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Does it really matter what your employees wear?

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Many employers are reluctant to establish (and even more reluctant to enforce) standards for employee appearance. And many employees resent the idea of an employer requiring that they alter something they view as part of the personal identity and self-expression; while some employees may grudgingly comply, others flaunt violations and dare managers to do something about it. Since it can be a touchy subject and provoke negative emotional reactions from staff members, is it really worth it?  Does it really even matter what your employees wear?

Employee appearance and dress codeCostumes are the first impression
you have of the character
before they open their mouth –
it really does establish who they are.”

(Colleen Atwood -
Three Time Emmy Award Winning Costume Designer
including Chicago, Memoirs of a Geisha and Alice in Wonderland)

If visual impressions didn’t matter, TV wouldn’t have been invented and no one would be talking about the potential of “smellovision.”  But as human beings, we constantly employ all of our senses as we take in and analyze our surroundings.

I recently wrote a post on the tie between customer loyalty and first impressions, based on a recent client loyalty survey performed by ClickFox. Survey findings revealed that (according to customers themselves) it is the first impression a new client forms of a business which determines whether or not they will become a long time loyal patron of that organization.

If first impressions – the first time that you have an opportunity to provide services or sell products to someone – is that important, than it follows that all of the elements of the first customer experience that are within your power to influence or control matter.

  • The approach to your business (how difficult it is to find your business, where clients park, signage and building numbers, and the outside appearance of your business) matters.
  • Signs that provide direction, hours of operation, tell clients they have found the right suite matter.
  • How a new client is greeted or directed upon arriving at your business, whether they have to wait (and the appearance, comfort and hospitality within your waiting area) and how long they wait before receiving the service or finding the products they came for matters.
  • And the appearance of your staff, including grooming and dress, matters.

Front line employees in any business – those employees who have the most interaction with your customers themselves – are the individuals who will most impact the first impression of a new client or patient. They are the individuals who will (for better or worse) have the most impact as the brand of your business – the perceptions in a client’s mind about your business – is either built or undermined with each and every subsequent interaction.

Employees often resist the idea of uniforms or even adhering to dress code standards if those standards take them out of the clothing they would normally want to wear either for style and fashion or sheer comfort.  Putting their own self-interest first, they fail to understand their role in creating a first impression for each and every client and for reinforcing the brand of your business – the perceptions you want your patrons to have about your organization.

This is just one more reason why it’s critical that the mission and vision of your business be a living, breathing part of your new hire screening and training process and that employees be held accountable for the manner in which they represent your business.  Employees need to understand how their appearance, and the standards that you have determined will help build the brand of your business, relate to the customer experience and help fulfill the mission of your organization.

Every aspect of the customer experience matters, every time, but the first impression is by far the most critical for laying the foundation of the brand of your business in the client’s mind.  A poor first impression undermines your ability to do business with an individual at all, let alone over the long term.  Poor first impressions mean that you have to spend far more time in the customer acquisition portion of marketing – which is far more resource-consuming (time and money) than are client engagement and retention strategies.

So do your standards for employee appearance and dress matter?  You bet your booties!

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Filed under: Attracting New Patients, Patient Experience, Patient Loyalty

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