I have always tried to dress well - pressed suit, polished shoes, well-ironed shirt, clean tie and cuting a bit of a dash with a silk pocket square. I am not fond of the modern trend of business casual is simply removing your tie.
Now I wonder does it matter? I have started a new practice and my initial client base is predominantly early-stage businesses run by twenty/thirty-somethings, many of whom do not appear to own a tie.
I have tactfully asked clients and some mentors and get very inconsistent answers. I should be grateful for the thoughts of fellow practitioners.
Replies (34)
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Dress for yourself
When I've run my own show, I've always dressed for myself. Usually that means suits, shirts, ties, pocket square and decent shoes sometimes that means jeans and a t-shirt.
There is no 'one look' that suits every client
Some will see your image as too formal, some will see lack of a tie or jeans as too informal. So if you can't please everyone ... please yourself.
First impressions last...
If you phoned for a plumber, and a man in a chefs hat turned up, you might be disappointed. So on first meeting there's no harm in looking like someone who knows what they are doing. As you get to know your client, you can adjust. Even if your clients are casual, they might be looking to you to add something they haven't got (or why would they need you). This includes rigour, self discipline etc...
Formal for at least the first meeting
For a first meeting with a new client I would dress quite formally; suit, tie, white shirt etc. Only after I had got to know them a bit more, especially concerning their attitude to a dress code, would I consider maybe getting rid of the tie.
Mind you, I'm a bit old school and it was only last year that I finally got rid of my top hat.
I usually wear a suit and tie. If wanting to be a 'touch' more casual, I will wear shirt, tie, black trousers and a sports jacket.
On a similar note, what is the consensus on briefcases these days? I usually walk in to a client's swinging my Samsonite (with initials emblazoned of course). :-) (I'm not joking)
The only answer necessary
It works in all social situations - parties, dinner, theatre, meeting the other half's parents etc.Better to be overdressed than underdressed I think...
Depends
Summer - shorts, T-shirt, flip flops. Meetings by appointment only - in which case its Polo T-shirt and jeans .
Winter - sweatshirt and jeans or shirt jumper and jeans for meetings.
Suit - court, weddings christenings, funerals etc.
clients view
A client told me that their bank manager was rubbish. Why I asked, the client replied I don't think he owns a suit, he is scruffy.
Needless to say I make sure that I stick to formal dress when meeting this particular client.
Dress appropriately
It's totally down to what is appropriate. We have a dress code which basically says 'think about who you're meeting'. For example, we act for a firm of solicitors who have a formal dress code so I wear a suit when I visit them. We also act for a design agency client just round the corner from the solicitors and if I went there I'd wear jeans and a bright shirt.
Generally speaking we're smart casual. I've no problem with a more formal dress code but it doesn't fit 90% of our client base. There are a lot of creative who don't like 'suits' telling them what to do.
One point I do agree on is that if I put on a suit I'll always wear a tie as well.
Ditto Kent Accountant
For over 15 years and, although I have no idea whether I have lost, or failed to gain, a client because of how I dress, if I have, they are not one I'd want.
We are all different (but some more different than others!) but the common factor is feeling comfortable and at ease when dealing with people, so whatever "suits"
Agree
Polo shirt summer and rugby shirt winter. Most of my clients are at the low end of the market and they want to feel they can talk to me as an equal.
It suits my client base. Won't be right for everyone.
I have a suit. Didn't use it for my wedding. Don't always use it for funerals.
More than one client a day
I am puzzled by the "I dress as appropriate for the particular client" brigade. Do they:
see only one client each day, orarrange appointments to see only similar clients on one day, orchange their clothes during the day for different clients?
How do they deal with "walk ins" to their offices?
More than one client a day
I am puzzled by the "I dress as appropriate for the particular client" brigade. Do they:
see only one client each day, orarrange appointments to see only similar clients on one day, orchange their clothes during the day for different clients?
How do they deal with "walk ins" to their offices?
To clarify - walk ins are coming into my environment so they get what we feel is appropriate, in our case this is smart casual but could easily be suits. If I go into someone else's premises then I dress appropriately to their environment.
Sometimes I my need to dress to suit the smartest meeting of the day. I have been known to turn up at a clients office and apologise for the 'corporate' appearance because I'd just been to a more formal meeting!
my view
I just try to be smart for a first meeting, though this doesn't usually extend to a tie. Chinos or smart trousers + smart shirt. Jacket if it's at their place, unless it's a very hot day when I wouldn't wear the jacket.
My approach has become slacker recently. I would always change out of my "home" clothes for a meeting but with established clients now I often don't bother.
In my last three 'industry' jobs, no one wore a suit.
It's funny, but in my last three industry jobs (covering about 15 years) no one wore a suit. If you turned up in one it was presumed you were going to bunk off early and attend an interview.
However, when an interviewee turned up for interview not in a suit (ie wearing what the rest of us were wearing) it was presumed very odd.
In my situation I tend to mirror what ever my boss of the time wears. Currently that tends to be chino's, smart shirt without tie, polished shoes and cufflinks.
Sounds good ...
In my situation I tend to mirror what ever my boss of the time wears. Currently that tends to be chino's, smart shirt without tie, polished shoes and cufflinks.
And if your boss is a woman?
... to me :o)
MSD1968 mentioned Monty Python stereotype
For young folk, it's worth a view:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azkFz1ZbXyU
I've mentioned this before but worth a refresh. When John Cleese went to see his own accountant after the sketch he gritted his teeth and asked him whether he had been insulted, to which his accountant said "Oh no, it was about Chartered Accountants, I'm a Certified Accountant".
Enough of this gay banter
Brilliant sketch, Paul. Monty Python could be either extremely childish or incredibly funny. This was one of the latter :)
If I wear a dress ...
... it is normally my little black number, although I have a low-cut red one with slits up the thighs for "special" clients, and always stockings not tights.
All been said
above about dress code.
However what do you feel about shaving!
I would never come to work without shaving but it is not unusual to come across those who do not - even professionals cultivate the fashionable stubble on their chins!
Brazilian
above about dress code.
However what do you feel about shaving!
I would never come to work without shaving but it is not unusual to come across those who do not - even professionals cultivate the fashionable stubble on their chins!
I tend to wax.
I always shave ...
... stubble really chafes and if it gets too longs it gets caught in the mesh.
Seriously, if no one due in I may skip, but generally not, especially in summer because as a hay-fever sufferer I find it collects pollen under my nose if I don't.
Don't bother with a suit generally
Tend to meet clients at home in the evening (part time practice) - if I've had a suit on at the day job I keep it one, if not I don't dress up (day job has no real dress code).
Once whilst in the process of moving I got a bit muddled with my calendar and forgot I'd arranged a client meeting and was about to go for a run - as he came striding towards my door I was stood there in running shorts, t-shirt and dayglo trainers, most bizarre initial consultation to date...... and yes, he's now a client!
Most of my clients are tradesmen and other non suit wearers and I don't think they place that much importance on appearance.
I think ...
... this thread should be linked!
https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/group-thread/hagrid-lookalike-or-mozart-courtroom
Brazillian?
I did have a Brazillian once - but I swapped it for an Argentinian as the sleeves were too short.