Let’s face it, most salespersons have no clue what to wear in a sales meeting. So, if you’re looking for helpful tips about your appearance to strike a successful deal, you’re in a right place!
According to the data collected, the prospects of getting a successful sale heavily depends on the first impression and instant judgement, that have a huge influence on the success or failure of a purchase.
Well, you don’t have to be nervous anymore as we’ve collected a few easy tips to tell you what to wear in a sales meeting.
Remember, the first impression during a sales meeting has a huge impact on the sales results, which is often neglected. In fact, a bad first impression could be a huge disadvantage too.
The Importance of First Impressions
So first thing first, how important is the first impression? As per a study by Harvard, the first impression is generated in just the first 7 seconds when you meet someone, while 45% of it is based on how you sound. The other 55% is based on your looks and appearance, including how you’re carrying yourself, what are you wearing, and how you look.
Whether you like it or not, when people develop an opinion about you in the first 7 seconds, they don’t usually change it. That’s why it’s so important for a salesperson to pay attention to what to wear, making it a losing or winning deal in the end.
Good news for you! You could be in control to a much larger extent on how people perceive you. Therefore, the first tip to generate a great impression on others during a sales meeting is to dress for success in your every meeting!
Tips to look perfect
The first question is where to buy your flawless clothes from? There’re plenty of designer brands. But you don’t have to buy expensive clothes to look good. So, a salesperson must know some good local stores that offer you nice clothes at an affordable price. You can look at Zara, Everlane and Banana Republic to buy trousers, shirts, and other corporate casual clothes at an affordable price.
The Shirt
Firstly, you need to choose the colour of your shirt. We suggest you go with white, blue, staples, pastels, and pink shirts for men to look elegant.
Then, you need to avoid muffin-tuck in. Trust me, poorly tucked in shirts look so unprofessional, so avoid it.
How to avoid it? If you’ve broad shoulders, thin waist, and long arms (or vice versa), you need to tailor your shirts. There’re plenty of places that could do it for you, like the shop you buy, dry cleaning shop, etc.
Lastly, you need to make sure that your shirt-collar is hard and crisp. Avoid floppy, soft shirt-collars do not look good. So to avoid it, you can put a magnetic or metal strip into your shirt’s collar to make it hard and crisp.
The Tie
Though tie isn’t necessary for many sales jobs. It depends on what industry you work in and where you are located. We suggest you wear it in more formal and professional meetings. After all, you can always loosen it up or take it off if you think you’re being too formal.
But if you’re wearing a tie, make sure it’s of the right length. The tip of your tie must be in the middle and at a level of your belt buckle.
Lastly, the colour of a tie is also important, and it has to go with your shirt and suit. You need to avoid flashy prints and colours, as they can look unprofessional and can take away your message’s credibility.
The Suit
For suits, we recommend you to buy a few suits that fit you well instead of many cheap suits that don’t fit you well.
As far as the colour is a concern, black and navy blue are always a good option. You can also wear light colours, like grey or mustard in summers.
The most essential thing in the suit is fitting. It has to fit you well. So, the best way to get it fit according to your body is to get it tailored. It doesn’t necessarily have to be expensive, as you can find many tailors that can customize your suite for you at a lower cost.
To keep your suit crisp and perfect, try hanging it in your car instead of tossing it up on the backseat. Avoid wrinkles and ensure it looks nice and perfect when you’re planning to wear it later.
Note: avoid buying brighter or loud printed suits, as it can dilute your message and may make you look unprofessional. Always go with a conservative, bold colour.
Shoes:
You should be wearing a nice pair of shoes. The colour of your belt must match the colour of your shoes. The standards say that black shoe suit with any colour and brown shoes suit any colour except for black suits.
Watch:
Also, the only jewellery you should wear is a fine watch. By the word fine, we don’t mean an expensive one, as you can buy a nice and fine-looking watch at a much reasonable price.
Aftershave/haircut/beard:
It’s not only about what clothes you wear. You need to consider your hair and nails too. Your nails must be short and your hair should be well-groomed and neat. Avoid funky haircuts as you’re not a punk trying to impress people in a bar, you’re a professional salesperson trying to do business.
Also, if you have got a beard, always keep it in shape and groom, use beard oil and brush to avoid scruffy looking beard.
Perfume:
Smelling good has also a profound effect on how you carry yourself. So to have a nice and neat impression in a meeting, you must wear good moderate perfume. Remember to avoid overdoing cologne. A fresh fragrance spray on the neck is good enough.
Wrapping up!
One thing more, you need to know your audience first before dressing for a sales meeting. To avoid underdressing or overdressing, you need to know who you are going to meet and try to match your dressing with the most influential person or decision-maker in the meeting.
As you know, the poor dressing can backfire in a sales meeting, as you’re the face of your brand at that moment. People will form their opinion about your brand by looking and meeting you. Thus, now you’re equipped with almost everything to strike a great first impression within the first few seconds of your sales meeting.