A SALESMAN’S CLOTHES
The apparel oft proclaims the man.—SHAKESPEARE.
The consciousness of being well and fittingly dressed has a
magic power in unlocking the tongue and increasing the power of
expression.
In differentiating the essentials of success in selling, a specialty
expert said: “I find that when I am in prime condition physically, and am
well dressed, so that I do not have to think about myself or my clothing,
I can put up a much better canvass, because I can concentrate my mind
with greater force.”
In a letter to his home office, a rising young salesman wrote: “To me
there is a great mystery in the influence of good clothes. Somehow I
think more of myself when I am conscious that I am well groomed, well
dressed, and I can approach people with much more confidence.
“When I first started canvassing I tried to economize too much on my
clothing. Some stormy mornings I would start out wearing shabby old
clothes and without fixing up as I should, and somehow I felt cheap all
day. I could not approach a prospect with the same air of victory; I did
not feel quite right; I could not put up as good a canvass, and of course
did not make as many sales as when I was up to the mark in clothes and
general appearance.
“I thought at the start I could not afford to dress well, but I soon
found that this was a very great mistake, and that a good appearance is
a big asset in canvassing. I was going through college then, and, as I
had to pay all of my expenses, a dollar meant a good deal to me; but I
actually borrowed money to buy a good suit of clothes, and I found it
paid. I felt better when I had that suit on. I could take more orders,
and in a short time returned the amount I had borrowed. This influence of
good clothes is a curious thing, but it is certainly a power.”
Whatever one’s business, it is worth while to try to ascertain as nearly
as possible the paying point of your clothes. You cannot afford to go
much below or above this point. In some cases it pays to dress superbly,
right up to the mark in every detail, because people judge our business
standing by our appearance, and we cannot afford to give the impression
of poverty, especially if we are representing a prosperous line of
business. If a man’s appearance indicates lack of prosperity, people
naturally get a poor impression not only of his own success, but also of
the quality and success of the firm he represents.
A. T. Stewart was one of the first great merchants to appreciate the
tremendous influence upon customers, especially women customers, of
good-looking, well-dressed young men clerks. He would not have a clerk
in his employ who did not present an attractive appearance. He knew and
appreciated the importance of putting up a good front as an asset. He did
not care much for human diamonds in the rough. He preferred a cheaper
stone, polished, to a pure gem, unpolished.
Every progressive merchant knows that a first unfavorable impression on
a customer is a costly thing. He knows that soiled collar or cuffs, a
frayed tie, unpolished shoes, uncared-for finger nails, grease spots on a
suit, will not only make a bad impression, but will drive away trade.
Most large business houses make it a rule not to employ any one who looks
shabby or careless, who does not at least try to make a good appearance,
the best his means will permit, when he applies for a position.
Neatness of dress, cleanliness of person and the manner of the applicant
are the first things an employer notices in a would-be employee. If
his clothes are unbrushed, his trousers baggy, his shoes unblacked,
his tie shabby, his hands soiled or his hair unkempt, the employer is
prejudiced at once, and he does not look beneath this repellent exterior
to see whether it conceals merit or not. He is a busy man and takes it
for granted that if the youth has anything in him, if he is made of the
material business men want in their employ, he will keep himself in a
presentable condition. At all events, he does not want to have such an
unattractive looking person about his premises.
You may say that an employer ought to be a reader of real merit, real
character, and that it is not fair to estimate an applicant for a
position by such superficial things as the clothes he wears. You may
also say that a customer should not allow himself to be prejudiced
against a man, or the house he represents, because he is not a fine
dresser. But that doesn’t help matters or alter facts. We go through life
tagged all over, labeled with other people’s estimate of us, and it is
pretty difficult to get away from that, even if it is unjust.
Say what we will, our position in life, our success, our place in the
business or professional world, or in society, depends very much upon
what other people think of us, and our clothes, at first especially,
while we are making our way in the world, play an important part in their
judgment of us. They have a great deal to do with locating us.
In a way our lives are largely influenced by other people’s opinion of
us, and we should not be indifferent to it. This does not mean that we
cannot be independent and exercise our own will, but that we cannot
afford to create a bad impression. Suppose, for example, you are a
young business man and that every bank official in your town is so
prejudiced against you that they will not give you credit. You need it
very much, but while the fact that you know you are absolutely honest
and absolutely reliable gives you great inward satisfaction, it does not
give you the needed money. The prejudice of the bank officials may be
unfounded, but it acts powerfully against you.
You may know perfectly well that you would make a better mayor for your
town than anybody else in it, but if the majority of the voters are
prejudiced against you, no matter how worthy of their confidence, you
will not be elected. Whatever your business or profession the impression
you create will make a tremendous difference in the degree of your
success.
“Every man has a letter of credit written on his face.” We are our own
best advertisements, and if we appear to disadvantage in any particular
we are rated accordingly.
You cannot estimate the influence of your personal appearance upon your
future. Other things equal, it is the young man who dresses well, puts up
a good front, who gets the order or position, though often he may have
less ability than the one who is careless in his personal appearance.
Most business men regard a neat, attractive appearance as evidence of
good mental qualities. We express ourselves first of all in our bodies. A
young man who is slovenly in appearance and who neglects his bath will,
as a rule, neglect his mind.
To save money at the cost of cleanliness and self-respect is the worst
sort of extravagance. It is the point at which economy ceases to be a
virtue and becomes a vice. In this age of competition, when the law of
the survival of the fittest acts with seemingly merciless rigor, no one
can afford to be indifferent to the smallest detail of dress, or manner,
or appearance, that will add to his chances of making a success in life.
Remember that the world takes you largely at your own valuation; your
prospective customer will be repelled or attracted by your appearance,
and your clothes are as important as your bearing and manners. In fact
they will to a great extent determine your bearing and manner. It has
been well said that “the consciousness of clean linen is in and of itself
a source of moral strength, second only to that of a clean conscience.
A well ironed collar or a fresh glove has carried many a man through an
emergency in which a wrinkle or a rip would have defeated him.” Our
clothes have a subtle mental influence from which there is no escape.
The consciousness of shabbiness, incompleteness, or slipshodness tends to
destroy self-respect, to lessen energy and to detract from one’s general
ability.
In order to dress properly, you must study the colors and the styles that
are most becoming to you, that add most to your appearance. Don’t wear a
profusion of rings or flashy jewelry; don’t indulge in “loud” neckties
or anything that would make you conspicuous. All these things make a bad
impression.
An excellent rule for dress is found in the advice of Polonius to his son
Laertes, when he is about to start for the royal court of France.
“Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy
But not express’d in fancy; rich not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man.”
Polonius did not mean that Laertes should be extravagant in the matter of
clothes. Far from it; he simply meant that he should dress in a manner
befitting his rank as a representative of the court of Denmark.
The salesman is the representative of his firm, and to a great extent
both he and his firm will be judged by his general appearance, including
his clothes,
“For the apparel oft proclaims the man.”