Ep 208 - How to look like a Premium Service Provider

Hello, hello, hello and welcome back. Another fantastic Monday with me, your host, Clay Neumeier, and, of course, my esteemed co-host, joseph the Salesbot, lou Canney, on yet another episode of Electric Pinner Secret, the Electricians podcast. We keep showing up five days a week to help you master your sales, simplify your pricing and deliver premium-level electrical service, and today we're addressing a topic that we just haven't quite yet touched on, and I'm sure people in the background have been watching, listening, waiting for us to talk about this. Joe, and you know what? I'm even a little surprised, because I know you actually have a better articulation of what a premium service provider should look like than anyone else I know.

Well, thanks for that.

So tell me, you've got some weight to throw into this conversation today.

The hands are rubbing together, the stimming is happening. Don't worry, you pitch the question, I'll give you the answer.

All right, man, when do we begin? Because I think the closest we've ever come. We got some people giving us attendance in the chat, by the way, Joe Edwards with us, that's awesome you guys, Thanks for saying they're present. They're here, Attendance noted. But the closest episode we ever came to this is like what should we take into the house on a call? Okay, but we never really addressed a couple of big concerns like should I be clean shaven? Should I be bald like you, Joe? How often should I actually get my hair cut?

What should I be?

wearing. All of this needs to be answered, don't you think so?

facial feature alone, I have enough weight to throw in on that if you're open to it.

Okay, let's get it started, brother, okay.

So a lot of times people will say, well, can I have a beard, Can I have long hair? Can I do these things? The answer is yes, yes, you can. Now me personally. I've shaved my head and I have a tight beard, but that's my own personal style. It doesn't make me more premium than someone else. This is just how I've recognized that I look the most premium. I've worked with people who have long, like duck dynasty beards. It doesn't mean that we encourage it, but it doesn't make them less of a premium provider. So I'd like to break down what are the several factors that you can say are you premium or are you not Okay? So the first thing anytime you talk about facial feature, like facial hair or hair itself, do you yourself look like you intentionally showed up looking the way you do? The intentionality of isn't a big part of it, so like trying.

Yeah, do you look like you tried today?

Well, yes, but even more so. So like, let's say, you have an unusual style. You have a long beard right, very long, thick, full-out beard. No argument, no judgment. But is it edged? Is it all wispy and bushy at the edges? Is your neck clean? Those are factors that matter because, when you think about it, I can have a larger facial feature, but I need to make sure that I've edged and made sure it looks like I've done my job. To keep count, it's not that I showed up with a large beard and I haven't taken care of myself in two weeks, is that? No, I've intentionally, I've tried to show up this way and I did everything I could to make it look as clean as possible.

Yeah Well, I have to agree with that. I mean, I run a number two weekly, so the most you ever see is about a size growth, maybe a quarter inch of growth Typically. Anyway, for the last year that's what I've done Keep it number two weekly, always keep it edged, always clean neck, always clean cheekbone. I believe that that accentuates my facial features in a way that well presents me a little bit better. That's my opinion and my partner's opinion. If you have a different opinion, that's totally fine. But the ultimate thing is I show up every day doing that and doing those activities to maintain that and I honestly feel better in doing that Exactly. I feel more presentable.

So things that just from the neck up there's so much to maintain, like you think to yourself okay, I've cleaned my neck up, I've cleaned everything. What about the back of your neck? I've gone and seen so many contractors that are like, well, I don't let the back of my neck grow whatever, no one really cares about it. But when the customer standing behind your shoulder and your hair is coming out of your shirt and going up the back of your head and all wispy lens, does that communicate that you take care of yourself? When your chest hair is popping out from your shirt in all sides, does that show that you're clean? Doesn't Interesting. So just breaking this down, let's focus on just the face. Is your beard tight? Is it maintained? Is your hair clean, not short, not long clean? Have you put shampoo through it? Have you cleaned it? Do you smell like a crawl space? So clean. Neck clean, back of neck clean. Face edged. Beard smooth doesn't have to be a smooth shave, but just intentional haircut. If it's long, can you put it up behind you Rather than letting it go over the front of your face like a shaggy dog? Can you tie it into a ponytail? Can you put it under a messenger cap?

