How your employees look – whether they please or deceive – usually carries a message

I recently visited a local repair shop and watched a scruffy-bearded, pony-tailed tech in dirty, baggy clothes exit the shop and jump in his vehicle and take off for his lunch break. When the shop owner caught me staring at his employee, he exclaimed, "He may not look it, but that is our smartest tech here. That guy can find anything wrong with any car. You wouldn't believe the things he knows."

The shop owner also revealed to me that the tech was even one of his highest-paid employees.

The question becomes, does appearance make a technician seem "unprofessional"? Or does a tech's passion for his job outweigh his "look." The shop owner answered my query regarding what is the reaction that customers have when they see this tech. He informed me that the tech has as little as possible interaction with the customers.

Yes, it is a shame that customers in our industry are so judgmental. But the reality is, they are. And it's not just in our industry, but everywhere. And most of the time these judgmental people are making a big mistake. I mean, come on – if you weren't familiar with Albert Einstein and he was standing next to you on the corner – complete with his signature wiry, white mane, overgrown moustache and wearing baggy slacks with an old wool sweater complete with a few moth holes in it, you may be incl...