Has Business Casual Gone too far?

If you attend most major large company’s sales conferences or off-site sales training sessions you will generally find more golf shirts than at a PGA tour event. Golf shirts and dress paints for men have become synonymous with the term ‘business casual’. Is this a good thing for selling?

When I was a kid I don’t ever remember my Dad going to work as a sales professional in anything other than a suit and tie. Even as a young guy I thought it looked pretty impressive that my Dad wore a suit and tie to work every day.

I often struggle to know what to wear when the dress code calls for ‘business casual’. For me a golf shirt and khakis feels too casual, I try to limit the golf shirt to only the hottest of summer days. The rest of the time I feel most comfortable at work in dress paints and dress shirt with no tie for the days I will be only in the office.

I am fortunate the company I work for still has a suit and tie policy for customer visits. Likely this isn’t a written policy, more a generally accepted practice as part of the working culture. I like the idea of knowing that when I will be meeting with a customer, my colleagues and I will be wearing a suit and tie. It is simple. No guessing.

This is not common place anymore. When I see other account managers at customers I rarely every see others wearing a suit and tie. For me I gain a subtle hint of confidence from this. I know I and my colleagues have made the effort to dress for success during our customer visit.

You don’t have to look hard on the internet to find motivational coaches providing the benefits of dressing for success.

“You cannot climb the ladder of success dressed in the costume of failure.”

By Zig Ziglar

So with all this being said, has business casual gone too far? There is too much of a good thing. Dress down Friday extends into off site meetings and trainings. Then business casual seems to fit in the hotter summer months. Before you know it you are only wearing a suit for Weddings and Funerals. When do you draw the line?

I suggest that you try to make an effort to steer yourself always towards more formal than casual. After all I have never met a customer or colleague that got upset because I was dressed well. Most of the time; you may hear, ‘why so dressy?’ The perfect time to reiterate the importance of the meeting or person you are meeting with.