When I first started my sales career, I was repeatedly told by my superiors how to act and dress. One employer even told me to throw out all of my textbooks and forget what I learned in university!
Within a few weeks, I realized I couldn’t keep up this act and needed to just be myself. Be me, the person who loves horror movies, cats, science, the supernatural; Me. We are all individuals and everyone can respect someone who is comfortable in their own skin. This is essential for sales.
If you are selling a product or service, you have to be genuine and that means being you, the real you. Don’t put on a mask and pretend to be some “shell” of a person to make a sale, buyers smell this.
For the longest time, I still have tried to keep up a neutral appearance until recently.
I had an amazing experience driving a rental Dodge Challenger while I was on a sales trip in western Canada. It was so amazing that I bought one as soon as I got home!

I had always driven a practical “sales” car which was a VW Passat TDI which boasted over 1000km/tank.
The Challenger was a free upgrade from Thrifty. I thought that might negatively impact my sales as it is well established that buyers judge sales reps based on their vehicle however that was not true. I sold more than ever!
The next step I made was even bolder, I shaved half of my head. Now that I am an entrepreneur and don’t have a boss to tell me what to do or what not to do, I decided to take the chance and go for a look I always wanted but feared wasn’t “professional”.

Guess what? No clients care. It doesn’t make any difference. The only thing that matters in sales or any business for that matter is authenticity and I boast that, half shaved head and muscle car and all.
To all who are reading this, don’t be afraid to be yourself but rather embrace it. Your clients will see that and admire you and trust you.
Be your awesome self, be authentic and you will flourish.