Portraying the Right Image

There has been something on my mind for the past several weeks, and I want to share a bit about it today. This stems from something I encountered while I was at my vendor booth at the local county fair, and I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind. The experience I encountered there reminded me about the importance of portraying the right image for your company.

Whether it is your own company or a company that you are working for, it is so important to portray the right image. Let’s first talk about the experience I encountered, and then I’ll share some tips!

Networking with Fellow Vendors

As a business-to-business service provider, I knew before I even signed up to have a booth at the fair that most of my potential customers were going to be the fellow vendors. Also, since it was my first year at the event as a vendor, I ended up being in one of the side buildings instead of the main commercial building.

So, throughout the week, I picked a couple of different afternoons when the traffic at the booth was really slow, I took a handful of business cards with me, and I walked through the other buildings to introduce myself to the other vendors.

You will hear this time and time again from anyone who writes blogs like this, but networking is so very important!  I am actually an introvert, and I am terrible at small talk.  But, I did it. You have to do it.

What Happened?

Anyway, as I was making my rounds, I came across a booth of someone who is in the same industry as me but is not a competitor. (For the record, networking with competitors is important, also!) In this case though, since their customers are likely to be the same demographic as mine, I wanted to introduce myself and start a relationship.

As I approached the booth, I noticed that this person was slouched down in a camping chair, wearing casual clothing, with her head all the way down looking at her cell phone.  I first said, “Hello,” as I stood in front of her booth, and she did not look up or acknowledge me.  Then, I said, “Excuse me,” and she – I’m not kidding you – looked up from her phone at me and said, “What?”

The rest of the exchange went accordingly and ended with me awkwardly shoving a business card at her while not understanding what she said when I asked her about her business.

Guys, I don’t even know what else to say about this. Please don’t do this.

Dressing the Part

When I was preparing for my week at the fair, I knew it would be hot, and that everyone attending would be in casual shorts/t-shirts/etc. attire. I was trying to decide what to wear because I knew that it would be hot, long days … but I also knew I wanted and needed to look professional. So, shorts and blue jeans were out. I also didn’t really want the totally formal look of dress pants. So, I decided to wear professional dresses with nice cardigans.

While I was at the booth, I had someone come up and ask me why I was wearing a dress.  I can’t remember how I answered that particular gentleman, I think I just smiled. But the answer? If you want to be taken seriously, you have to take yourself seriously.  I have a MARKETING business.  I am expecting my clients to hire me to help them MARKET their business.  How will they trust me to do that successfully for them, if I can’t successfully market my own business?

Interviewing in a Beach Town

Many years ago, I had been the Event Manager at the Galveston Chamber of Commerce for a couple of years and was accustomed to wearing business suits and actually ironing my clothes every day. I moved to a small beach town out in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and I had an interview there for a customer service position.

Without even thinking about it, I put my black skirt and suit jacket and went to my interview.  This was a BEACH town, folks.  I probably COULD have worn shorts and sandals to this thing and still gotten the job.  The supervisor who hired me told me later that I was the buzz of the office that day.  “Who was that girl?” … and … “I can’t remember the last time I saw someone wearing a suit jacket!”  Later, once I met everyone, they said, “Oh – YOU were that person who interviewed here in a suit?” You know what, though? I made an impression, and I got the job.

Anyway, just consider your clothing when you are planning for your next event, or even just your next client meeting. Everyone’s business is different, and every situation is different, but be aware of your appearance.

Tips for Portraying the Right Image

Dress Appropriately

We already talked about your clothing. Just be smart when selecting your clothing for your professional event or meeting, and make sure it looks nice. Your clothes don’t have to be expensive, they just have to be clean, pressed, in style, and fit well.  Confession: I buy the majority of my wardrobe at secondhand stores and yard sales. Yes, it’s true!

Present a Neat Appearance

Groomed hair, beards, makeup, clean fingernails, brushed teeth. Again, you don’t have to spend loads of money at salons or anything like that – just don’t go somewhere looking and/or smelling like you just rolled out of bed or came from a workout.

Smile

Yep, put a smile on your face. If you want people to approach you, you have to look like you want to be approached. It’s as simple as that.

Initiate Conversation

In a booth setting especially, people generally aren’t going to just walk up to you and start talking.  Talk to them as they walk by your booth.  I’m not talking about inundating them with your sales pitch right from the start – I’m just talking about saying hello, and asking them how their day is going. At the fair, perhaps asking them what the malt flavor of the day is or about their favorite fair food.  Ask them SOMETHING, get them to STOP walking.

Network

I mentioned this above, but it’s so important that I am going to mention it again. People aren’t going to know what you do or what you have to offer if you don’t initiate a conversation and tell them about it.

Put Your Phone Down

As a society, we have gotten so awful about our phones and tablets being so essential to our day.  Be careful that you aren’t totally engrossed in your phone.  I know you have work to do. So do I, and so does everyone else at the show, meeting, class, etc.  If you must check your voicemail or email, do it quickly and discreetly, and put your phone down. If you look so interested in your phone instead of what is going on around you, you will likely miss whatever is going on around you that you were there for anyway.

Good Luck!

Basically, just think about how you feel when you walk through an event or meeting. What are other vendors and colleagues doing or not doing that catches your eye – good, bad, or otherwise? As with many things in life, you can learn a lot just by observing other people. And keep in mind that as they are observing you, you want to fall in the “good” category.

If you have any additional suggestions, please share them in the comments. Thanks for reading!

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Here is a video I posted on my YouTube account about this earlier this week if you’d like to check it out.