Yep, here's an interesting one and honestly, a point of vulnerability, because I'm a guy's guy, I don't know man, it's kind of weird for me, but my hairstylist started trimming my eyebrows for me. Yeah, there's nothing wrong with that and I didn't realize that was a thing, but from her point of view. Imagine a customer standing over top. I had a few and I continued to have a few that just grow out really long. And my eyebrows kind of bush out to the side. They are what they are. I mean, I'm not into like waxing them or any of these. You know additional pieces. No judgment to you if you do that, but she started trimming the length of them because they were starting to protrude out so far and I was like oh, what just happened? She's like oh no, I'm just, I'm taking care of it. Trust me, this is better this way I was like okay, I agree, I agree, it's a similar context.

Now I have that taken care of, two every now and then. So no argument there. You know, make sure you don't have a unibrow going through the center. And also other things like do you trim your nose? Do you trim your ears? Like you wouldn't think. Like, imagine I showed them everything perfect, but my nose has a bush coming out of it. That shows that the little things you do that are attached to your person have much bigger weight in the eyes of the customer Because, in the customer's mind, a true premium service provider, they have chosen this image to show up with how intentional you are with. That image Convays the gravity of what you're here to try to do. If you look like, what's the benefit of showing up in uniform when you yourself, as a person, look unkempt? Hmm, right, like I would rather someone who shows up in jeans and a flannel but looks like they're there with a purpose, then someone who looks like they were told to put on a uniform to be something they're not and even if you look at the word uniform, it literally just means one form. Mm-hmm right.

So, to break that down, it's looking, it's having a consistent look across your company Mm-hmm, and I would say the biggest place this really slides are in smaller businesses, obviously, where you might not recognize this yet or maybe you're just starting out, so maybe you're just wearing, you know, a nice t-shirt that you have, or maybe you come from construction and and you're still going places with your boots untied and you know there's a huge varying degree of professionalism here and showing up. But I highly suggest you either yourself on your own solo enterprise as an electricpreneur and or your small team All the way up to the big teams who may not have fully instituted policy around this. I highly highly suggest uniformity, I agree with you a hundred thousand consistent delivery of a quality look, a quality feel and Although it's not in the title of today's episode of quality smell.

I Like that as well. You know, a little deodorant, little cologne doesn't have to be crazy. It does not have to be crazy. You don't have to look like a 90s locker room smelling like axe. But there are things you can do. Now We've covered the head up, right. There's so much down from the head down that we can also cover like just in what you see. Right now. We wear our uniforms as if we were technicians, just because you're the ones we're trying to speak to, right? So the fact is is that what I'm wearing now is actually very close to what the uniform I had was when I ran my company. We specifically chose gray because gray was the least likely to soak up dust and fiberglass, so I would look cleaner going into homes. So the question I have for you is this why aren't you wearing a button down? A Button down communicates a level of professionalism more than I am just a technician. It says that you're a little bit. You hold yourself to a higher standard. Now can I give you, if you don't mind, clay, do you mind if I interject something that I'm sure a lot of people who are Buttoned-downs are using as a cop out? Sure, yeah, throw it in there. Okay. So a lot of times I find that people have button downs, but then under their button down they have a lettered shirt, a company t-shirt. What are the odds that when it gets warm, they're taking off their button down to say, well, I'm in a company t-shirt, this should be acceptable, right? Yeah, but now the customer walks in. What is the difference between a customer walking in and seeing someone in a buttoned up tucked in, versus someone with a sweaty t-shirt sticking out?

Yeah, the odds are higher. It's gonna happen for sure. I've seen it lots too. I mean the other advantage. We're not even gonna have time to pull all of this apart today. I'm realizing that. But tattoos and the stance on that, even right. There are still there. Still is a population that is not going to trust People with tattoos as much as people without. Hence why I am someone with tattoos, but in a long sleeve they're not recognizable. You don't see them. They're there. So I can present as chameleonic as I need to to build rapport ahead of that initial the. As they say, there's no first, there's no impression like a first impression.

That's what I'm looking for right.

You're right I just wanted to point out before I let you jump back in, joe, that there's actually an unwritten rule to why the button down. There's actually advanced rapport and charisma building in in dressing to the people you serve at the highest level. So like if you wanted to stand out in a situation but still build advanced rapport with people, the last thing you want to do is over dress. In other words, if Joe and I showed up with a three-piece suit every day to talk to electricians about how to better their business, we would not connect as well with you guys. But having served in the field and maintaining our master's licenses is what we do at Service Loop Electrical and still dressing this part. You can also see yourselves in our demeanor as well.

Does that make sense, joe? It really does, or a?

homeowner the same is true. It does.

And there's one specific thing about button downs that people don't really put enough weight into. So, Clay, I want to ask a question Sure, Front and POT. Why would you want or not want a front pocket in your uniform?

