In yesterday’s post about the new Allen gearless ratchet, I repeated their description about how the full polish finish was for professional appearance. That’s not why most people buy polished tools, but it got me thinking about professional appearance in a broader sense.
Are there any tools or particular brands of tools that you buy and use with professional appearance in mind? What about your work wear and tool boxes? The truck that you drive?
There are industries where professional appearance has a say in the equipment that is used.
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Would you hire the accountant, lawyer, financial adviser who greets you while wearing sneakers, jeans, and a stained short sleeve button down shirt, or the one that is fully dressed in business attire?
What do you do to improve or promote your professional experience?
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Dave in VT
Always keep your fly zipped.
Seriously though, how well one takes care of one’s vehicle(s) and the quality (expense) of their tools is a visual indicator that says “I am successful enough at this to afford proper tools and upkeep of my equipment.” On the other hand, consumers who are cheap might be discouraged from hiring the contractor who clearly costs more in order to maintain the fancy appearance. I prefer a happy medium. Have the right tools for the job, don’t make upkeep be such a large portion of your overhead.
Adam
Smell decent, and do anything you can to seen like you aren’t there (of working at a customers house).
I think you are missing a word in your post on the main page for this Stu.
Wayne R.
Thanks for getting me to think about this topic clearly. With this topic I’m usually aggravated by the “wear a collar, you’ll be more professional” mentality – an extra piece of fabric around anyone’s neck isn’t going to make the work any better!
But more to the point, anything that 1) makes you appear potentially disorganized or 2) inattentive to detail are things that should get our attention. Broken, worn out or sketchy tools or tool/material boxes are examples of things that create a poor impression.
A quality, thought-out tool set in a quality tool bag coming out of an organized, minimally littered vehicle will, to me, easily offset a Skynyrd t-shirt, holey jeans and a 4-day beard.
They say, “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover,” but that’s exactly what book covers are for. If you look like you take your work seriously, I will too. If you look like you’re full of yourself and can’t back it up, I won’t see you again.
Never trust a guy with a shiny hard hat.
Benjamen
I agree about the collar thing, It’s been a pet peeve of mine that “golf” shirts are more professional looking than something like a Henley.
Golf shirts should be abolished as casual dress, all they say to me is that I needed a collar and I was too lazy to put on a proper button down shirt today.
Hepdog
personal / vehicle appearance is 99% of this game. Your typical customer is not going to know the difference between knipex dikes and harbor freight dikes, or black&decker vs dewalt.
BikerDad
This. Which is in contrast to this:
With this topic I’m usually aggravated by the “wear a collar, you’ll be more professional” mentality – an extra piece of fabric around anyone’s neck isn’t going to make the work any better!
It doesn’t make the work any better, but it DOES make getting the work easier, and the customer’s perception of the work better. It doesn’t matter how nice and clean your T-shirt is, whether it’s from the latest charity walk or death metal concert, it’s still UNDERWEAR. Yes, I know that many/most of us consider any printed t-shirt to be adequate outerwear with regards to DOING most trade jobs, but from the customer’s unconscious perspective, a collar means “more professional.”
This isn’t just my supposition, it’s the market reality. Thousands of companies throughout this country spend good money on employee uniforms, and outside of actual sports/performance uniforms, and cocktail waitresses in Vegas, I can’t think of a SINGLE case I’ve seen of uncollared shirts. In the case of big corporations, they’ll spend millions of dollars developing their uniforms, because the uniform is part of the brand image.
Professional appearance: Clean clothes without holes. Hair cut. Not necessarily short hair, just “kempt” as opposed to unkempt. Organized. It’s okay if stuff is worn, as long as it looks to be cared for, not just rescued from the dump.
Sure, it’s possible to be a dandy, more hat than cattle, but in reality, that’s far less of a danger for most folks working in the trades/mechanical world than is the opposite, looking like a slob. It’s sad that so few who work in this world take the approach of K-3 teachers, or many folks who work in medical, etc. That approach is simply this: some of your clothing IS a “work consumable.” Think of it as such, and budget/price for it. I know that in my modest time working construction, the only thing I thought of economically as “work clothing” was my boots.
