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Are goatees and any facial hair bad for first impressions to customers?
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I hope not. It's just my opinion but you can look neat and clean with a beard if you keep it neat and clean.
Besides, The less of my face I show, the better I look.
And you've got an advantage to looking professional that we don't have. You can buy work clothes right off the shelf with your name already on them.
*Clark, I happen to be in the percentage of women who like facial hair on a man (if I don't have to prolongedly kiss said man--like rugburn, ya know?), but, then again, I'm also partial to bald men. Whatever. What I don't like is those beards that appear to have never been trimmed into any shape, or mustaches that mingle with teeth when you talk.
*i love the work prolongedly
*clark,I haven't shaved in 30 years. I managed to get married and start a business. That doesn't mean I don't clip it every once in a while. I don't think the ZZ Top look inspires confidence in many customers.Ed. Williams
*You can only look so good at the beginning of the day. That's what you should shoot for. After that, you look like the guy that does the work, not like some golf shirt kinda guy. That instills confidence in the cust. Try and look like you got some sleep the night before and you just didn't start to grow that beard.FWIW
*Good hygiene and neat grooming does not preclude beards. Even bankers nowadays can have beards. Some people grow beards as part of their religous practices or customs. I start every morning with clean clothes that are suited for the days work and a beard.joe d
*Also bearded.
*A friend of mine showed me a photo of his grandfather and his grandfathers cronies, probably circa 1920. They all had on coveralls and were wearing white shirts and ties underneath them. Of course this was before a predominance of power tools. I like to look like I belong in someones house. I don't wear a tie but I like to look neat ( at least at the start of the day). This usually means nothing more than a clean sweatshirt and pants. I have a beard and try to keep the "whiskers" look down with an occasional trim . Same as I would expect if someone were to come into my house. Skip
*I've got enuf beard for everyone here. I look like yer average biker. People tell me that when I wear my cheap sunglasses I could pass as a twin for the bass player in ZZTop. Had hair to match. Down to my belt. Cut it all off last week, and thinkin about shaving my head just for a hoot. Although I noticed that with it all buzzed short, I look more like 'Curley' of the three stooges has grown a beard. LOLI never grew the beard while I was an 'active' carpenter. Too concerned with possibly losing my next meal because the next possible client would get a wrong first impression.
*Yep, I've got a beard too, kept trimmed pretty short.A painter friend, nice lookin clean cut guy said he was scheduled to paint a little old ladies house, whom he'd already met in person. Between the time she accepted his bid and he was supposed to start he grew a goatee and also lost some kind of bet that required him to shave his head.He showed up, knocked on her door lookin like a miniature "Goldberg" of pro wrestling fame and she opened it just a crack and meekly told him she'd changed her mind.Said he went straight home and shaved, and wore a ball cap till his hair grew back.So I guess appearance definatly makes a difference in some cases.Chuck
*I'm goatee'd. Got hair down to my shoulders in back. Top and sides trimed. Tattoo covered (on shoulder, and the next couple will be "hide-able"). If I'm in leather and black Harley tee, they wouldn't let me in. I do some work for a few very upscale customers, and don't have a problem as long as the face is trimed and the clothes are clean when I show up. Have a few K-Mart polo shirts that are as comfy as a tee and look a little better. Had one 90 year old millionaire lady tell me she liked my "Craftsman-Style" of appearance. Her designer keep recommending real clean-cut guys, and I was a referral of a friend. She said my longer hair meant I was more creative! Think I'll take her to see David Allen Coe next time he's here! Jeff , clean and fuzzy.
