And even his negative experience with overdressing, so to speak, underlines the power of image. I wore good slacks, a sport shirt, carried a soft briefcase. Turner looked around and found that the successful contractors in his area were wearing professional-looking whites, with the business name and personal name on the shirt. I found that by dressing in nice, casual clothes instead of work clothes, a lot of customers assumed I must be too expensive before I could even give them a bid. On those calls, he wears sport coats and shined shoes.
Commercial clients expect to see a businessman.
In either case, you have to dress in clean clothes, because you want to set yourself apart from the basic station wagon warrior. Here again, the trick is to look polished. Previous articles in PWC have stressed the importance of having a brochure, and that fact never changes. But your packet doesn't need to look like Life magazine to be effective. Bob Herman, of Bob's Painting in Albuquerque, NM, found that out the hard way.