Hmm, front pocket in the uniform? Okay, I personally like my front pocket for holding a pen and I'm a notepad guy, so I like to have a little notepad in there too. You're the exception then?

Because if we ask any other electrician, what do they use their front pocket for? There are screws, there are wire nuts, there are jump wire, there's bits of fiberglass Like our pockets are so full and so dirty, right? So whenever you wear your button down, it's important to make sure that it doesn't have a button or that it doesn't have a pocket, because what your technicians will do is they will put things in those pockets and they will not take them out when they go to the next customer's home, unless you specifically make it part of your process. I mean how many times have you gone into your home, like, imagine you just finished a project, right, and you go into your home, most people take out change in keys out of their pockets. We take out number 10s, we take out number eights, we take out number sixes, we take out red wire and this gray green grounding screws. There they go, they're in the pile in the bowl, right, yeah, yeah, for sure. So if you have the facial expression correct, you got everything groomed and nice. You have the shirt Now. Granted, I know I'm a details guy. Slow me down if I'm going too much into this.

No, it's good, it's good. Let's hit the pants, then let's go down, okay, sweet.

Ooh, all right. So, continuing on as you further go down, you would want your pants to be darker than your top. The reason why you want your pants to be darker than the top is that with lighter colors, eyes tend to move, which means that you'd create a border definition with your belt. So your belt is the same color as your boots and what you find is that your eyes only focus from the waist up, meaning that the majority of your attention is going to be here, which means that they're focused on your brand, which is usually on the top left over your heart, and you yourself, your face. If it was the other way around, where you had a dark top and light pants, you would naturally be looking down to try and see the full spectrum, but by having darker pants and you have your shirt, it makes them want to focus up. Nice Combination with that is. I personally believe that a professional can fit all their tactical tools on their person without looking like they have all their stuff. So for me, I liked having a side pocket, two back pockets and a deep two front pockets, because imagine I wanted to run our play and you're supposed to have your multi-screw jab. You're supposed to have your hot stick. You're supposed to have your meter, you're supposed to have all the things we suggest, but all you have is two shallow dress pants.

It's not going to work right, not going to fit and it's going to be a pain. It's going to sit there and bulge out of your pocket.

Exactly so. I personally like Carhartt, dickies, grapebrand, something that's got a little thickness to them so that it doesn't always pill and fray. Yeah, going further down, we recognize that we have a specific belt. The belt is an EDC belt. So for all of our Second Amendment guys every day carry belts, whether you're carrying or not. The point of it is this those belts are specifically designed to hold weight and to not have that weight shift up and down, meaning that your belts will last much longer. But it also has more resilience as you clip a tool belt to it. So if you were the kind of person that clips a belt, we've all had sagged before. Like Claed, how many belts have you gone through that have just been worn? Now that buttons are frayed, right, yeah, yeah, it's painful. So it prevents that. So you have your EDC belt and you match it to the color of your shoes. Now, I'm not saying this for a style thing. There's a psychological reason of what we're doing by having darker pants and having a lighter shirt. That's one thing, but also, people will look at you in a snapshot. Very rarely does someone look at you and absorb everything all at once. So you having the same color boots as you have the same color belt really just almost allows you to establish a border to who you are. That's really all it is. It's there just giving you the edges of your frame For sure. And when you find it you close your eyes and have a mental snapshot. You find you won't even know what color of the boots. You won't even know what the boots look like. You don't know if they're Tim's, you don't know the Red Wings, you just know that they were the same color as the belt. It's just. It's weird how that works but allows folks to jump in here.

I'm sorry to jump in here, but I can't help but think, like for the naysayers, the people thinking, well, that's not that important. It would be easy to say this doesn't add up. But think about it for a second and recognize that if you're in front of someone in their home, are they thinking about are you the kind of person that they want in your home? 100% right, they're judging you from the moment you step up to the plate. The door For your rapport is a big thing, right. They care about what's about to happen and they don't know you from a hole in the ground other than what the office may have said about you. They should right Bonus points. That said, while you're working, picture yourself kneeled down in front of them. What are they looking at? They're looking at you.

They're not looking away.

Right, they are maybe looking at the belt, they are noticing the pants, they're noticing everything that's put together with intention, and you have to trust someone with intention just a little bit more, don't you, when you notice that you're going wow, they've really thought of everything here.

