Tag Archive for: dress for success

Dress for Persuasion Success

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There’s an old saying you’re probably familiar with – Dress for Success. I can remember hearing that when I graduated from college and entered the business world more than 25 year ago. The basic premise was encouraging you to dress the part and feel the part. In other words, dress like a successful CEO and you’ll carry yourself like one, and then maybe, just maybe one day you’ll be a successful CEO.

That’s not bad advice because a study of persuasion confirms that dressing the part goes a long way when it comes to authority. The principle of authority tells us people defer to those who are viewed as experts and those who possess specialized knowledge. In times of uncertainty the power of authority is magnified greatly.
One way people make quick decisions about a person comes through something known as the “trappings of success.” Think about this picture for just a moment – a man wearing a well tailored navy blue suit, pressed white shirt with a power tie, a Rolex watch, gold pen and polished wing tipped shoes. Would you assume that man is successful? Most people do. The rapid thoughts that lead to that conclusion might go something like this – That’s an expensive looking suit, he probably paid someone polish those shoes, that’s definitely an expensive watch. He must have money or make a lot of money. He might be a VP or CEO.
Maybe those aren’t your exact thoughts but you know what I mean. Despite mom telling is to never judge a book by its cover we do make judgments about people based on dress. Expensive = Money = Success.
Several months ago Cathrine Moestue wrote about this and I’ve decided to reinforce the concept because of something that caught my attention a few weeks prior to her post. I’d left a restaurant after lunch wearing a nice sports coat and slacks. As I waited at the cross walk I looked left and right and saw no cars were coming so I crossed even though the signal flashed the don’t walk sign. There were two men casually dressed on the other side of the street who clearly had no intentions of crossing. However, as the saw me cross they had a momentary look that told me there were now contemplating doing the same. Seconds later it was evident they took my actions as their cue because they too crossed against the light.
They might deny they did so because I was well dressed as would most people. After all, what does wearing a suit have to do with persuading people to jaywalk? To test the theory about dress impacting authority and people’s actions, some social scientists arranged for a man to cross the street against the light and watched to see how many people would follow his lead over the course of a day. The man was dressed in casual attire one day and on another day they performed the same experiment only this time the man crossing against the light wore a suit.
Here’s the result – 350% more people took a cue from the man in the suit and jaywalked, breaking the law. You can literally say they followed suit when he was in a suit! I found it interesting that the two men I saw took their cue from me when I was dressed very business-like.
It needs to be stated that a suit may not always be the right attire to persuade because the audience needs to be considered. I work for an insurance company and one product we sell is farm insurance. The manager of that department rightly shared once that a company representative visiting a farm in a suit would not have as much credibility as the representative who dressed more like the farmer. Likewise, a tuxedo might indicate money but no one wears a tux to the office.
When considering your audience you want them to have a connection with you so dressing in a similar manner but one step up can assure you get the benefit of that bonding and an air of authority. If you happen to be overdressed you can usually find ways to tone it down a bit – like removing a tie or coat – but if you’re underdressed it’s hard, sometimes impossible to recover.
So here’s my persuasion advice: next time you go to an important meeting or presentation make sure you get the full benefit of authority by making the right choice of clothing. Doing so will add to your persuasive abilities but failing to do this might just be the reason you hear “No” instead of “Yes.”

Brian, CMCT
influencepeople 
Helping You Learn to Hear “Yes”.

Influence for Professional and Personal Success

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I’ve been very busy lately, lots of travel and presentations revolving around influence and persuasion. Several weeks ago I was in Chicago for the NAMIC (National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies) Personal Lines Convention. I followed that up with at trip to Penn State University where I got to address members of the Keystone Insurers Group. Next it was a small business owner’s event hosted by EasyIT in my hometown, Columbus, Ohio. As you read this it’s very likely I’m in Milbank, S.D., training State Auto field people. Then I’m off to Greensboro, N.C., next week for another Keystone conference. I get to finally catch my breath in late May!

When I address groups to talk about influence, early on I let them know I’m passionate about the subject for a couple reasons. First and foremost, I’ve seen the application of the principles of influence lead to success for me personally as well as for people I’ve trained. When an insurance agent tells me they landed a large account after trying for three years because they used what I taught them or another says they applied what they learned and it worked like magic you can understand we all feel pretty darn good.

Another reason I’m passionate about influence and persuasion is because understanding and ethically applying the principles of influence will not only help your career, it can help your personal life as well. After all, when you leave work you’re still interacting with people and quite often you’re making requests of them, hoping to hear, “yes!” Lots of training programs can help you succeed on the job but not too many can promise to make you better away from the office too.

Aristotle, a pretty smart guy, said persuasion was, “the art of getting someone to do something they wouldn’t ordinarily do if you didn’t ask.” That’s a pretty solid definition. After all, if someone is already doing what you want then there’s no need to ask, no need to persuade. The problem is, too often they’re not doing what you’d like. The challenge for you is how to make your request.

I would differ from Aristotle on one point; art vs. science. My definition of persuasion would, “the science of getting someone to do something they wouldn’t ordinarily do if you didn’t ask.” Social psychologists have been studying the science of influence for more than six decades now. Based in the vast research we know there are better ways – “Best Practices,” if you will – when it comes to making requests of others.

