WILMINGTON, MA (May 2013) - Legendary Harvard Business School marketing professor Theodore Levitt once said, “People don't want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole!” Similarly, business managers don’t want to simply rent work uniforms for their employees, they want to benefit from the many image enhancing results a managed workwear program can produce.

Foremost among those results is the ability to project a professional image and effectively promote a company brand, says Adam Soreff, Director of Marketing at UniFirst, a leading provider of uniforms and workwear to businesses throughout the U.S. and Canada.

“A few years back, a national survey conducted by J.D. Power and Associates for the textile service industry found that customers are more inclined to do business with employees who wear uniforms because they stood out as professionals and were seen as being more competent and knowledgeable. Those survey results hold true today and can translate into real bottom line benefits for those companies choosing a managed uniform program for their employees.”

Soreff says the top 10 reasons businesses opt for work uniform programs are:

1. Create an attractive business image. For better or worse, society tends to judge people by how they dress. Selecting an appropriate employee uniform can immediately establish a professional business image that attracts and helps retain customers.
2. Promote your company or brand. When employees wear uniforms displaying corporate logos and colors, they help brand and differentiate their business in the markets they serve.
3. Free advertising. Well designed work uniforms worn in public become “walking billboards,” promoting a company’s products and services “for free.”
4. Protect workers. Uniforms deliver functional benefits, like wearer safety. For example, flame resistant (FR) workwear can help prevent injuries caused by accidental electrical arc flashes or flash fires, and high visibility uniforms can help protect workers from being struck by motorized vehicles.
5. Improve security. Company uniforms featuring specific styles or colors quickly identify who does or does not belong in specific work areas or on job sites.
6. Prevent product cross-contamination. Uniform programs designed specifically for the food or healthcare industries can help reduce cross-contamination threats; those constructed to dissipate static electricity can help prevent damage to sensitive electronic components.
7. Foster team spirit. Work uniforms promote a sense of team spirit and a sense of belonging. This, in turn, can improve worker productivity.
8. Employee benefit. Employer provided uniforms save employees money, and when provided as part of a Rental Program, eliminate employee laundering time and expense.
9. Improve customer relationships. Work uniforms immediately identify company representatives who can be approached for purchasing information, thereby improving overall customer service.
10. Promote company pride. Work uniforms help instill a sense of pride and responsibility and can convert employees into “brand ambassadors” outside the actual workplace.