“You don’t look like a procurement person!” is what I hear time and time again from my clients and end users. Since I am shameless I usually take it as a compliment. Tell me the truth, if you are one of the rare few who actually know what procurement is, ninety percent of the time you would be expecting to run into a dull, stone-faced, old-fashioned man or woman in his/her 40s or 50s. Quite honestly, this fits most of the physical characteristics of professionals I have seen in this circle across the globe, except perhaps in Mainland China. In China, the average age is a lot younger since the number of low-cost sourcing positions is the fastest growing in the world.
Don’t tell me dressing the part makes no difference. Don’t tell me you never judge the book by its covers, or publishers won’t spend millions of dollars researching for the right design, illustrations, fonts, colors and catchy titles for their books. Don’t tell me you give people more than 5 minutes to make a first impression.
The same goes for my profession.
Just because we work behind the scenes with spreadsheets and calculators and putting our noses to the 68-page contract and request for proposal drafts 13 hours a day, there should never be an excuse dressing like a 60 year-old history professor. If you are indeed a strategic procurement professional, you are likely to spend plenty of time in front of suppliers, departmental users, CFOs, CIOs, lawyers, auditors and regulatory officials. You need to represent, negotiate, convince and argue all at the same time. We need to armor up with facts, strategies, baits and bullets. Dressing the part is increasingly a make-or-break situation.
I dress to meet with the savvy senior business development teams from IBM, Accenture and WPP. I dress for site inspection trips to China Mobile and China Netcom in Beijing meeting state officials. I dress to go over the new year’s budget plans with the SVP of marketing operations. I dress when I meet the lawyers. I dress when I conduct trainings. Hey, do I need any reasons not to dress for the part?
It’s not only the dress as well. I also care about posture. I know, this is no America’s Next Top Model contest, but we need to project professionalism and confidence – all the time. Otherwise, no one is going to entrust you with the millions of dollars worth buying decisions. No one is going to take you seriously at the negotiation table. No one is going to give you a raise (though we all sadly know this is out of our hands most of the time). No one is going to believe that you take the laws and regulations seriously. Have eye contact at all time. Speak clearly and decisively. Use the right gestures to project approval or doubtfulness. Head up, shoulders back and walk straight ahead. Be fierce and let people know you mean business. Gosh, this does sound like something Tara Banks would say.
Dressing well and projecting confidence sends a clear silent signal before I even start to speak up: I respect what I do. I respect you and your time. I am above the topic at hand and I focus on the long-term objective. I don’t have time to waste. I am not the type that would take bribes. I am not going to take no as an answer. I am not to be fooled. I am secure enough to say what’s right without worrying over repercussions from my boss, colleagues or people with devious motives. Most of all, I am a brand of my ownand I will bring credibility and efficiency to the company. So, listen up!
Sounds narcissistic? No, if you want to send at least one of the above signals across.
Time to start thinking about what your personal brand is, stand up, refine your speaking techniques, check your posture and switch on Tara!
Confessions of a Corporate Shopaholic 
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