What To Wear Today?

d-rez

Do any of you wear a suit to your client meetings? This is obiously directed to those of you selling jobs in the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. I have always dressed nice, but not a suit. The other week I had an evening appiontment with perspective clients, and a board hearing afterwards, so I wore a suit. The couple mentioned a few times on my apperance. It got me thinking-does that make a difference? It just seems a little over the top for my tastes.

rbsremodeling

No suit but I do wear a nice sport jacket over my company polo, with nice jeans and shoes

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XanadooLTD

I think a suit works. Contractor A shows up in his Bentley Arnage wearing an Armani suit, Breitling cosmanaute, Ferragamo shoes and gives a well thought out sales pitch at 11:00 am and contractor B shows up at 1:00 pm in his 1993 Ford f-150 in dickies who do you think gets the job? It wouldn't even matter if contractor A had no clue and contractor B had been building multi million dollar homes for 35 years. I think image is everything. Secondly how you carry yourself means a tremendous amount.

JenRan

I had a client who I am building a house for tell me they had a salesmen come in for metal roofing. He was dressed to the nines driving his fancy car and they said they won't buy anything from him because they see why he is so overpriced.

I'm a builder, I wear jeans and a t-shirt. My houses sell my homes, not my expensive suit. Besides, I don't even own a suit.

Celtic

That particular client did not...but how many did?
The suit and car didn't come free with the business cards.


We live in a shallow world where image is everything.
There will always be people that are only interested in lowest price - however, there is also another group of people who look for something else and are willing to pay for that something else.

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Cole

I have been saying it for years, image is everything!

Most people ask me, you are a contractor? I don't dress or act like one.

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Celtic

Are you a contractor, a builder, a plumber, etc or are you a salesman for one?

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ruskent

Always dress your best. If you own a few suits, why not wear them?


When i am meeting with clients, i dress like a business owner, because that is what i am.

john elliott

Yep, Image is important over here as well.

Apart from anything else, getting properly dressed for a meeting shows that you are making an effort, that you consider the meeting, and the potential clients, important. Turning up dressed in work clothes shows that you don't care too much what the clients think of you. That is not a good starting position.

John

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Ed the Roofer said "John too, in his crass and blunt demeanor.............."

XanadooLTD

I think there are two sides to this. 1.) The initial post said that it was for people selling large dollar amount jobs. When people have the money to spend they want the best. 2.) When average Joe who has had his same job for 30 years and just got a 5 percent raise last year wants work done it is a different story. Blue collar/white collar. Maybe a suit presentation to the 100000 dollar kitchen remodel. Maybe a company polo to the 10000 bathroom remodel...you know. You have to know your client.

d-rez

I could see both sides to the argument. Some clients will view it as professional while others may see you as overpriced. I have gone back and forth on this, but the other night was the first time a actually wore one. While I have always dressed well for my meetings, I have not had a client ever coment on my apperance, until the this last one. I should also add, I am heavily tatooed, and for the first meeting I prefer the perspective client to focus on the project and my portfolio, not my arms.

ruskent

Basically, you dress to match the client.

rbsremodeling

The reason I wear the sport coat, polo shirt, jeans and nice shoes is I thought it fell right in the middle.

I didn't look like an everyday ordinary contractor. I want my apperance to be that I thought about my image when coming to your house to ask for a job/check. But not overly dressed that you think that I make tons of money to supplement my fashion wardrobe. People look you over very carefully when you ask for large sums of money.

as a note some of my largest jobs and riches clients would be passed on the street without a second glance if you look at their clothing. Hell you might offer them a dollar. They have nothing to prove the man makes the clothes, the clothes don't make the man.

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nadonailer

Maybe it's just more mellow here in SoCal, but every contractor in this town wears pretty much the same thing - shorts, work boots and company t-shirt. This is for jobs ranging from 500k -5 mil. I don't think clothes mean anything, as long as they're clean. Wearing a suit here would definitely be a job loser!

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A.W.Davis

I wear a polo shirt with my logo and slogan on the front tucked in with jeans and some nice shoes. For me that's what I feel comftorable in.

I am going to do an experiment in the next few months. I will go to 4 meetings (2) in my polo shirt and (2) in business suit like attire....lets see what happens!

I will update progress as it commences

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A.W. Davis Construction Co.
http://www.awdavisconstruction.com/
Your friendly remodeling contractor

silvertree

Got lots of tats also, I wear a dress shirt with my Silvertree Logo, pants not jeans and decent shoes. My company shirts are suitable for dress, but aren't too dressy. Sports coat sometimes. Never a tie.
For the Blue collar guy or the brain surgeon, dress the same for both. The Blue collar guy, which is how I identify gets his respect the same as anyone else.

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rex

my dirty work clothes my hands smelling like flux and something in my hair.....never lost a job that i know of becuase of the way i dress.....

Teetorbilt

I guess that I'm the ONLY one in a mini-skirt with fishnet stockings and 5" heels.

Beat Bob to this one!

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atticstobasemen

People like to buy from people with like taste's and desire's. IF your clients are blue collar then they may be drawn to the under dressed or logo shirt look. If you have a client that wears suits all day and you wear a suit to meet with them, they may feel more comfortable with you. I know that when I was a carpenter I would by based more or less on price, but since I have been in business, I enjoy buying from other small businesses.

BigLou

Great topic, one that I have thought about often. Our rule (its written in our procedure manual) is long pants (no jeans) and shirt with collar. I want to look professional, but I don't want to overdress. My clients don't wear suits around their house, and I want to dress to their level.