If nothing else, I'm even willing to play devil's advocate for the situation, because this has happened, right? Everything you're saying I agree with. Obviously, you and I are in the same page of it, but for the person that says it doesn't matter, Okay, let's evaluate this in its vacuum from two different sides. If you are going to still wear your uniform, even if you didn't personally believe in it, I would still trust that company because it shows that the company has a standard. Whether you believe in it or not, I would hire that company because the company has a standard. That's the first thing that you would recognize. The second is okay, assume that you're a sole proprietor. You don't have a company standard. You're not wearing your uniform. You show up as you want because you're like screw it, that's just how I'm going to be. Okay, that's fine. Would you, having hair come down the back of your neck, turn someone off? Now, I'm not like a turn them on, turn them off, go away. But would that put someone in a more negative view of you? If you look like you haven't shaved in four or five days, does that say something to the meticulousness that you keep yourself? Would that say anything about the workmanship that you do. If you look up sloppy, go ahead.

From a place where we used to have to shave. You literally had to. I worked with a company with that and it was also because of your safety From that place. Anyone who didn't shave you just know they didn't make time in the morning, which means they woke up late, which means they're running behind, which means they're here in a reactive state, under the weather, not feeling well, and had to show up Whatever the circumstances. It makes you wonder what's going on.

Yeah, I always found and it's a weird thing. But if you really want to take into all the senses, right now all we've heard is auditory. Maybe they have a good voice and we've gotten visual. Now obviously I'm going to say you need to just shower, you need to just put shampoo and you need to take care of yourself, put yodering on, but what about a little cologne every now and then? I have found that those little intentions. Now if you look like a salesperson and you have cologne on, I've actually found that to turn off, because then the salesperson's like oh, I know he's a sales guy, but if you're a technician, you're showing up here at Red Wing Boots in a pair of Dickies pants, you have a little cologne on. My impression is that you care about your job, because what technician is going out of their way to make themselves smell nice to go work? That shows someone cares.

Have you ever gotten trouble for smelling too much in a house? Smelling too much, yeah, like cologne, like overdo it. Some environments they say are sensitive. Don't wear cologne here in this workplace because some people have allergies to it. Have you ever found troubles with that?

Yes and no, not on the cologne. So, as a former smoker I had the mentality of. I always knew that I kind of smelled. You know what I mean. I'm not trying to blanket all smokers here, but you just had a cigarette or you pull on your vape where you did. I'm not saying you smoke cigars or whatever, but you're smoking in your van. You're probably going to smell something. So the steps that I took was I kept a spare uniform and a zip up so that I would have one large thermal that I would throw over my shirt and I would smoke, and then I would take that thermal off, bring it down, put on another button up over it I had no hair to smell comb my beard out a little bit, and you're good to go Like. So. For as far as cologne, though, I was always taught that two sprays is enough. One, two at about six inch length. Any closer makes it too concentrated. So, like the kind of guy that's like to spray himself in a circle and walking through it. What is your intention? Every action, every move, every thought needs to be calculated. If you're putting on that much cologne, you're trying to draw their attention to your smell, and that has to be done for a specific reason. If it's not done for a specific reason, I think I would question someone who came in smelling too much, absolutely Like what are you doing, man? Like you going to a club you were in Armani right now like what are you doing?

Yeah, yeah, that's why I brought it up. That's why I asked, as people know, anyone who's a friend with me on Facebook. I mean, I posted about this like a week ago. I personally, I don't use cologne. I use a bit of beard butter that smells nice and I'll just I'll put that even down the sides of my neck and it does smell and it reminds me as a sensory perspective that I'm in that place. I'm in that state, I have charisma, I can build rapport People like me, I look good, I feel good, I'm ready to go, and that, to me, is a big piece of this. We're running out of time on this one, but something that we do, since you mentioned senses, is try to capture all of those senses after the fact. So the other unwritten reason for this, for smelling a certain way, for presenting a certain way, is that if you then go and connect on one of your best sales, say you hit a platinum. You offered all six options, the call went perfect, you nail it. They take number one. You got, you know, 10 grand down for a deposit and a $20,000 job, let's say that happens. What did it look like that day? What was the weather doing? What was your experience on the way. What were you listening to? What did you smell? And for me it's going to be sandalwood, right, I'm going to remember that I was clean shave and I was going to remember that I felt good, the sun was out, bit of clouds, but I'm driving down the road, thinking positive things, listening to my other calls, or something positive to get me in that state, and so all of that sensory can come back to you in the moments that we suggest, prior to the next calls that you run, where you're just visualizing and going back to that place of sensory, getting ready and acting as if.

First off, I love all of that, yeah. Secondly, I love the fact that you're also in sandalwood, because literally every shampoo, every face cream, everything I use is sandalwood. I love it, so great choice on the scent there.

