IMPORTANCE OF PERSONAL PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

People nowadays put a lot of efforts to make themselves become more beautiful
in order to develop their self-confidence. As we can see that joining a gym or
fitness center, going to a beauty salon, or even putting themselves under the
knife of cosmetic surgeons become more and more prevalent recently. However,
why do people always focus on and take extra care of their physical
appearance?

Firstly, people are often influenced by the media. Many advertisements use
attractive celebrities to publicize and promote their products. The advertisements
usually use a super model who has a slim body shape, big round eyes and
perfect white skin to show what beauty is and how superior they are. They want
to build up an image of success through an attractive appearance and try to
distribute the concept of beauty to the people. If we want to be successful and
popular, we must have a so-called charming look just like the models in the
magazines. The media would sometimes use ugly or fat people in their
advertisements, but always in a negative and miserable way. As we can see that
only the obese and hideous people are teased, bullied and repulsed by others in
the movies. They always have a lower status and suffer an unpleasant life in the
film. Therefore, under the influence of the media, the concept of beauty and slim
means successful, favorable and powerful while obesity and ugliness means
failure and poor is already deep-rooted in every people’s mind.

Secondly, people are always affected by the peers and the people surrounding.
They think that having an attractive appearance is everything. They may
misconceive that the more the attractive appearance, the more the benefits and
welcomes they can achieve from peers and other people. Therefore, sometimes
when they feel unsuccessful and desperate, they would impute it to their
appearance or when they are repelled by others, they would blame for their ugly
look. On the other hand, attractive physical appearance can build up one’s self-
confidence and self-esteem. They will have a very high and positive self-
evaluation towards themselves as they think they are more appeal and supreme
among the others. It eventually builds up their confidence and beliefs in doing
things successfully and favorably in their life. Thus, there is no wonder why so
many people strive for a beautiful look and take extra care of their physical
appearance while those who have a very low self-image will try their best to alter
or enhance it.

Moreover, people also want to attract the opposite sex attention by having an
appealing look. Many of them believe that physical appearance is more important
than personality in choosing a partner, so they would try every effort to make
themselves become more charming and pretty. For example, they would waste
lots of money to pursue the brand name products such as Nike, Levi’s or L.V. in
order to get people’s attention and show-off their wealth. Besides that, eating
weight loss pills, joining expensive fitness centre, starving or vomiting food after
eating are very popular and common practices currently in Hong Kong so as to
lose weight and have a good body shape. But they do not know these improper
ways can develop eating disorders like anorexia or bulimia and they may even
die from these disorders. Sometimes, people may take risk to have cosmetic
surgery like eyelid surgery or nose reconstruction in order to become more
attractive and perfect. They often neglect the danger and lingering effects that
would bring from the surgeries and insist to have an unnatural face. However, is
it worth to lose health or even life to have a charming appearance? Or do you
think they are still beautiful if their faces or bodies are not actually theirs?

Indeed, beauty may be in the eye of the beholder and a good-looking is not
everything. If you want to be a really successful and beautiful person, you should
be first of all in good health. Also, a good personality is very essential for a
person. If you are a kind and considerate person, the people around you will be
pleased to get along with you. Therefore, if you cannot change your physical
appearance which is inborn, why don’t you put more emphasis on improving your
character? It is the only way to be a permanent attractive person!

PERSONAL APPEARANCE VS CUSTOMERS

Personal appearance is crucial to sales success. By the first 10-20 seconds the
customer will have gained an impression of your personality and thus your
product/service.

Everybody uses his/her senses to form an opinion of others - i.e. sense of sight,
hearing, smell, taste and touch + intuition. Sense impressions naturally link to
previous experiences, and based on this reactions are given. Thus, it is important
that your personal appearance leaves the customer with the most positive
impression of you as possible.

Ways of Communication
Personal appearance divides into two main categories:

• Verbal communication – what we say and the words we use

Generally, avoid foreign words and specialized terminology, distinct and
intelligible speech enhances communication.

• Non-verbal communication – body language, intonation, gestures,

clothing, etc.
Always be polite, obliging, and smiling – this has a confidence-inspiring
effect.

Altogether, your personal appearance signals a message to the persons you are
with. If such signals are perceived positively by the receiver, the entire situation is
perceived positively.

Customer Profile
As the purpose of your customer meeting is to receive an order it is important
that you are aware of your customers’ diversities. Customer diversity means that
you will have to adapt your personal appearance to the individual customer – in
other words: you need to match the customer.