*First impression on the looks is important, but not nearly as important as customer rapport. If you get along great with the customer, and make them feel comfortable dealing with you, and comfortable with your attitude and demeanor, then they will have no problem letting you into their home to work. If, however, you look like you just crawled out of a ditch, you will never get the opportunity to make the customer feel comfortable around you.Your demeanor and attitude about yourslef, your work, the job at hand, and the customers themselves will go a LONG, LONG way on making the customer very happy that they hired you for the work.I have long hair in the back, and keep it neat and trimmed on the sides, I wear a pony tail which keeps my hair from looking all wind blown and stringy. I also sport a "sorta beard" (what we call the Don Johnson look circa Miami Vice). I keep my neck cleanly shaven. Everyone tells me I look like a kid whenever I shave my face clean. I wear a chambry shirt and clean blue jeans, with work boots. This is how I show up for work. When I show up for a bid, I dress nicely, freshly bathed, and a few minutes early. When the potential customer opens the door, they greet me with a smile and warm welcome. Then I get to work my charm...James DuHamel
*IMHO, Probably most folks won't negatively react to facial hair, but some might. How many? Who knows! It becomes a judgement call whether you want to risk losing the ones who do.Bob
*Been moderately to seriously scruffy lookin since before I started in this business. . . . ..I trim the beard once or twice a year whether it needs it or not...the hair gets trimmed a lil more often.. .wear clean jeans and always carry my sparkling personality close to hand. .. seem to work mostly for upscale professional types, don't think I ever lost out do to looks (good thing... I don't have any).. . lil old ladies seem to like me too... go figure-pm
*After 23 years in the Army and countless times without a shower for weeks, I was still able to shave, take a steel pot bath, and be presentable for duty. Relatively, of course, compared to the rest of us in the same boat. All it took was self-discipline, even when I hadn't slept in a day or two.I think that "showing up for the job" appearance is important. It needn't be fancy, just indicative of self-worth and self-discipline. The message conveyed will overcome many later problems. A variation of the axiom that a first impression is a lasting impression is the one that credibility is hard to establish and easy to destroy. Appearance, in the sense of hair growth or clothing style (God knows, nobody wears Dockers on the trades job), isn't as important as cleanliness. The guy who comes home dead tired at the end of an overly and, unfortunately too often, long day and can still kiss his wife, hug his kids, eat a dinner a few hours past its prime, and rise at four, shower, and put on the "holy" jeans his lovely wife washed the day before is okay in my book. If he has a smile on his face, as well, it's golden. This man is in charge of his life, and what more can be said. If he smells like last night's beer, then it's a different story.
*The last NARI show that I attended in Dallas had a lot of contractors dressed in black cowboy outfits---looking like hired guns or con men. Personally, I don't want a suit to come out to give an estimate on a paint job, but I don't want to deal with a scum bag, either! My picture of a contractor or builder (a.k.a. my DAD) is a clean cut man in a work shirt, overalls, work shoes and ready to go to work right now--driving a pick'em up truck okay, but not too nice!
*a how how how........ohhhhhhh my.......eeeeeyow!!!!!!!!!Love that little 'ole band from Texas.Ed.
*Howard,Amen.Ed.
*No facial hair, no long hair, no sideburns. Wear black Carhart doubleknees, forestgreen polo shirt (with pocket) and ruddy brown steel toed boot without the mountain climbing tread that tracks in the mud.Have 5 to 6 of everything so its fresh everyday--well, ok, only 2 pairs of boots. Got all my teeth, have 'em cleaned every 4 months, got the white pickup with custom welded rack and side tool boxes painted the same forest green.That DeWalt hat I wear sometimes matches my tools which I was painting yellow before DeWalt was doing it.Well, somebody had to say something and be the Rush Limbaugh with "talent on loan from God"! :) Next?
*I shave every day.BTW - James, Jeff - keep the long hair, wimmens love it ( I bet ya already know that tho)Luka - bad boy! grow it back!
*Bob Vila hides behind that beard too and we all know he's a hack. Norm does also, and some times he's a hack and some times not. But I guess what is most important is to put YOUR best foot forward and hope for the best. Face it, we all have to sell to get jobs sometimes, and why not stack the deck in your favor and give the customer what they want. Will it kill you to shave and cut you hair and dress nice if that's what the customer wants? Or go the opposite if your in the hunt to remodel or build a biker bar? I'm not a sellout either way, but how I look is not as important as how I am, and the kids are real attached to eatin' perdy regular, y'know what I mean? Bidness is bidness. Keith C.(still lookin' for some friends Bill Smith)
*Man gotta change my name Clark Carhartt would be too cool, save on the embriodery work, sounds cool, I am jelous. That name would sell jobs on it's own.
