How Long Does It Take to Make a First Impression?

I was recently contacted via Zoodango by Jeff Collins and invited to attend an event he was hosting in my area. When I received the invite his name sounded familiar like I had heard it before but I could not place where.  Once I read his email address @myhaberdasher.com I instantly knew that this is the guy I had been hearing about all over town!  I had heard about this "my haberdasher" guy who comes to your office and helps you design a business wardrobe.  I had interacted with at least 3 male executives who have used his serivces over the past 3 months and was excited to get the chance to meet Jeff in person. 

When I met Jeff I could see why he was so popular.  He was very friendly and engaging and was dressed impeccably.  I instantly felt that if I was a guy I would treasure the opportunity to have this friendly and knowledgeable person come to my office and help me design a wardrobe. 

Meeting and talking with Jeff made me ponder the idea of how long does it really take to make a good first impression and how much does ones personal appearance play into their success at work and in life.  I decided to toss these questions to Jeff to get his expert opinion. 

This is what Jeff had to say:

1.       What is the most rewarding aspect of your role as a personal haberdasher?

I believe the most rewarding part of anyone’s career is when you help a person who lacks knowledge by educating them; when you embrace the role as teacher or consultant.  In my business that comes when a person who does not know how to dress well is taught the basics of creating a wardrobe and then adds key pieces of clothing to create multiple great outfits.  As a result they gain an appreciation for dressing well and get compliments from people in an area they never would have before.

I also enjoy working with clients who buy higher end clothing by showing them they can spend the same or less and receive better quality & fit.  They rarely realize that there should be a difference in quality, construction and fit when they pay more rather than the difference residing solely in a label, style or a fabric that caught their eye.  These clients can have it all in design, fit, fabric and construction.

2.       Do you think appearance is a factor in people reaching their maximum potential?

Anyone inside or out of business can tell you about the importance of the first impression.  I shouldn’t have to elaborate too much on this.  It should be obvious that your grooming and what you wear will directly influence those around you. 

However, one thing that is often overlooked is the ongoing opinions of your coworkers and business acquaintances.  It’s hard to measure the impact of receiving compliments vs. the absence of compliments.  I hear from my clients all the time about how they wore a certain outfit and had three or four people come up to them to compliment them.  If that didn’t have an impact on their self-image then they wouldn’t have told me about it.  What they think about themselves is a factor in people reaching their maximum potential and if what others think about them affects this then there definitely is a link.

3.       What is one common mistake you see and how would you correct this

There are lots of little mistakes men make such as not matching belts and shoes, wearing ‘high water’ trousers, really old ties, coat sleeves that are too long, sport coats with ratty cotton pants, awful black tennis shoes with a suit (because they’re comfy), an ill fitting shirt, short ties, un-shined shoes, continuing to wear pants that they used to fit into… should I go on? 

The thing I try to help my customers do is buy clothing in collections instead of one item impulse buys.  To understand what I’m talking about here is an example.  Most men have bought a suit, shirt or tie while they were out and about because they really liked it.  When they returned home they couldn’t match it with anything they had.  This is a Big Mistake, because unless they take it back to a store and buy clothing around it then that money was wasted.  Often I hear from men, ‘I need to buy a couple suits or I need new shirts or it’s time for new ties.’  What I encourage my clients to do is buy these items together so we know they will coordinate well with what they have now as well as what we planning on them adding in the future.  Perhaps instead of two new suits they would be better off with one suit, five shirts and five ties.  This not only results in a well rounded wardrobe, but also less time and energy shopping.  Most men can appreciate that.

So there you have it!  Thank you, Jeff, for sharing your insight!  You can read more about what Jeff has to say on his blog.   

I will take a few extra seconds in the morning to make sure my wardrobe matches my mission for the day. 

Comments

[Greg Butler]

My wife and I attended a financial planning seminar yesterday and she commented to me afterwards that she could not understand why the men were both wearing pants that made them look like they were wearing their father's suit pants. So it's not too short or too long that gets her vote in interviewing a man for a job but just right.