Customers roughly group into 5 main profiles depending on buying motives and
requirements:

1. Avoids sales representatives – reluctance to confront problems

2. Prefers friendship – very social, may have a low self esteem
3. The product/service must increase the customer’s prestige - reflects
him/herself in others
4. Hard negotiater – price is the most important
5. Seeks the best solution – professionally, factually, seriously

Meeting the Customer

• Make thorough preparations – gather information on the customer

• Put yourself in the customer’s place

Appearance and Attitude

Personal appearance is usually defined by the way we groom and dress

ourselves and is generally instrumental in other people forming opinions about
us. It's obvious therefore that care and attention should be given to how we look
in order to make the best impression. In a working environment, there is often a
dress code which is, in some cases, obligatory. This situation means the
employee has little or no problem in following the code. However, to the
ambitious, keen, dedicated person this dress code can present an ideal
opportunity to become noticed. Smart, well fitting, well pressed clothing will make
a huge difference to how one is judged. Certain industries and professions are
quite inflexible concerning dress and insist on company uniforms being worn.
Even then it's possible to stand out from the crowd by giving attention to good
grooming which will always result in a smart appearance.

If there are no restrictions on the type of clothes you wear at work it is generally
easier to make a good impression with your choice of clothing. Care in deciding
on the clothes you wear at work make a statement about you, so make the most
of the opportunity. Dress sense is a very useful attribute to have, but not
everyone possesses it. If you fall into that category follow the dress code used by
your colleagues, but always endeavour to be that little bit smarter. This extra
attention to detail helps to create a business like appearance.
A person's attitude is extremely important as the wrong one can have a negative
affect and spoil their chances of promotion. The wrong attitude can result in
someone appearing to be offensive and truculent, giving a completely false
impression. Attitude has a lot to do with confidence and can provide the wrong
signals to other people. It's not uncommon for a person's attitude to affect their
whole performance adversely in a work environment even though they may be
good at their job. Recent research has analysed the reasons why certain
managers are chosen for redundancy rather than their contemporaries. If you are
aware of the main reasons thrown up by this research, obviously you will avoid
making the same mistakes. For the benefit of the reader and as a matter of
interest we will include them in this section as they refer to attitudes which must
be avoided at all costs. It might not stop redundancy, but it will certainly help in
preventing you from being a prime candidate.

So here are some of the reasons that are looked on as being unhelpful. (a)
Failure to build a team (b) Arrogance (c) Unethical (d) Not trustworthy (e) Poor
Administration (f) No strategic thinking (g) Over Managing (h) Tunnel Vision (i)
Will not network (j) Inflexibility (k) Defensiveness

Once again we see the need for being practical, helpful, sympathetic and truthful
plus being able to spot a problem and have the ability to deal with it. Personal
attitude to the job counts for a great deal in how your performance is evaluated,
so it is obviously beneficial to develop a positive, constructive and helpful attitude
at work. Such an attitude will help you to cope with every singe aspect in the
workplace and brings its own rewards and very often leads to promotion.

If you are fortunate enough to have a company car provided, should you look on
it as a "perk" that goes with the job? In which case it probably isn't looked after
very well, is seldom washed, usually messy inside, has several minor faults,
broken lenses, small scratches etc. Surely it is better to look on it as an
expensive privilege which comes with the job, one that is worth looking after and
of which to be proud? Again this attitude gives an excellent impression if you take
care of company property. The same values apply to mobile phones, lap top
computers, voice recorders and any other equipment the modern manager uses.
Looking after these things as if they were your own and had been paid for by you
can only result in positive comments about your attitude. One other place where
you can make a good impression is in your office or workplace. We have all seen
offices and workplaces where chaos reigns. Desks littered with paper, paper
trays overflowing, newspapers and magazines spread around, empty coffee cups
lying around, all give the wrong signals. So do filing cabinets with the tops loaded
with files and plants in dire need of a drink of water. Clothes hung precariously on
bits of furniture also look untidy. All these points paint a picture of inefficiency.

Just imagine how much better the impression if the desks are tidy and the filing
cabinets and other furniture are used for the purpose for which they were meant.
It doesn't take long to tidy up, particularly if it is done regularly. Once again, if you
do it often it becomes a habit. There is a saying in business that 'A tidy desk
shows a tidy mind'. Very true!

Most of the above will be seen to be common sense and obvious to most
readers, but we make no apology for emphasising them. It is very often a lapse
of common sense and neglecting the obvious which lead to bad practices, thus
reflecting on the person concerned, so please, very carefully, consider these
points. To conclude, remember that a positive appearance and a positive attitude
result in a positive impression of you.