How to be Consistent
Once you’ve built an image that is desirable and works, go to work with it every single day. Every single day.
This is really important. There will be times when you feel like wearing something else, like a tee shirt or jeans. Don’t do it! Let’s say that you go to a certain restaurant all the time because you love the way they cook your steak. How do you suppose your steak that you ordered medium well would taste if the chef said to himself, “I don’t feel like cooking this medium well, I’ll make it well done.” You’d be disappointed because you had come to expect it cooked a certain way. This is how others will feel if they see you dressing in something other than your uniform.
When you are consistent with your image you begin to create reliability. Your customers, employer and peers begin to know what to expect from you. And they begin to get a feeling that they can count on you.
Along with characteristics like cleanliness, consistency is another spoke in the wheel. Take a few spokes out and the wheel becomes out of balance. You need all of the spokes to succeed.
To be consistent with your image means to always present yourself the same way all of the time. Never let a customer or your manager see you in dirty or torn clothes. Never let them see you in the wrong kind of shoes, hat or not well groomed.
Be consistent.
10 Ways to be Clean
Be clean. Always.
- Take a shower before you go to work
- Comb your hair
- Keep your beard or mustache trim; no stubble
- Use breath fresheners
- Wear shoe covers in the house
- Shine safety shoes (if applicable)
- Start off the day wearing a clean, pressed uniform
- Wear surgical gloves
- Keep a spare uniform or two in the truck and use if needed
- Wash up after each service call (use a waterless cleaner)
Mike
Mike grew up, lives and works in a small town in upper New York. Mike has an HVAC company. He is its only employee. Mike has been serving the same community for over twenty years. Nearly everyone knows Mike. If they don’t and they need their furnace fixed, their neighbor will tell them, “call Mike!”
Mike is in his early forties. His full head of black hair reaches midway down his back. Mike wears jeans, tennis shoes and a tee shirt to work. He keeps his hair in a neat ponytail. If Mike gets his tee shirt dirty halfway through the day, which he always does, he puts a clean one on.
Mike works within a culture that is in total acceptance of him.
Mike’s image works for him. He has about as much business as he can handle and has made a commitment to not hire anyone on.
If Mike were to go to start off working in another part of the state much less the country, there’s a good chance he wouldn’t be received as well. We can debate whether or not this is right or wrong until the cows come home. It doesn’t matter. It is what it is.
We’re not here to judge Mike. We’re here to help you and give you the best possible chance to succeed. Most of you will follow a company uniform policy. If you do have the option, we recommend that you wear a uniform, a company identification badge, safety-rated regular work shoes and keep your hair short – for safety reasons.
How Much Are You Worth?
Can a customer take one look at you and figure out how much you are worth? They might not be able to construct a dollar amount, but if you were standing next to a technician who hadn’t shaved in four days, smelled, had visible body piercings and dirty clothes they could. Think about it. There you are in your clean, pressed company uniform. You are well groomed and are wearing a company identification badge. It’s a no brain-er. Even you would think you were worth more.
Perception is everything. You might be a decent technician. But if you wear dirty clothes, are unkempt, not well groomed and have firing breathing dragon breath, you’ve just made it more difficult for your customer to know.
Where to begin – If you work for a company make sure that you follow its dress code. Just do it, please*. In the future we’ll talk about the various ways in which you can tune your appearance. Maybe you’re not a senior technician yet, but you’ll sure look like one.
Culture – Read about Mike.
*If you cannot come to terms with your company’s uniform policy, you should not work there.