Now one last question. Go for it. Sorry, did I cut you off though.

Well, I was going to say that there's more than one sense that we can appeal to, but I don't know if we have time for every one of them, because there's also the perfect handshake, there's also your stride, there's also your body posture and all those things that I could break down as well, so maybe we do another episode.

Totally. Yeah, let's make notes on those ones. I needed to ask because this was meant to be a looks episode. Really, what about the socks, joe?

Ah okay, socks are particular, so I personally always felt that wool socks were the best thing to wear, regardless of your season, because you can get wool socks in multiple different lengths. But the reason being is this Wool socks, regardless of whether you sweat or not, contain the sweat, meaning that if it's cold and they get wet, you're still warm. So winter they're good. In the summer, if you sweat, it contains it, so it's less likely to permeate out and smell the room. But also the fact that I really just liked how the Dickie Wool socks felt, like it was never too, never too sticky, never too compression based, and really I feel like a three quarter sock is the length to go A couple inches over the boot doesn't have to reach your calf, that's a little too much, but just enough to get over your boot. That way when you get a breeze through your legs it doesn't make your leg cold.

Okay. Well, now I have one last question for you. I'm a fun sock guy. Ooh, can a premium service provider wear fun socks?

I would say no, and I have a reason for that.

Party pooper.

Here we go. Okay, the reason being is the active consistency. So let's say, we take fun socks, right, and you're like I'm going to pick some random, like I've got a set of Imperial, imperial Signed High Fighter socks. I'm a Star Wars guy Hail the Empire, right, everyone loves it. But the problem is, is that what if I meet someone who doesn't appreciate Star Wars, or they're only rebels, or they're only something else? It could be a fun topic of conversation. But have you ever ran into someone where you're wearing the wrong football jersey?

Yeah, Is Star Wars that serious Some?

people are like that, but it doesn't have. I'm just using that particular example. I'm saying but like, let's say, your fun sock was a I don't know. One thing that we used to use was that we liked we would follow the Patriots, not because I really like watching football, but because same brand whenever the Patriots did well, we had brand recognition. But if I were to wear a Patriot socks and someone didn't like the Patriots because there are a package heaters apparently well then that would be associated with me, even though my intention was just to be fun. So if I can predict a consistent theme and just say I have black or gray socks that match my uniform, absorb smell and keep my feet dry, there was never anything that would make me go negative, only things that make me go positive.

Fair enough, man. Well, I appreciate that. Let's wrap this one up. A couple of action items. You want basic Star. I like the all star. I got a good one for this, okay, okay, well, I got to be careful not to pluck it from you. On the basic, then, if you're not yet in uniform, again consistent look for your brand showing up with appeal, not sex appeal, but intentional appeal as a professional ready to serve. Just in mind what I said earlier, dressing like this button up to their highest standard Maybe that's what they would wear to their next function and just being ready to the peak of that for rapport building, to appear charismatic and to appear like someone that deserves attention, and deserves not only any attention but their attention, their respect. That's very important. So just decide what is your uniform, what will you wear, and start getting that stuff. That's my base, joe, hit it with an all star, let's go.

I'm going to call some people out with the all star, which is I've seen you guys buy your snap on tools. I've seen you buy your high inclines. I've seen you all buy these intense Milwaukee sets, but why do we not consider our uniform just as premium a tool? Why do we go to Walmart and buy the thinnest fabric that we possibly can we buy in bulk? Why are we not investing in quality products that make you look good and feel good? There was an expression that I was taught where I don't know if it's a spread, there's more of like a quick story, in that people were judging that only rich people could afford to buy things the wrong way because you had to do it twice. So, when you think about it, if you were to take them on and invest in a quality uniform like a good, solid car heart uniform or good, solid, durable boots yeah, they'll cost you $200 or $300 for a pair, but you know you're going to get your life out of it. You're not showing up to the job with Ryobi, right, not black and decker, but you're wearing basic $20 or $30 boots. It would make sense that your customer would judge you for them Instead, just as you believe they're going to judge you for your tools except in the same light. If someone can judge you for your tool, they can judge you for what you're wearing. And why not dress the denines? Just to ensure that it's one thing that doesn't take you away from being a 10?.

Love it, man. You guys heard it right here. Now you know exactly how to look like a premium service provider. This has been another episode of Electric Purner's Secrets, the Electricians podcast, where we keep showing up for you guys to help you master your sales, simplify your pricing and deliver premium level electrical service. We'll see you again tomorrow. Two, three, four, thank you.