*I worked with a carpenter years ago named Ray Nail. His real legal name. No kidding. One of our Forman's name is Bud Naylor. I'm also working with a home designer on a job now who's name is David Sawyer. If I could hire MC Hammer we'd have a Hammer and a Naylor on the crew working with a Sawyer. Now........if I could just find someone with the last name of Lumber.........Ed. Williams
*You callin me a hack ???View Image
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Bob(Luka?) a hack...nah he's just one of those gotta touch everything(and break most of everything)people you would never have in your house even if he showed up with a truckload full of those fine craftsman tools....... Looks in your closets without asking,talks to much, drives a chevy truck, I'll bet he even trims that beard on a daily basis. I like the old shows where he shows up on the site with no socks and topsiders, runnin' around buggin' everyone. I'm sure he was the inspiration for cap nails, throw a few down in an unsuspecting place and watch him dance.....or maybe I'm just being too mean...need to switch to decaf....Keith C
*Luka....keep it up with those graphics and Adirondack is gonna figure you for Fusco, and , well, let's not go there.
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Ahhhh
Ok, I guess I misinterpreted your post. Looked like you were calling anybody with a beard a hack.
Bob Vila is worse than a hack. My favorites were all the times, (every show) when he would pick things up and explain what they were for and the real carpenters would take it from him and tell us what it was really for. Or every time he'd come into a room, he'd pick up a tool, most times a carpenter would snatch it from him. LOL Didn't he make a joke about borrowing someone's big ticket tool, and they told him flat out that no he couldn't borrow it ?
*I'm not worried. I figure AJ's got enough common sense to tell the difference in tone or 'flavor' in our posts.BTW: anyone that wants to use the graphics, go ahead. I find that sometimes if you include the right one, you can avoid a misinterpretation of your post. ie, if I had been actually angry, I would not have used the angry face. That's for bluster. I was joking. If I'd really been angry there would have been no doubt from reading the post itself. There would be no need for a graphic.
*Yes! That's exactly it. The bugger drives a chev, THAT's why I have this instinctive mistrust of him. Steve thomas is worse about the touching (although I haven't seen any of those shows for four years now). Anyone I know would have dropped him half a dozen times before coffee break.
*So how do I use your graphic...or anybody's graphic for that matter....say for instance that I wanted to take a mighty fine photo of my chevy truck (oops, cat's out of the bag now) and wanted to include that graphic here?
*While we're on the subject of beards, Norm, and Steve. Went to a home show about 3 yrs ago and Steve Thomas was a speaker. He actually had to shave his beard to get the show. The producers said he looked too much like Norm and the viewers would get confused. He showed old pics, and he did look like a little Norm! He was a boat builder before the T.V. gig. If the man can build boats, I'll never question his carp. skills! The next yrs. speaker was Tom. Got his sig on a mag cover for the shop wall of fame. Gotta get Norms next, then give Villa mine! Jeff
*Thor,I just spent an hour searching through the posts for the small FAQ I made for CLS about this subject. I can't find it.I haven't forgotten. I'll spend some time tonight making up a new one, probably a bit more info this time. I'll probably post it as a seperate (new) thread.
*Jeff; he built A boat, one, to sail his little rich boy ass off in search of his inner self or whatever (that's how I remember it anyway). Not trying to dump on the guy, seems nice enough, and I don't watch the show anymore so i don't care what he gets up to. But a dabbler is a dabbler.
*My electrician's name is Kieth Dimmer
*Thor,Finaly found the post...http://webx.taunton.com/WebX?230@@.ee8c89dGo clear down to the bottom, you'll see where I answered CLS.Add to that, this post...http://webx.taunton.com/WebX?13@@.ee6f25c/0You now have advice from several sources. No doubt some are better than what I wrote.View Image
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Are goatees and any facial hair bad for first impressions to customers?