One of my favorite examples of the power of first impressions comes from the master of showmanship, Elmer Leterman. He is a famous sales tycoon from the 60s. If you can ever get your hands on his book, How Showmanship Sells, be sure to buy it, as it’s out of print now.
He says, “The most important sale I ever made in my life started with the influence of a pair of my handmade shoes.”
While Elmer was standing in a hotel lobby during an event, a complete stranger came up to him and mentioned that Elmer’s shoes were the “handsomest pair of shoes I’ve ever seen in my life.” So Elmer offered to introduce him to his boot maker. At the time, most people spent $8 on shoes, including the self-made millionaire Elmer happened to be talking with. Elmer’s shoes, however, cost an unheard of $125.
He goes on to talk about how, throughout the night, this complete stranger would bring friends over to Elmer’s table to check out his shoes. Because of his striking shoes, Elmer built a relationship with this gentleman (Mr. Lefcourt) that ultimately helped him launch his insurance career. The connections Mr. Lefcourt introduced him to, bought $1,250,000 in life insurance in one night. Not bad for a night’s work in the 1960s. Not bad for a night’s work today!
One of my favorite sayings from Elmer Letterman is, “Opportunities are man-made.”
Based on a first impression led by a pair of shoes, Elmer created a $1,250,000 opportunity for himself. Not only did he create the opportunity, but he landed it! He purchased those shoes for $125 and made $1,250,000 because of them. Now that’s a heck of a return on investment!
I talk more about Elmer Letterman and the power of first impressions in my book, Strategically Suited.
If you don’t already have a copy pop over to www.leeheyward.com and have a complimentary copy sent to you or you can purchase one on Amazon.
Neil Patel spent $162,301 on clothing. Yup, you read that right. From that investment he made $692,500. Not bad huh.
Neil Patel of Quicksprout.com is a genius at growing your website traffic and a master at making money. He’s helped companies like Amazon, NBC, GM, HP, and Viacom grow their revenue. He conducted a year-long experiment to determine whether or not the way you dress impacts your revenue, and he specifically looked at the return on investment.
He tracked everything he did. He changed nothing about his pitch, what he was selling, or the type of business he was after. The only change he made was what he wore. That one change resulted in an increase of sales to the tune of $692,500.
He says that when he dresses nicer, he gets larger business deals. What he wears does create conversations with random people on the street, but his true ROI came from the results he got from dressing nicer in business meetings. As someone who dressed extremely well, he was perceived as someone who was extremely successful—making more people want to be associated with him.
In one year, he spent $162,301 on clothing—and it resulted in a return in investment of $692,500. That’s over a 400% return. Not bad, right!? His image gave him an edge. A $692,500 edge, to be exact.
Neil conducted an experiment, but you don’t have to. I tell you Neil’s story not to encourage you to invest what might feel like an exorbitant amount of money on your wardrobe, but to offer the perspective that when you invest in yourself strategically to create an edge in your business, you will get results.
You can read the post Neil wrote about his experience on his blog.
More often than not, each piece of your brand image was created when you needed it, but not altogether in a strategic fashion. Your image may look fine, but does fine help you grow?
Eventually as you scale, your image foundation cracks, and the way your business presents itself no longer helps propel growth – costing you time and money to fix.
When you unlock your brand power, you get to pick and choose how people perceive you and your brand.
Our Image Mastery System™ takes the 5 key brand components that you already have and ties them together in a way that amplifies your results and achieves your vision.