Keep yourself clean. Keep your equipment clean and functional. It doesn’t have to be sparkling, but if you’ve got extension cords wrapped with duct tape in 6 different places, the crack all the way across your truck’s back window is barely visible because of the grime, and grease caked sawdust falls off your miter saw when you pull it out of your truck, you might want to rethink your approach to maintenance. Because the customer will see that and think “if he doesn’t even care enough to square his tools away, what are the chances he’ll care enough to do a good job?”
Billy
I just saved your whole post. Thank you wise man. You are a gentleman and a scholar.
Billy
I’m going to recite the whole thing to my crew.
mizzourob
The one apparence item that stands out to me is the make of your truck. How often do you see someone in a Nissan, Toyota, or Honda pickup truck on a jobsite? Almost never; it is almost always Ford, Chevrolet/GMC, or Dodge/Ram. On the same token, you also don’t see guys arriving in the short lived Lincoln version of an F150 or an Escalade either. I think the expected is an American owned brand truck that is not overly luxurious.
I had an A/C guy show up two years ago in an El Camino and was this close to telling him to turn around the moment he showed up in my driveway. His work was crap and because of his vehicle I kept watch on him like a hawk I was able to catch him quickly not even actually using his multimeter Just looking at it without it being turned on). Had he arrived in a reasonable vehicle he probably could have swindled me. So I’m glad he didn’t think about his ride.
Travis C
I don’t know what area of the country you are in, however, down here in Florida, the make of your truck isn’t something people are going to turn you away or scowl at. If you pull up in a Toyota Tundra or Nissan Titan and it is clean with minimal wear & tear, there will be no qualms about what you are driving.
There appear to be more Tundra’s than anything around here in North Florida. Can’t be beat for their reliability and as for the ‘not American’ statement that comes along with it, if your homework is done, you know it is assembled here in America (engine & transmission as well), more so than other big name brands.
mizzourob
This was very true when I lived in the Chicago metro area and in the Kansas City metro area. Both happen to have Ford plants that do final assembly, and KC is the home of the F-150 (final) assembly line. I have seen others lash out about how much a company is anti union and “foreign.” I agree that calling any vehicle “American” is a misnomer at best given global supply chains that go into all vehicles.
I might add that I think this is especially true in rural parts of America where there are no Nissan or Toyota dealers. So showing up in one of their trucks screams “I am not from around here” and thus the loss of credibility.
Art
I completely disagree with this just as much as looking at what kind of brand of clothing or boots they are wearing (Jordache!? … off my job site!). I would never discount someone driving a “foreign” truck – I might actually applaud them depending on what kind of setup they have. That’s like stating Knipex-wiedling is inferior to Klein-wielding. Although, those who toddle around with worn boots with the steel toe exposed is lame – we’ve all seen them and maybe are “them”.
clayton
Funny you bring this up it was just discussed on another blog I frequent.
http://www.thisiscarpentry.com/2015/10/09/honor-the-craft/
Adam
I believe that being somewhat tidy and clean does always make for a good first impression. Alot of my long term customers and contractors say that they always check to see if someone shows up with shiny new tools. Well used tools equals experience, no matter if it is Knipex and Milwaukee or Stanley and Black and Decker.
glenn
We always turn up for a job (aircon installs) clean and tidy, clean neat clothes, spotless vehicle, quality tools etc.
Like it or not, but due to human nature, appearance is very important……………… first impressions have an immediate impact on how others perceive you and are also unfortunately enduring.
And as far as choice of vehicle, here in Australia, Japanese utes (trucks) and Japanese and European vans are in the majority. And probably much like everywhere else, we say any with a vehicle too flashy must be charging too much ha ha!
Alex
Too many people assume that their expensive clothing/jewelry/tools are good enough distraction for their lack of knowledge/experience/empathy. Learned that long time ago, so I completely stopped caring about any appearances, only thing that matters to me now is the end result.
Jeremy
No rusty tools. Bags or boxes for everything.
