took her to a play at the library. The play opened with a King and a cobbler in the street. My daughter leaned in and let me know in the loudest whisper you can imagine “That’s the King over there!” She was 3, so I was a little surprised. “How do you know that he’s the king?” I whispered back. “Because he looks like a King!” Then she looked back for a minute. “I bet he’s even going to ACT like a king should act.”

What does a king look like? My daughter knew, and she was willing to make some assumptions based on looks alone. And she’s not the only one. Let’s partake in a small exercise:

You’re at a restaurant, when a man in a suit and tie approaches the table. Who is he?
A man in a uniform approaches you in the street. Will he act unsure or in control?
A woman in a pantsuit walks in to your office or networking meeting and opens a briefcase. What does she pull out?
A man comes inside your office or networking meeting with a hat, trenchcoat, and umbrella. What is the weather like outside?
You are about to step into the main office of a cleaning company. What should you expect on the inside?

Frankly, you’re dealing with first impressions and stereotypes. Is the man in a suit and tie at the restaurant one of the cooks or waiters? Will the uniformed man break down in tears? Will the business woman pull out a hackey sack? Is it 108 degrees outside? Should you expect to see trash on the floor, and workers sleeping on the couch inside the cleaning company office? Not bloody likely.

With new business prospects, you are really working with assumptions based on what you can observe, and what you can hear. I would go so far as to say that most new business is going to be 90% perception and 10% followthrough.

To help with your perception in the eyes of other networking professionals and leads or referrals, you need to be sure that you know about your industry, and that you can discuss any topic with that range. You’ll also need to be able to make some on-the-fly recommendations as to how to solve minor and major issues. But importantly, you’ll have to cross the believability barrier by looking the part.

What do people in your industry wear? What are they expected to wear? How do they act? How are they expected to act? What makes them stand out?

As a graphic design consultant and business owner, Tyler Dockery almost always wears a tie. It looks professional, business-oriented, and immediately portrays an individual who is serious about what they do. Someone who wears a tie is almost always seen as an authority, and someone worth listening to. Tyler expands upon this by adding some creativity. Yes, ties are stuffy in appearance, but Tyler Dockery dances around this impression by wearing colorful, professional ties, and specialty tie knots.

People feel that they can approach him and receive a professional answer, and are usually quite pleased indeed when they find him to be funny and very personable.

Look to your industry. Find the exceptable limits in the range of its fashion choices, and then look the part. See how attitudes toward you and your business change over time. I think that by simply beginning or continuing to look the part in your networking activities, you will see yourself rapidly moving into the mantel of expert and authority with greater ease.

Has moving into a more professional look benefitted you? Has backsliding into a more causal look made you more approachable? Let us know, and tell us what happened!