BL, my revised post comment was not directed at you.  I just saw your post, the Google toolbar is a great option that I use all the time.  However I had never used the spellcheck feature (use the auto-fill all the time) since I am usually in Word or program that picks up on the errors as well. 

[quote=baylorjoyce1]

they could not care less if I had a tie choking me. 

[/quote]

Perhaps if you wore a coat and tie every day you would be able to afford new clothes that didn't  choke you.

Are you saying that firms like Lehman Brothers simply doesn't "get it" when they insist that their people wear business suits every day?

How many of the men and women on this year's Registered Reps top ten brokers list do you suppose have an attitude along the lines of, "If a prospect doesn't like the way I dress I don't want them as a client?"

Perhaps if a broker didn't wander around in "country club attire" while on the job they could actually afford to belong to the country club instead of pretending they do.

[quote=baylorjoyce1]BL, my revised post comment was not directed at you.  I just saw your post, the Google toolbar is a great option that I use all the time.  However I had never used the spellcheck feature (use the auto-fill all the time) since I am usually in Word or program that picks up on the errors as well.  [/quote]

Me too, spell check in Word. The beauty of this tool is that it works in forums like this or anything else you type in the internet (Craigslist, etc)

As to the clothing. I dress up when I'm at work. That means in my office, visiting clients at their businesses or homes or giving a presentation at a seminar.  However, I have learned that you need to be flexible when off premises.  At a luau or theme event, then you should of course dress according to the theme. 

Also when visiting a client's business establishment you need to use some common sense. Here is an example.  I had to inspect a large cattle operation to whom we were making a loan. Checking for brands and earmarks, that the breed was the one we were lending on, count the legs and divide by four to make sure the herd was as represented (that's an inside joke), check the barns, equipment etc.  After all this was the collateral.  The only way to do this barring getting on a horse and riding the range was to go to the stock yard when the cattle were gathered before moving them to other pasture/ranges.  They were testing the cows for pregnancy (Don't ask how. You don't want to know.) 

So my attire that day wasn't my usual heels and dress suits. Instead I had on rubber boots, jeans and a long sleeve shirt and leather gloves.  If I had showed up "all gussied up" I would have been a laughing stock, not to mention having ruined permanently my shoes. 

It is ok to get out of uniform occasionally.

Well, Let's see.... Suit or no suit?

Donald Trump is almost always in a suit -but what's with that hair? His suits MUST be expensive- but who really notices while you are trying to figure out where that birds' nest begins and ends?

Actually, NASD EASY/PUT - you keep going back over the same topics. YOU like a suit because of your age.

I grew up on rock & roll, smokin' a little and drinking a lot. So did MOST of my clients.... I love the commercials for Ameriprise because they have it nailed. The generation that grew up with the Stones, Zeplin and CCR aren't going out in rocking chairs. And I believe these are the folks that are going to have all that money we all are after in the financial business.

I wear clean, ironed jeans, collared shirt and jacket. I am also in SoCal. I think the area you live in DOES matter. AND Baylor has it right too- if you are still prospecting maybe you need to look like everybody else out there.

I won't close with an emoticon, I know how you hate those too. Blinking, winking little dots that your glasses can't quite focus on.

Haha.  You've got it so figured out, why do you waste your time on this board.  "Choking" is a figure of speech, and was said in jest.  Did I say that Lehman Bros doesnt get it?  Actually I just sold a private equity offering from Lehman Bros and the client didnt seem to mind my polo shirt. 

And now I can't afford to belong to a Country Club.  You sir, are clueless. 

I have no issue that many chose to wear a suit.  However, Texas isn't the same as NY.  We make fun of them like they make fun of us.  Doesn't mean they're wrong and we're right, just a different way of doing things. 

If I am going out to see a client, I would almost always wear a suit.  When they come to my office for my advice, they'll have to deal with me not being in a suit.  And I don't think that I'm going to any measurable amount of business for doing so. 

I have literally had experiences where I was made fun of for wearing a suit.  It angered me at the time, because I don't think it should ever be considered overdressing.  And I can guarantee it's not because of my choice of suits, shirts, ties, shoes etc...  my suit wardrobe is way more than sufficient. 

The point remains--you cannot offend anybody by showing up in a business suit, or greet them in your office in a business suit.

If you turn off a single prospect because you march to a different drummer that is one prospect too many.

Do you disagree?  Do you think that losing a client because the client was unimpressed with your dress is an uncontrollable risk of the industry?

I personally hate that some planners feel that they can't be human in how they dress.  I think its always good to go in public dressed properly, but some take it so far (including me in the past/beginning) that they have to create this image to their clients. 

I have had many friends tell me that the casual dress makes me more approachable and seem more normal.  After they ask what I do for a living, my resume/experience speaks for itself, not the Brioni suit I am wearing that day. 