Jerry
I agree that a clean, neat appearance is important, but I don’t really put a lot of stock in having a ‘new’ truck. One guy I know of always seems to drive a ‘new’ truck, but within a few months it winds up looking like a heap. My favorite mechanic’s work truck is from the early 1980s, clean, decent paint, and runs like a Swiss watch. It shows me he knows how to keep older machines running well.
Chris Fyfe
T’s are a big no no to me . Tools should look well ordered , and in good repair . Parts should not be bouncing around a vehicle like so much garbage . I used to wear Kakai in the summer, and dark blue /black in fall and winter . If you do service calls a spare clean shirt is a good idea . If a client she’s you show up clean , and leave dirty – he thinks he’s got the best of you .
Chris
Fran Tark
In Southern California, I have worked alongside two different companies with the exact same story:
1. A very successful Tree Trimming – Arborist company traded in the 2 Ford f-150s that the estimators drove around. They bought 2 Toyota Prius for them figuring the fuel bill and insurance rates would make for good savings.
The percentage of closed deals dropped 23%. Same guys, same company, same quotes, same everything. Except for the car the estimators showed up in. One of the guys drove his personal pick up truck for 2 months to see if it made a difference. His closing rate went right back to normal.
Bye bye Priuses.
2. An artificial turf installer did the same thing. Got a Prius for running around for the estimates. Closing rate fell significantly. Went back to his rather beat up Toyota Tacoma and closing rates resumed.
Strange but true. What you drive matters (at least in SoCal. )
Toolfreak
Fully polished tools are only “professional” in that fully polished ratchets and wrenches used to be so much more expensive that only professionals bothered to spend the extra money for them.
These days, you can get fully polished wrenches and ratchets at wallyworld for cheap, nothing professional about them at all.
I’d think Snap-on, MAC, Matco, SK, Craftsman, etc fully polished tools are professional looking, but that’s something tool nuts will notice more than the average consumer. They are unlikely to know one polished ratchet from another or even see the tools you are using at all.
A clean tool, fully polished, matte, or painted, looks better than some old rusty piece of junk though.
As for “professional appearance” when it comes to clothing, that depends what kind of work you do and how good you are. If you’re the best of the best and can charge whatever you want, you can show up in a bathrobe and bunny slippers.
If you work a job with a lot of competition, consumers probably expect a sterotypical appearance, so you probably do need to look the part, down to showing up in a white pickup truck or cargo van if that’s the norm.
Me personally, I care about ability over appearances and would rather have a job done right by the person who can do it the best, no matter what they wear or drive. I think most reasonable and intelligent people would, but lots of consumers are not reasonable nor intelligent, so they hire people based on superficial appearances that have nothing to do with doing the job.
Jason. W
How you look matters.
I worked as a water damage restoration technician for two years and was in and out of peoples homes on a daily basis. I was the only guy to ever clean his tools. I feel like my tools are a repensintstion of my self, thus they must be kept and in order. They were never spotless, but never filthy. Used, but tidy.
I also had the cleanest and most orginized work vehicle. The vehicle would be the first thing the customer saw, so I wanted to make sure it was a good impression.
Peter
On time, friendly, clean and organized brings it normally home.
One thing I was told once was if there is even a remote chance that you vehicle leaks do not drive on a customers concrete driveway.
Coach James
Of course people care about the end result and can the person actually do the job, but your appearance can determine if you even get to do the job. If someone doesn’t care about how they look or doesn’t care about the importance of first impressions, I worry about their other standards being low.
I own a gym and all my employees are issued staff shirts with our logo on the front. They are t-shirts, but in a gym setting, I am okay with that. They do have to be clean and no holes. Show up in a dirty work shirt and you clock out until you have a clean one. Make it a habit and I let you go permanently.
J.G.
One rule only – if your workwear consists of old and worn “civilian” clothes you intend to “finish” on the jobsite you’re out. In my experience people like that tend to make waay too many shortcuts to save on the costs or labor in hope that nobody notices.
Benjamen
This is going to be a little contrarian, but when I do IT/Tech Support work I try to look as unprofessional as I can. Unshaven, jeans or shorts depending on the weather, obnoxious T-shirt, and baseball cap.
