The English saying "Clothes make the man" could perhaps be seen as a business or fundamental truths, and in no area is this more evident than the consulting industry, where the appearance and perception is everything.
Consulting as a sector relies heavily on the reputation and branding, regardless of size. If your business is a big four global, such as Deloitte and KPMG, or a small boutique operator or individual company, your credibility and the pipeline is dependent on the success of your commitments and the consequent branding gains and positive reputation that result.
Consider the legacy of Arthur Andersen, perhaps one of the best examples of how reputation can make or break a transaction. Andersen was known throughout the world as a top-level consulting, and has provided services worldwide for customers in all sectors of activity, ranging in size from the SMB market to Fortune 500. However, following the collapse of Enron, Andersen was involved in a scandal in which it was stated that they attempted to pervert the course of justice, obstructing the federal investigation and destroy evidence, all in an attempt to avoid criminal liability.
The perceived reputational damage created by Andersen investigations caused customers to flee in droves, seeking refuge with other organizations, safer control. Then, when the company was found guilty of perversion, accounting license of the company was suspended and tens of thousands of employees have lost their jobs because no company would purchase services from a bad apple like that.
After all, what would they think?
The collapse of Andersen points out that the perceived image of a company directly affects the acquisition, commitment and customer loyalty.
Today, the big consulting organizations use social media, YouTube, traditional media, and comments by altering the shape, and refine the perceived reputation. In simple terms, we call this "mark."
As employees, when we visit the customer, we represent the organization's brand, and are living examples of corporate values, customer fulfillment, and business professionalism. All these factors combine to create an impression psychological customer, which ultimately will form as perceive both the effectiveness of the consultant, and the quality of their organization.
As a consultancy managers have delivered services in many industrial sectors. In each, a company will have expectations related to the variable professional dress code, caused by corporate values, reputation management, security or even culture. However, despite these elements of differentiation, the consulting industry is a very different animal. When an external consultant arrives, whether they are an auditor or management consultant, the customer is looking for professional services in a corporate function that is either high risk, very complex, and not fully understood. As a result, the consultant is perceived as a problem solver, which will be highly educated, highly articulate, and able to provide services that will be understood and supported by all levels of the business by the worker coal face to the executive.
In this game, perception is everything. For this reason, in no other sector it is as a clothes and presents the most important individual.
traditional business attire is a must, and it should also be taken to an extreme. The '' dark suit, dark tie "mentality from International Business Machines is probably the best starting point, but you also know that a pinstripe suit is perceived in organizational psychology as the display of power and traditionalism. So, for this reason, and to provide an image of traditional conservatism mixed with power, a consultant must wear a three-piece, dark pinstriped suit, preferably black, dark blue or dark gray; the strip should not be confrontational and should only be vertical, without controls, and the width should be judged by the tailor to provide a greater perception of height.
Women should not wear pantsuits, and should always be present with a pencil skirt, dark pinstriped suit, backed by natural or dark stockings. Research shows that male customers have a much more positive reaction to women in power, when they are not trying to undermine the "male authority perceived". Highlighting their femininity, female consultants are exploiting the inherent bias of human sexuality and physical attraction in the reputation management game.
The shirt or blouse should be white, crisp, and pressed or ironed before work. colored shirts should be avoided as humans have polarization reactions according to colors. An inappropriate choice could have labeled a consultant in various sectors; for example, the selection of a pink shirt while working with a petrochemical or mining customer could easily have a consultant labeled as homosexual. That label thus influence the consultant, and even their work is perceived by the customer as a result of the strong conservative prejudices that many employees of these blue-collar industries in possession.
All men should wear a conservative tie, with a matching or contrasting pocket square, and all the bonds should be made with a double Windsor knot. The bond must be worn under the vest at all times, and the tip of the tie should not be visible at the base of the mantle. Women can have an open-neck shirt, and do not need to wear a tie.
Shoes should be traditional, full leather, black, and quality craftsmanship; they must be worn with dark socks for men and stockings for women. An excellent choice of 'male shoemaker's Crockett & Jones, from the UK, and women should consider a machine for the prime minister, as Ferragamo; WOMEN'S SHOES 'should be heeled in all cases and must not support a heel of more than four inches, in cold climates, heeled boots below the knee are permissible. Shoes should be considered a priority as more than 70% of customers will form valuable opinions on the basis of the shoe qualities the first time you meet a person, for that reason, the shoes should be held, and highly polished at all times. Once damaged, the shoes should be immediately repaired or replaced altogether.
coats, gloves and outerwear should be dark in color and made of traditional high-value materials, such as cashmere, the only exception to this rule is the traditional camel coat, which is also lawful. In colder climates such as North and East Europe, China, or Canada, they are allowed full length fashion or fur skin. However, attention needs to be done to limit the use of full-length skin of males with Jewish clients, because of the perception of skin and its conversational connection to the Nazis. Fur should be limited to full-length fashion over a dress, and must not be short fur jackets, which are often associated with evening dresses. Coats must be removed upon arrival at the customer, and the jacket must be worn at all times, but can be unbuttoned for comfort.
Men and women can wear silk scarves of a conservative color in cold climates, or can choose a fur scarf. In no case, however, fur scarves can be matched with a fur coat.
The accessories are also of critical importance in appearance of a consultant and should be part of a standardization process in all societies. In no event must wear a top level consultant or carry any product that is not a natural material. All folders, suitcases, bags, belts and wallets and other accessories should be made of leather, be dark in color, and made by a first label, such as Mont Blanc, Gucci or Louis Vuitton.
jewelry is also an area where many candidates apply either too much or too little, to make the impact more useful customer. Consultants should limit jewelry to yellow, pink or white gold and should wear no more than two rings at any time, these should be limited to engagement, wedding, seal rings and only class. Watches should always be worn on the left wrist, and must be able to fit under the shirt cuff when fixed with a twin. All watches must be from a first level as a producer, Omega, Panerai or IWC. On the right wrist a bracelet or a bracelet men is acceptable, again made from yellow, pink or white gold only.
Finally, only females should wear earrings, and should be individual or studs through the ear lobe, or a small circle style. In no event shall any other form of body art, such as ear piercing, body or facial piercings or visible tattoos.
Using this level a dress guide, the consultants not only dressed to impress, will be presented with impeccable standards expected in four large, or to a management consulting firm like McKinsey.
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