Education

Look Good – Sell Better

December 5, 2003 | By: deaneparkes

It has been proven through research that a first time shopper will size up your store and make very strong, often long lasting impressions of your store in the first 8 seconds. 95% of the first impression you make on a customer is determined by the way you dress !!! The way you dress represents the impression a customer will have of your store !!

So what to do in the first 8 seconds:

 You must be presentable to the main shoppers who come into your store. These are generally women 35-50 and  men and women 50 plus. [Generally the rule of thumb is dress just a notch above your regular customer].

Perception is a key part of selling. If you look the part the customer already ‘assumes” you know what you are talking about.

I still go into stores and see dirty running shoes, jeans and shirts that look like they have never seen an iron. How can you be dressed like this and expect a women going through menopause, who has had little results from her doctor, the prescriptions have not help from her pharmacist, she hears that “the local health store may have safe products that help”, and her first encounter is a person dressed like a warehouse worker. No offence to warehouse workers, I spent many years working manual labor, and I dressed the part for that job but in retail sales you MUST DRESS TO IMPRESS YOUR CUSTOMER…..not to impress some current fad or select group of “cool” customers. If you want to give advice to people about what to buy, you must look like the kind of person that your customer is accustom to taking advice from.

I did a training to a major health food store and the staff dressed as if they were competing in a worst dressed contest. I mentioned how by dressing the part they could increase sales……then after work dress however the want. They said it could never be inforced….WHAT! who is running the store??. Do you think the people at MacDonalds have a choice? do the pharmacists? NO! They dress to create a specific image to their customers. I hope I made this point clear!! This one simple action can have a major impact on your sales.

So what do you wear? I actually prefer a look that is consistent with all the staff so they are easily recognized from the customers. Brainstorm with your staff, but in the end make sure you have a policy that states clearly what is acceptable and what is not. I remember when I had a small chain of vitamin stores in the late 70s. My partner and I were having a meeting when I made a joke that we all should dress like pharmacists in a smock. He loved the idea and went out and bought smocks for the entire staff. As I got ready for my first day in my smock I was preparing for laughter and a good ribbing from my customers….much to my surprise the only response I got was a resounding increase in customer perception, I could “FEEL” the difference it made. Customers seemed to think I was wiser somehow? Go figure! The bottom line is it worked! And yes some staff we hired felt uncomfortable at first but in time they became used to it and actually many preferred it as they no longer had to figure out what to wear each day.

Consider reading John Molloy’s ‘New Dress for Success’.

Notes from “Advanced Selling Strategies’ by Brian Tracy :

• A general rule for buying clothing is to pay twice as much money and get half as many clothes.
• Research has found that today’s highest earning salespeople dress in such a way their customer takes them serious at first glance.
• 84% of executives said they would not promote a man who wore scuffed or unshined shoes. So much for being good at your job.
• Many studies show that facial hair is a detriment to success in any public profession. It does not mean you cannot be successful just you could be far more successful if you were clean shaven.