I don’t recommend this if you want to get more work, but I have my reasons. First I hate doing it. and am only doing it as a favor to a couple of people. Second the company has a dress code and I don’t meet it on purpose. It’s a retail setting and when I’m behind the counter I don’t want customers mistaking my for an employee.
Benjamen
I can’t stand contractors that say they will be somewhere on a certain day or time and then never show up, no call, no nothing. I understand jobs taking longer or unexpected situations, but at least have the common courtesy to call and say that you won’t be there.
It’s amazing how many of these ***holes I’ve dealt with and they seem to be all the same: Lousy.
When I was getting quotes to have my driveway done, this one contractor said, yeah, I’ll be there Friday to measure it up, talk to me about what I wanted, and give me a quote. He said he would call and give me a time to meet. So I waited all day Friday, nothing. He called me back on Sunday and said “sorry,” then lets do it on Monday, again no time given. Guess what happened, I didn’t hear anything until Thursday when I noticed some guy measuring my driveway.
There was no way in hell he was getting my business after that, but to be vindictive I talked to him for about an hour to waste his time.
His quote can in at a pretty good price, but I went with a concrete guy who actually communicated…answered his phone, was where he said he was going to be and when. He did a damn fine job and was a pleasure to work with.
Simon
I wear $3 dollar Vegas shirts and $8 sweats
I’ve been the highest earner the last 2 years with the company I work for. (6figures)
That being said I have the most orginized site out of anyone and I use the absolute best tools for the job.
I think my attitude shows through far more than my appearance and I’m they guy they gets sent when there is a tight time schedule because I get the job done correctly the first time.
I’m also the guy that customers ask for back becuase my work (not my appearance) is proffesional
What you wear is NOT who you are or how you work that’s a pretty broad stereo type.
But I’m probably the exception to the rule
john
For me as long there are just a few basics, no swearing in clients properties, absolutely no spitting, company shirt and turn up looking clean and fresh.
I actually am a bit on the flipside when it comes to the “ultra” uber tradesmen. Brand new tools, brand new workwear, brand new vehicle makes me think brand new to the trade and that’s not a good look.
Not sure if you have the same in the US but one big no for me is personalised number plates. Roll up to a job in a van with your name on the plate and its not good.
With the image conscious tradesmen in my experience its often style over substance. I don’t go to work to show off and I don’t need to impress clients with my shiny van or shiny tools, my work speaks for me.
magic
Saw a guy in a chevy half ton driving around with a miller bobcat or trailblazer in the back. Not secured or anything, sliding around.
Wonder how many calls for work he gets
Nathan
Wow – interesting comments. and I have to say a simple summary might be.
I expect the person to work/dress/act/think – like I do. Example – I try to keep my tools clean and in good working order – I’d expect some contractor I hire to so the same.
I expect them to wear clothes that fit, and aren’t in a shambles. note I didn’t say clean persay – guy’s a painter I don’t mind seeing some paint on the guys clothes – it happens. but not ripped pants, threadbare shirts etc. I don’t wear stuff like that to work in and yes I’ve gotten grease and corrosion compound on my trousers too.
think like – I don’t’ expect a guy to roll up in a brand new ____________, but I also don’t expect it to be a torn down hooptie, or on 26″s or etc. but reasonable useful transportation that looks partially taken care of. Example my HVAC guy uses a Safari van – probably one of the last made – but it’s practical and useful for him. covered transportation for goods – racks for tools, parts, etc, I honestly would consider many of the newer vans for a contractor vehicle before a truck today. if I was in the market for one. Now nothing wrong with a truck either but like someone said. is stuff stored, chocked in, tied etc. If the guy doesn’t give a shit about his equipment why would I expect him to give a shit about mine.
act like – I expect yes sir and no sir, because that’s also what I give out. I expect speaking clear mostly proper english.
With that I like to think the person would perform the duty with the diligence and care I would give it. but alas I do have to be a touch realistic – since I’m choosing not to do said work there must be a reason why – often it has to do with I don’t have that license or I don’t have that time.
Anton
We use a gray Toyota Sienna van for smaller deliveries and it boggles peoples minds. But it get much better mpgs and is more maneuverable and easier to drive in LA traffic the our dually crew cab. But the dually is the one that gets the “nice truck” comments. Just got a promaster van, we’ll see how it goes.
