On Appearance
There’s an old fable in public accounting that goes something like this:
Accountants dress like their clients. If your client wears a suit, you do to. Care should also be taken not to out-dress your clients. An accounting firm partner and staff went to present a bid to a potential client. The members of the firm wore suits and ties. They arrive at the client’s location and the personnel are all wearing jeans and T-shirts. The presentation goes well and the firm gets the job.
The members of the firm show up for the engagement when work begins. Recalling that they felt overdressed for the presentation, they tone their attire down and wear business casual clothing. They show up and, to their surprise, the client’s personnel are all wearing business suits and professional attire.
Dumbfounded about the dress code, the partner approaches a member of the client’s management and inquires about the dress code:
“When we presented, you were wearing jeans. Now we show up for the work and you’re wearing suits. What gives?”
The client responds:
“When you presented to us, we were buying something. Today, we’re selling something.”
February 12th, 2004 at 12:18 pm
My policy is that business is done in a suit and a white shirt and wingtip shoes (especially the business I’m in). Even at trade shows (although we’ve been relaxing on that a little).
I get some ribbing for it sometimes, but to me it shows respect for the client.
It goes back to working with all these IBM guys when I was first starting out. I was always impressed by how sharp they looked, from the field engineers on up to the salesmen and account executives.
The worst day in IBM history was when Lou Gerstner accepted the job as president and showed up at his first press conference in a blue shirt.
February 12th, 2004 at 12:22 pm
I used to get ribbing in accounting on my suits because i don’t typically buy standard blue/black suits. Of my 7 or so suits, one is plain blue. The rest are in non-standard colors like brown, green, and light gray. However, it never did affect my job or presentations. Of course, I was also the only one at the firm with any facial hair. Now i’m seeing why public accounting wasn’t for me.