I’m not a social psychologist; I’m a sales coach and sales trainer. I immerse myself in books dealing with psychology with an eye towards how to take what I’m learning and apply it to the real world – professionally and personally. If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time then you know I write primarily about business applications but also devote a good deal to personal issues like parenting. I do this because I so clearly see the principles of influence helping in both areas.

Fortunately for me most people don’t know much about the science and are eager to learn. I opened by saying I’ve been on the road a lot lately and something caught my eye during my travels that I want to share with all of you as a clear way of demonstrating the application of influence could make a big difference.

I recently stayed at a hotel conference center called The Penn Stater. When I walked into my room I noticed a placard in the bathroom that encouraged guests to consider reusing towels to help the environment. That’s a worthy cause but unfortunately the hotel bungled away an opportunity to move more people towards that environmentally friendly action.

I wrote about a similar situation two years ago in an article called Cruising Along with Influence just after taking a Royal Caribbean vacation. Neither Royal Caribbean nor The Penn Stater took advantage of the science that tells us there are more effective ways to change behavior than just appealing to saving the environment for future generations.

A study was conducted on this very subject in an attempt to determine the most effective messaging to get hotel guests to reuse their towels on their first night staying at the hotel. In the study, door hangers were used just like they were with Royal Caribbean and The Penn Stater. In the study one door hanger used a message with only an environmental appeal, “Help Save the Environment,” followed by information on the importance of the environment. Going green is prominent today so that message was somewhat effective and towel reuse went up 37.2%.

A second message was tested, one that engaged the principle of consensus. The principle of consensus tells us people’s actions are influence by what others are doing. This door hanger read, “Join Your Fellow Guests in Helping Save the Environment.” Below the heading it mentioned 75% of guests had participated in the new towel reuse program at some point during their stay. This message was much more effective because towel reuse rate was 44.0% on the first night.

In slight variation of that second door hanger another message was tested, one that stated 75% of the guests in that particular room had participated. When that message was used the towel reuse went up to 49%! That’s nearly a 33% increase over the environmentally friendly message just because a few words were changed. If you knew you could change your message – at no cost – and get a 33% increase in response wouldn’t that be the smart thing to do?

This is just one simple example of how theory becomes practice. There’s no guarantee you’ll get the same boost as studies show but it’s almost guaranteed you’ll get better results than you’re currently getting because the science says so. And who knows, you might get lucky and have even better results!

Brian, CMCT
influencepeople
Helping You Learn to Hear “Yes”.

The Trappings of Success

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Ever heard of Marc Dreier? Probably not because he was overshadowed by someone I’m willing to bet you have heard of, Bernie Madoff. What a great name – Madoff – because he made off with everyone’s money! Madoff captured headlines about the same time Marc Dreier was being apprehended because Madoff’s billion dollar Ponzi scheme finally blew up. Marc Dreier was involved in his own fraudulent activity, to the tune of $700 million! No small potatoes but not quite the billion dollars Madoff was bilking people out of so Dreier flew “under the radar,” so to speak.

As I watched the 60 Minutes rerun in which Dreier was interviewed something he said caught my attention. When Steve Croft asked about his $18 million yacht, $10.5 million condo and other expensive possessions, Drier said, “Having the trappings of success was an important part of the plan.” The plan he was referring to was getting people to invest in his bogus business deals. When you’re courting millionaires you better look the part yourself if you want their confidence and their money.

All this leads to an important principle of influence – authority. This principle tells us people look to those they view as more knowledgeable than themselves, experts if you will, when they’re not sure what to do. The question is; how do you establish your authority get people to view you as an expert?Dreier was absolutely right when he talked about the trappings of success being necessary. You might be amazed at the difference they can make. And what are these trappings? Let’s look at a few, starting with appearance.Dress for success is more than just a slogan. Believe it or not something simple like a suit can make a big difference because a suit conveys authority. In his book Influence Science and Practice, Robert Cialdini details a study that proves this point as three and a half times more people follow a man in a suit when he crosses the traffic against the light than they followed a man in slacks and a t-shirt. Speaking of dress; wearing a uniform can make all the difference depending on the situation. For example, John Doe telling you to do something might not cause you to act. However, police officer John Doe giving the same instructions in his uniform, would probably elicit action from people.Jewelry, as long as it’s not flaunted in an over the top way, makes a positive difference too. When someone is seen with an expensive designer pen, wearing a Rolex watch or having gold rings, an air of wealthy is conveyed, and wealth usually comes from success.While these can also be false signs of success, too often they’re overlooked by people when they could really help. This comes to mind because not long ago we walked by Radio Shack and I commented about a salesman who’d helped us. Jane said the young guy was nice and helpful but he ought to invest in getting his shirts and pants pressed. Most times we’ve seen him he looks kind of messy and disheveled. A few simple adjustments to his appearance would make a very positive impression and give confidence to potential customers.Like it or not, it’s a fact that people do judge a book by its cover and every person you meet for the first time is assessing you. Sometimes it’s a very conscious act but most of the time it registers in the subconscious. I’m willing to guess there have been times when you met people and instantly liked or disliked them. If you were asked why you might not know the reasons but if you took the time to dissect the situation and your interaction with the person I’m sure you’d piece together all those things your subconscious registered in seconds.So here’s your takeaway – next time you go into a situation where you know you need to be persuasive, give thought to your audience and the environment you’ll be in. Make sure you have the trappings of authority in addition to a persuasive presentation and the odds of hearing “Yes” will increase significantly.Brian
influencepeople
Helping You Learn to Hear “Yes”.