To Tie or Not to Tie - Real Life Trust Example
To Tie or Not to Tie - Real Life Trust Example
Editor Introduction: During the learning session mentioned in the article, the topics of Trust and Authority came up as they relate to ranking of pages in Search Engine Results. What follows is a real-life example of a mark of trust and it's value in selling.
Last week I learned the difference between blogs, articles, Zingers and books. It was a fascinating three hours with people that know the difference and love all three. For now I will allow you to see the difference as you read my books, Zingers and blogs. I easily saw the difference when I proceeded to write a blog about motorcycle and business crashes; then realized it was either a candidate for a Zinger, an article or a story for another book, so herewith, I try again.
During that wonderful learning session I was asked if I always tie my bow ties, as opposed to wearing clip-on bow ties. This got my attention because it was the second time in two days that someone asked me that question. The answer is YES! I tie them myself because I do not like something that is false! I tie all 114 of the bow ties in my closet. Amy counted them when we were forced to empty the closets so new carpet could be laid in the house two weeks ago. She also found one long tie, which I had forgotten I owned.
Amy gave me my first bow tie. We worked in the same big room when first married. She was the engineering VP's secretary and I was a beginning Industrial Engineer. I worked at a stand up three by five foot drafting table drawing the changes that would be needed with new equipment coming into one of the factory floors. In those days before computers, a tee square, triangles, compass and protractors were your tools. One evening she handed me a bow tie.
"I am tired of seeing your various attempts to keep your tie out of the way of your drafting instruments. Clip this on tomorrow and see if it is practical."
I did, it was, so I went to the small men's clothing store where she'd gotten it. The proprietor had a great selection of bow ties without straps or clips. I had quickly come to dislike the clip on kind. They seemed dishonest to me. The proprietor stood behind me in front of a mirror and taught me to tie a bow tie. I can do it in the dark now. I have been wearing bow ties ever since. They don't drag in your soup or get full gravy when you are reaching for something during dinner, they don't hang below your belt which I think is obscene and you don't accidentally grab a bow tie instead of your napkin to wipe your lips. They don't flap in your face, when driving a Harley at highway speeds, either. They last a long time.
In the book "Dress For Success," that I read years ago, the author's research showed that men wearing bow ties are usually distrusted out of hand. Reading this statement gave me pause for deep thought, should I stop wearing bow ties? An awful lot of customers, friends, and Amy, trusted me ... I decided to keep wearing them. They became my easy identification mark. They say I am different, which I am and I like that.
Nuff said!
Wes Zimmerman
Labels: first impressions, judging, perception, success
posted by Wes Zimmerman @ 11:38 AM
2 Comments:
People only ask because they think they are hard to tie, I once had to undo mine and then re tie it to prove that I do. I would never wear a clip on, because it is a lot harder to keep them in place then it is a freestyle one.
I have always choose to wear bow ties ever since I was a young lad, I guess I got it from my father. I would never think of switching to necks, for various reasons, or wear a clip on since they are a lot harder to keep straight. It is always nice to hear about someone elses stories about the bow tie.
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