Chris Powell is a sales executive who increased his results from 65% to nearly 100% when he changed the way he looked. Imagine, for the moment, that Chris is a Realtor, and that you will soon be re-located to a new city and have gone there for one week in order to buy a house. You don't have time to waste, so you need a Realtor who is thoroughly professional and experienced. No part-timer or inexperienced "greenhorn” for you! You need an expert that you can trust. Which of the two men would you choose? The question could just as easily have been, "which attorney, clothing salesman, banker, insurance or financial advisor would you choose?"

Looking good = good
Not surprisingly, we buy things from people we like. However, social scientists have identified a number of factors that reliably cause liking, and they assert that good-looking people are liked. It turns out that there is an unconscious assumption that looking good = good, and this becomes a handy shortcut. Research shows that we automatically assign to good-looking individuals favorable traits such as talent, kindness, honesty and intelligence. In staged trials, when the defendant was better looking than his victim, he was assessed a modest sum; but when the victim was more attractive, the sum assessed nearly doubled. Cialdini says that juries give more favorable treatment to good-looking people, and that attractive defendants are twice as likely to avoid jail as unattractive ones. The way you look shouldn’t matter, but it does.

Cialdini asserts that we are not aware that physical attractiveness plays a role in our judgment. For example, men who saw a new-car ad with a seductive young woman in the ad rated the car as faster, more appealing, more expensive looking, better designed than did men who viewed the same ad without the female model. Yet when asked later, the men refused to believe that the presence of the young woman had influenced their judgments.

Uniforms = Authority
Authority is another powerful “weapon of influence.” It seems there is a deep-seated sense of duty to authority within us all. Two things in particular enable a person to be deemed an authority: titles and uniforms. Cialdini gives several examples of doctors’ orders being obeyed “no matter what” – even blatantly “bad” borders. No wonder. Doctors have not only titles but also “uniforms,” with their white lab jackets and stethoscopes!
It turns out that guards’ uniforms are as effective as those of a policeman or a ship or airline captain. Cialdini cites the case of a man dressed in a guard’s uniform asking a passer-by to put money in a parking meter so the car owner wouldn’t get a ticket. His request was most often obeyed. However, when the same man was dressed in casual clothing and made the request to passers-by, he was ignored. But what about the rest of us? Cialdini asserts that the “business suit” is also a uniform of authority, and with the simple act of jaywalking, passersby will blindly follow a man in a business suit; but not so when the same man jaywalks and is dressed casually. No wonder corporate casual has been such a dismal failure.

The power of the business suit is also confirmed by Paul Fussell in his book UNIFORMS. He asserts that particularly powerful business suits (for men or women) become ennobled and convey news of valuable personal qualities in its wearers. Unfortunately, not all “business suits” convey the message of authority – or “nobility.” Sadly, TV game show hosts and Hollywood movie stars are lauded by the public as “well dressed,” and so they are mimicked. While they may be “fashionably dressed” in terms of fads, the overall effect is generally not one of authority. But then, TV and film stars have agents to do their negotiating, so they don’t need to look authoritative. The pale blue, lavender or sage green shirts with matching ties that are currently popular give the appearance of a “dandy” or someone who is a bit on the “slick” side. Furthermore, pastels suggest passivity and give a pale and washed out appearance. They are more appropriate for Las Vegas than the boardroom.

Somewhere along the way, both men’s and women’s business suits omitted the “business” part of the formula. It is doubtful that jaywalkers would follow a man dressed in a “business” suit worn with an icy lavender shirt and matching silk tie, or a woman in a robot-like copy of a man’s suit in perfectly matched blouse, jacket and skirt/pants in a pale pink or sage green.

Part of the problem is that there are limited role models and reliable sources of information about business dress. Popular fashion magazines for men most often feature lots of looks that are great in Las Vegas (flashy) or Palm Beach (pale and passive), but very little that might actually enable one to appear like an authority. Fashion magazines for women feature sexy 4-inch stiletto-heeled shoes that steal all the attention, or seductive garments that are totally unsuited when it comes to establishing credibility. Women also get seduced by “pretty” floral prints and feminine pastels, none of which bestow authority.

When it comes to business dress, it is best not to deviate too far from the tried and true. Remember, (1) the darker the color, the higher the authority, so avoid pastels. And, (2)“old money” is classy and discreet, while “new money” is flashy and garish – so stick to small, discreet patterns when it comes to ties for men and shirts or blouses for women. Ties should dominate the suit and shirt, so this is where you can express your creativity by choosing bold colors. For both genders, suits in solid colors or subtle stripes are better than those with patterns.

Consistency Builds Trust
Dr. Cialdini offers many examples of “weapons of influence,” and one of the most important is consistency. Consistency is also a vital ingredient in branding. You can’t look professional “some of the time.” And you can’t look “partly” professional, i.e., a great suit, but a powerless tie or blouse (earrings, etc.). If one element of your appearance appears dated, it undermines the rest; and you will be judged to have dated products or services. Inconsistency, according to Cialdini, sparks feelings of confusion and doubt, and inconsistent people are thought to be scatterbrained and unstable. If you look professional Monday through Thursday, but not on Casual Friday, doubts may unconsciously creep in. Not surprisingly, nurses wearing assorted pastel scrubs in endless arrays of pajama-like prints complain about lack of respect. It is probably time they returned to some sort of “consistent” uniform, but not the stiffly-starched white uniform of the past, which easily conjures up images of Nurse Ratchet.

General George Patton kept a personal diary and in it noted that he did not always have the courage that was expected of him. He writes that he relied upon his uniform to give him courage. You have a “uniform” that can give you courage and authority, just like General Patton. It is the business suit, and with it you just might conquer the world.