Stan
I’ll admit, some of the comments here are in fact reasonable and I legitimately agree with and others, I don’t. Undoubtedly, my post may ruffle some feathers, but I am going to write what others might be thinking, but might be reluctant to post.
Personally, when I hire a contractor, I am not looking for a friend, a therapist, or anything but someone to perform a job either I am not able to do due to lack of knowledge or just don’t want to do. Sure I’ll be polite, professional and be as clear as I can with what I need to be done, but you do not need to dress in a suite and tie to impress me. All that I ask, is that the work is done and common sense is used.
Tools are meant to be used and if the contractor uses rusted tools, that is their choice. As long as the contractor cleans up after they are done, I am fine with that. This is unreasonable to expect a contractor to have a new set of tools for every job or to have tools that don’t have a micron of dirt/rust on them.
As for their clothes, common sense needs to be used. Suits and ties are not going to impress me, but the overall work and worker will. To expect a contractor dress in only pristine clothing, especially when the work might be dusty, dirty or involve paint/other additives, is not fair to them. Instead of being so judgmental what they look similar to, why not give them a chance on their actual work?
This is understandable that most people don’t want to hire a “slob”, but some have such outright unreasonable expectations, some are more focused on appearances than the actual work. I’ll gladly take someone who doesn’t wear designer clothing, but is licensed and is skilled in their professional than someone that feels that they must dress to impress.
Lastly, vehicles. This is where I disagree the most with the comments here and in general. Just because a person drives a Prius, an older car, a car that comes from another country or any other factors, does NOT ALWAYS mean a contractor is incompetent, lazy, a bad person or any deeper meaning. Maybe there are reasons they drive these cars and to judge them solely on that is hardly reasonable. Unless you know the person, writing them off right away for their car is hardly justified.
Now if the car is in very bad shape or is leaking, that is another story, but there might be a reason behind that as well.
In a nutshell, give some people one fair chance. Believe it or not, no one is perfect or 100% the “good guy” all the time. We all have our flaws, preferences and opinions. Being cruel to a person based on their appearances only is very petty. Yes, ALL humans are judgmental, myself included, but at the very least we can try to act similar to rational, thinking adults. Hatred and cruelty only bread hatred and cruelty. Understanding and professionalism are better for all.
Stuart
When I took my GRE’s (grad school entrance exam), one of my essay questions was to argue for or against something like: “You Can Tell a Lot About the Men and Women of a Society by Their Outward Appearance.” Or maybe it was about how they dress? It was something like that.
Nobody is talking about “being cruel to a person based on their appearances” or writing people off based solely on what they drive.
The tools one uses, the clothes they wear when on the job, and other factors CAN reflect on their work ethic.
A successful photographer wouldn’t use an entry-level consumer camera.
With everything else being equal, would you be more inclined to hire a contractor that shows up in an unmarked sedan and street clothes, or one that shows in up a pickup truck or work van with their business name emblazoned on the side, and who’s wearing business name-customized work clothes?
When I receive a press release, reach-out, or other type of message from an unknown contact, I look at the email address. While I generally give everyone a fair chance, I always find it a little odd when I see an aol email address. The same goes for yahoo, msn, comcast, optonline, and gmail email addresses. Having a business email address, such as joeshmoe@ jsmedia.com, rather than joeshmoe@ aol.com. is a little, but impactful thing for an independent PR rep to do. I know some very capable PR people with personal email addresses, but first contact with a personal email address is still a little weird to me.
Benjamen
Good point on the email address. I always try to choose the appropriate email address for whom I’m contacting, but having 5 I regularly use (down from 10), sometimes I forget and just use my gmail address.
If I’m talking to a guy about IT stuff and they have a yahoo or aol address, I’m highly suspect, but a gmail address would be fine.
Setting up a domain for your business is so cheap and most have really simple ways to get your email…I can’t believe that people don’t do it. Even my dad has one for his contracting business…given he asked me to set it up.
That said I knew people who used their personal email for business because the company they worked for had horrible email that was a pain to use, so they didn’t