I was assigned to meet with a potential new client and as per normal business meetings, I knew I had to at least look presentable when I go and visit my client.
Boss want me to wear smartly to meet client because he wanted us to show the clients that we had some success
I was instructed by my boss to wear a formal suit and tie for the meeting because he always believed in dressing the part to show the client that the employees in the company had some success.
I knew it was unnecessary but because my boss was always judging us by our dressing (he wants us to have at least one branded item on us), I had to dress the part when I went back to office to prepare my meeting materials.
The client then called me just as I was about to leave the office and requested for me to meet him at the coffeeshop below his house as he was tired and wanted to go home to shower first.
Seeing that I was going to a coffeeshop, I decided to change out of my smart wear and put on my Nike sliders I wore in the office to meet him. I mean after all to me, it was probably going to be a chill setting.
I managed to leave the office before my boss could question me on why I was in my casual wear and wearing my Nike sliders out, but he probably noticed it.
Met the client, and the deal went well
I arrived at the coffeeshop and the client came down shortly after dressed in his home clothes and slippers. We had an engaging conversation and the meeting went very well. He didn’t even bother to judge me for dressing casually in my Nike sliders when it was supposed to be a formal business meeting.
I was able to answer all of the questions he had, and he was very impressed with my knowledge and expertise. I was confident that I had done a good job and could close the deal.
The next day, my boss came into the office and looked for me.
I was so sure that he was going to chide me for dressing in my Nike sliders for the meeting but instead he shook my hand and congratulated me for closing the deal because the client had agreed to sign the contract.
He also said that the client was impressed that I dared to wear my Nike sliders and dress comfortably to meet him because it was a first for him and he mentioned that he is quite a casual person and he really don’t like it when people dress up smartly to meet him but do not know their stuff.
After this incident, my boss perception on the need to dress very formally to meet a client kind of changed and he is more lax in terms of how he want us to dress.
His only condition: You want wear Nike or Adidas or what also can la, but at least wear shoe leh….