Learning Your Client’s Culture
In the rarified world- or so we think, anyway- of doing business with big business, there are a few hard and fast rules. Part of this is understanding that any big company is made up of individuals, who are, just as you and I probably are, self-referential, mildly insecure, self-obsessed, and in all ways committed to their own achievements.
Many are also interested in the company’s success, largely in part because in doing so, they also prosper. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Many, knowingly or not, are often going to hire or prefer to work with people who look like, sound like and act like they do- or at least how they see the corporate culture they call home.
If you’ve ever worked for a large company, been a part of an industry or, as I have, done both, and also been in the military, you learn pretty quickly that every industry has its own language, code of ethics and conduct, a culture (further broken down by individual corporations) and a way of comporting one’s self. That can and does often vary by department as well.
If you’re in doubt, fly Southwest Airlines. Then do a tour around BNSF, which is steeped in history, hires a great many veterans, and whose culture is command and control, just like those it hires. Or, you could work at the South Carolina bank where I was a vice president, where pants for women were still frowned upon. In 1996.
To tool around Boulder, Colorado and visit some of their corporate headquarters is bit of a culture shock unless, of course, you’re from around these parts, as I am. On a recent visit to gear maker Sea to Summit to pick up a big box of pro deals, I was met at the front desk first by several wet noses, a lot of hair and some investigative sniffing.
Then a few dogs also showed up once the front desk staff were through with me.
Just kidding.
For those of us who are hoping to sell to larger companies, part of our research involves understanding those cultures, the way people dress, the idiosyncratic cultures of these firms. Showing up in a business suit in many Boulder headquarters reeks of rookie. Besides, you get dog hair on your Brooks Brothers, or your Dolce & Gabanna skirt. You ruin your wingtips in the mud and snow while everyone else is happily pounding around the sidewalks in Merrells. While Boulder lives in a bit of a bubble, so does Silicon Valley. So do a lot of other places. Internationally it’s a whole other ball of wax with sometimes strict cultural considerations for both men and women.
States, regions, towns and corporations have distinct, recognizable cultures. They also have a preference for formality or informality. Some can be highly offended if a woman wears open-toed shoes because of the founder’s religious beliefs (I’ve had that happen). Others would be highly offended if you had hair touching your collar, or facial hair.
While you may find such things ridiculous or out of touch, the truth is that many corporations do indeed feel strongly about the people they buy from- and that is especially true for those whom they may choose to represent their brand to the public.
For years I regularly attended the national conferences for a women’s organization which did a great job of lining up some four hundred Fortune 500 companies for a day of intense networking. The conferences also featured seminars, meetings, after hours drinks and parties.
Most of the buyers and execs who showed up were pretty buttoned-down people. It’s a business conference, and they were there to assess these women-owned companies for their readiness to play at a much higher level. The meetings might- or might not- lead eventually to real contracts. You would think that the women would be on their best behavior.
Year after year I watched some of these smart, competent but naive women self-immolate. They would get drunk and run through the hallways yelling-the same hallways where the corporate folks were trying to sleep for the next day. Or they would wear hugely inappropriate clothing during off times, when they would invariably run into these same buyers who held their futures in hand. They got cabbaged at the parties, and said and did unforgivably stupid things. On the sales floor, many wore overtly and embarrassingly sexy clothing that had no place in a business environment. Unless, of course, they were the after-hours entertainment.
Look, I’m no prude. I love rad threads. But when I am in a target-rich environment where my company- and myself as the ambassador for it- are being scrutinized for big contracts, I am not likely to wear a jacket that reveals the girls when I lean forward to shake hands with the Chief Purchasing Officer. It does tend to send the wrong message, especially if said CPO is female.
As many of the buyers were also friends, I heard story after story about a woman who garnered interest during the day, then blew it that night when she was seen singing karaoke with her blouse unbuttoned to her navel. Not good optics. These folks can’t afford to take that kind of chance on her judgment when in fact, she had none.
The women, many of whom had never been to such a conference before, treated it like a college party. A vacation. Yet they wished dearly to be taken seriously, to be considered for important contracts.
Their lack of respect for the conservative culture of many of these enormous firms (Exxon, AT&T, Chevron, the entire A list, if you will) cost them opportunities. From the time you and I board the plane until we’re were inside our homes, we are “on.” You never know who is in the next seat or behind you in the check in counter. When you scream at the clerk about how you by god WANT THAT WINDOW SEAT OR ELSE, the senior buyer who was looking at your company to deliver leadership training might be right behind you. Of course this is doubly true for social media, which believe me, they check.
I’m not singling out women. That’s just one example. I see this everywhere.
Part of our preparation for showing up to present ourselves is understanding the world we are about to enter. How formal it is. Who the executives are, their styles, and the culture of the company. If I face a buyer, I want that buyer to see himself, his culture reflected in me. He’s going to feel respected, and in an odd way, safe. I look like what his company wants to be. While I understand the compulsion for purple hair, tattoos and nose rings, there are places that will never work. And there are places it most certainly will. Knowing when to have your tat sleeve showing and when to wear French cuffs is just smart positioning. Visuals make folks comfortable with you.
Before you pooh-pooh me for putting down individual expression, let’s be clear here. Whatever your style, whatever your lifestyle, it is incumbent upon us to consider who the client is. They, after all, are the ones who will be paying us for goods and services. Being self-serving, they want folks who reflect their values. Not always, but most of the time. If Garcia on Criminal Minds comes up for you, as she does for me (and thank you, yes, I love her) yes of course. There are indeed plenty of firms(probably not the FEEBS) which are far more tolerant of individual expression. I simply wouldn’t make that assumption up front.
The Fortune 500, and most especially the Fortune 100, aren’t exactly bastions of extreme fashion. By the same token, some industries wouldn’t be caught dead in a suit. For example, I went to a three-day conference of the Adventure Travel and Trade Association. Uniform? Zip-off North Face khakis, Columbia shirts, hiking boots or Teva sandals.
My point entirely. My Armani jacket stayed in the closet, and I fit right in. Including wearing not a whit of makeup. Let’s be clear: these are my people, and I am right at home. But I’m also totally at home in a banker’s blue jacket and low heels, delivering leadership training to senior IT directors. It’s about adapting.
Don’t want to adapt? The big corporations may not be your market. No harm, no foul. If you went for the full Maori facial tat Tā moko, you may be a bit challenged to slip into the corporate supply chain in a customer-facing role.
I called ahead and asked. I always do. You can do the same thing by calling the corporate receptionist before you go in for a sales meeting. I find it incredibly easy to get information this way. I explain to them that I have a big sales meeting (or whatever), and that I want to respect the culture. I ask their advice on what the dress code is, and what the execs prefer to see (and comment on) about those who visit from outside the company.
In forty years I’ve never been steered wrong. Quite often what I thought I was going to wear was replaced based on that advice, and it paid off handsomely.
Those of us who have the conceit to sell to multi-billion dollar corporations as well as their First and Second Tier suppliers need to be smart enough to know when to tone down our earrings and decorations and when to let fly. You may discover that the buyer who hired you for that big contract has a full-color tat sleeve on his arm twice as long as yours. But in the context of business, especially for first impressions, it’s good to know the rules and play by them. Many of them are changing fast, and they can vary widely by office location.
You don’t have to give up who you are and your personal style to be in business. However, if you want to do business with certain companies, it pays to know what to keep covered and what to leave at home.
Baby, you can party in private all you want once the ink is signed.