I hear people making fun of all the guys running around from the wirehouses & insurance companies in their suits, seeing who can put the slickest combo together.  This is probably due to the area I reside in, but in some places it is reality. 

How many of the nation's top brokers do you suppose would put themselves in a situation where the client just had to deal with the fact that the man or woman who they were entrusting with their money chose to dress like a golfer instead of a banker?

What is the upside of not wearing a business suit?

[quote=NASD Newbie]

The point remains--you cannot offend anybody by showing up in a business suit, or greet them in your office in a business suit.

If you turn off a single prospect because you march to a different drummer that is one prospect too many.

Do you disagree?  Do you think that losing a client because the client was unimpressed with your dress is an uncontrollable risk of the industry?

[/quote]

Yes, I disagree. I don't wear suits every day. If I lose a client because they were unimpressed with my attire, I don't care. A suit every day isn't me. Are you suggesting that we 'fake' a look to get a client? It's not real. It's not who I am. It's not what I believe.

Should I Lie to get a client? To me, it's the same thing.

And anyway, I thought you were getting ready to dance off the back of a Boat while it circled some Island. Tell you what, I'll come up there this weekend and shove you off the back of the ferry while it's circling Alcatraz- how's that? I'll wear a suit.

[quote=baylorjoyce1]

This is probably due to the area I reside in, but in some places it is reality. 

[/quote]

I graduated from Highland Park High School, got my BBA at SMU.  I know Texans as well as anybody.

I am here to tell you that when you handle people's money you should look like a mortician with a smile.

It is a controllable risk that I am willing to retain. 

I have lost a client because I was wearing a suit, so apparently there was some risk on your side as well.  The fact that you refuse to see the other side is simply showing your ignorance.  

I have no problem with someone being in a suit for their profession.  I however look like a golfer and it probably helps that most of my clients are aware that I played golf in college and still play competitively today. 

Now go tighten up your tie and get over yourself.

Congrats on HP, I hope you werent saying that to impress someone.  I have multiple clients in HP and actually buy many of my suits at Pockets Menswear in HP Village. 

I wouldn't try and impress anyone by saying you went to SMU, just like I wouldn't try and impress by saying I went to Baylor.  If that is your stake to fame, that won't get you anywhere in our business.   

[quote=munytalks]

Yes, I disagree. I don't wear suits every day. If I lose a client because they were unimpressed with my attire, I don't care. A suit every day isn't me. Are you suggesting that we 'fake' a look to get a client? It's not real. It's not who I am. It's not what I believe.

[/quote]

A suit every day isn't you?  Would that be because you're a slob, or too lazy to choose ties?

Do you suppose that Stan O'Neal shows up wearing a golf shirt?

For those of you who know who Launny Steffens is, ever see him in a golf shirt?  I didn't and I used to see him around Boca Raton and out in the desert.

How often do you suppose Sandy Weil wanders around without a tie?

How about the top brokers who will hit this year's RR magazine list?

You dress out of respect for your business, your career, and for your client or prospect.

Why in the world would you want to send an image of a golf pro when you're trying to convince a man or woman that you're a serious money manager type?

Why not show up in shorts and pretend to be Andy Roddick as long as you're going to be pretending to be anything but a serious financial advisor?

I am here to tell you that when you handle people's money you should look like a mortician with a smile.

I don't think with a name like NASD Newbie you should be "here to tell" me about anything. 

Thanks Mom, I'll let you know next time I need your approval from my attire. 

[quote=baylorjoyce1]

I wouldn't try and impress anyone by saying you went to SMU

[/quote]

I don't, I mentioned it simply to suggest that I know Texas as well as anybody.

My MBA from Wharton opened a few doors along the way--get one and you won't have to be ashamed that you spent six years in Waco.

Why haven’t you addressed the client I LOST because I wore a suit? Was he not a worthy client?  I think the paycheck I received from an Exec Bonus plan for 80+ employees I sold him after I went to casual would beg to differ. 

6 years?  Wow, now you even have such insight to see how long I lived in Waco!!!

[quote=baylorjoyce1]Why haven't you addressed the client I LOST because I wore a suit? 

  [/quote]

The reason is simple, I don't believe that anybody ever--as in EVER--loses a financial services opportunity because they are dressed in a suit.

If you were wearing a suit and lost a deal it's would probably be because you were wearing white socks.

[quote=baylorjoyce1]6 years?  Wow, now you even have such insight to see how long I lived in Waco!!![/quote]

Not at all, I just know that somebody with your communication skills and thought processes would need six years to get through Baylor.

[quote=baylorjoyce1]

Maybe this is a generalization, but if you work on a referral only business, you should be fairly safe in whatever your attire has been to be appropriate.  If you are in a heavy prospecting business, you probably should consider wearing a suit since all of your competition will be doing the same as they run around town chasing prospects. 

[/quote]

BRAVO!  WELL SAID!