business meeting

Running a Business Meeting: How to Dress the Part

If you’re scheduled to meet with an important client, make an effort to choose the proper attire for your business meeting. That means no hoodies, flip-flops, jeans, or leather jackets. Instead, wear a suit, a tie, and leather shoes, and don’t forget to bring a handkerchief.

Ask the people who are in the business of supplying corporate clothing, and they will tell you that it only takes a second to make a bad impression. So, if you have an important client meeting coming up, don’t risk losing that person forever by dressing casually.

Make sure your suit fits you

As mentioned earlier, you should wear a suit. But it’s not that straightforward; you need to iron out some details before you meet with your client.

First, your suit should fit you perfectly. Many people make the mistake of buying the components of a suit without getting fitted for each item. They go to a store and pick out one white long-sleeved shirt, one dark grey pants, one dark grey blazer, and black socks to match.

They may look nice, but if you didn’t have them tailored to your body’s dimension, the overall look wouldn’t work. Suits are supposed to take in the shape of your body and not have too much slack because they will look sloppy. So, have a tailor-made suit, one that looks like it really belongs to you.

Also, go for dark suits. Don’t wear a suit with bright colours because they can be distracting and for some, annoying. Go with dark grey, black, or silver-coloured suits.

Iron, iron, iron

Once you have your suit, make sure that it’s perfectly ironed out before you meet up with your client. A rumpled suit will turn off anyone. Iron out all the wrinkles before you leave home.

But before you iron your suit, check it first for stains. When heat touches a stain, it will be much harder to remove that from your suit. Be meticulous about checking your suit for stains and remove them before you iron it.

Check your nails and hair

clean nails

Arriving at a business meeting wearing a suit won’t do much to impress your client if your fingernails are too long and your hair is unkempt. Be sure to trim your fingernails every week and that they’re clean underneath.

As for your hair, more and more companies these days are lenient when it comes to the length of a man’s hair. If you’re a woman, you’re totally safe; let your hair grow as long as you want as long as it’s clean.

For men, it’s perfectly all right to have long hair, but make sure that it’s not swinging back and forth across your face when you’re talking to your client. You can tie it up or wear a clip to keep your long hair from obscuring your face.

Always keep in mind that if you’re going to meet with a client, that will be your one shot to close a deal or maintain your business relationship with them. Make sure that when you arrive at the venue, they will be convinced right away that you intend to take them seriously. Nothing says that more than dressing up to impress.

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