Anyone who tells you appearance doesn’t matter in sales is operating in an alternate universe. Even as the baby boomer generation ages, more than ever before the business world reflects a culture of youth. Which is a bit ironic as Americans are living longer, working later in life and establishing multiple careers over a lifetime. That’s good news for sales professionals. Selling is something that has no age limit. If you can make the numbers, you can stay in sales. But these days you have to look the part. Take publishing rep Jeff (he requested his last name be withheld).

It was Jeff’s first day back in the office after an extensive business trip. As he and a young colleague walked into a meeting, the colleague said, “Man, you look tired.”

Boom.

“Saying you look tired is a polite way of saying you look old,” says Jeff. “And implying that you’re old is only one step away from saying that you’re no longer fit to do this job. Everybody heard him, and his comments might have planted a seed of doubt in the mind of the CEO.” Along with the other 50-something men in his firm, Jeff worries that a younger co-worker might gain a competitive edge based solely on appearance. “Once you begin to look your age,” he says, “people may conclude that the pressure is getting to be too much.”

No wonder the anti-aging industry is growing. Approximately 6.9 million cosmetic procedures were performed in the U.S. last year, many of them on the 77 million baby boomers who have always had a huge generational impact on economic trends. If approximately one in 10 baby boomers is investigating procedures such as Botox, skin resurfacing, hair replacement and cosmetic surgery, then it’s not surprising that social historian Dr. Lynn Luciano concludes, “Looking old is becoming abnormal. It’s almost considered a disease.”

It’s not just vanity that’s driving the boomers to the needle, the laser and the knife – it’s also business. According to a survey by the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 30 percent of men and 14 percent of women who had cosmetic surgery say the decision was work-related. The pressure to look young is especially acute in the fields of sales and marketing. “The more public contact you have, the more appearance becomes important,” says Dr. Luciano, the author of Looking Good: The Male Body in Modern America. “In the old days, when most workers were on assembly lines, who cared if a man looked tired? No one ever saw him. Now, if you’re in a presentation profession, you bet it matters how you look.”

The issue is compounded by the fact that a contemporary worker rarely stays with one company all his life. “Research says the average worker will have eight jobs in his lifetime,” says Dr. Luciano. “He’s frequently changing companies and, thus, continually reinterviewing and representing himself to potential employers. If you look old, the impression may be that you’re not in step with what’s new or that you’ve lost your creative edge. This is especially harmful if you’re selling a product that’s linked to constant innovation, like computers or pharmaceuticals.”

“All of us in sales know that the first couple of minutes after you meet someone are the most critical,” says Tom Albright, VP of global marketing for Botox. “And the first thing people do is look into your eyes. A potential employer or client is quickly deciding if they like you, if they can trust you.” Rebecca, a health-care sales rep, knows just what he means. She describes herself as having a “perpetual half-frown” before she received Botox injections to relax the muscles of her forehead, and she says she feared her “stubborn, almost harsh” expression made her unapproachable to clients. “If you’re carrying information on your face that doesn’t match what’s in your brain or your heart,” Albright says, “you’re setting up a dynamic that doesn’t accurately reflect who you are.”

Jeff agrees. “I may look older, but the thing is, I don’t feel older. It’s almost like my face is false advertising. I don’t want to turn the clock all the way back to 30 and come across like some young green kid who doesn’t have the judgment to make decisions. What I want is to be eternally 45.”

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The most rapidly growing segment of the anti-aging industry comprises “lunchtime procedures” such as Botox, laser treatments or superficial peels. “Working people want procedures that leave no evidence and require no downtime,” says Kelly Stern, product manager for SkinMedica, a cosmeceutical line that includes prescription-strength products designed to rejuvenate aging skin. “Peels are popular because the application takes only 20 minutes, and the improvements in your skin are steady but subtle.”

Why the popularity of lunchtime procedures? It’s not just that busy execs are pushed for time – they’re also loath to admit they’re worried about their appearance. A stockbroker named Cynthia, who had a full face-lift in 1996, admits that when she ran into a co-worker after surgery she explained her bruises by muttering something about “a car crash after partying.” Apparently even drunk driving carried less stigma than plastic surgery.

Now, eight years later, Cynthia is an advocate of ThermaCool, a laser that uses radio frequency to heat, shrink and ultimately tighten the collagen beneath a patient’s skin. “It’s expensive, and it stings, but the effects are very gradual,” she says. “There’s no oh-my-God-what-have-you-done factor, no time wrapped in bandages like a mummy. You really can have a treatment and go right back to work.”

Men are especially sensitive to implications of vanity, as evidenced by the fact that during interviews for this article the women we spoke with were willing to have their full names used and the men were not. Cynthia says her subterfuge was invented purely for her co-workers. “You never want to look weak or worried on the job,” she says. “But my friends and I discuss all of our procedures openly and refer each other to dermatologists and plastic surgeons.”

For men, in contrast, the decision to undergo treatment is often made on impulse, perhaps triggered by the co-worker who says he looks tired. The WebMD article “Men and Plastic Surgery” by Kimberly A. Henry, M.D., reports that once a man decides on a procedure, he usually wants to have it done as quickly as possible and is not likely to consult family, friends or even his wife about his decision.

Another difference: women more freely admit that they want to look good in order to appeal to the opposite sex. According to a 2001 AARP poll, most people believe that men grow more distinguished and desirable with age, so it’s not surprising that many men undergoing anti-aging treatments say their motivation is strictly professional. Dr. Luciano isn’t buying it. “Hair removal, for example, is very popular with men,” she says. “Guys may say they’re doing it for work but if a man is getting all his back hair zapped off it’s a safe bet he’s not just worried about how he looks in the boardroom.”

Phil, an insurance salesman who has undergone laser skin resurfacing, was bewildered by the question of whether he was more motivated by work or sex. “What difference does it make?” he asks. “Men attract women through their earning ability and the power it gives them. So how successful I am at work and how attractive I am to women are one and the same to me.”

Men and women also differ on the question of how far back they want to turn the clock. “It all centers on the question of what age someone has to be before they’re referred to as ‘old,’” says Tom Albright. “Women like to stay about 35, an age when they’re coming into their power but are still fertile. Men are more apt to want to look a decade older, to stop the clock at a time in their life when they’ve achieved a certain amount of authority and influence, but they’re still in pretty darn good shape.”

In other words, eternally 45.

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Needless to say, as the popularity of anti-aging procedures soars, the sales force behind them is expanding as well. Industry Web pages list salaries of $55,000 to 85,000 to start, and as you rise higher up the ladder, six-figure incomes are not uncommon. “A good sales rep can make more than the doctors she visits,” says Stephanie Calhoun.

“There’s tremendous opportunity in the aesthetics aspect of the business,” adds Kelly Stern. “The anti-aging industry began in urban areas but now any medium-size city in the country has available treatment. We’re beginning to see people of all ages coming into the offices, even patients in their 20s and 30s who are trying to prevent problems before they occur. More men are getting into this. There are still major untapped markets.” The numbers back her up. Thermage, the company that sells the popular ThermaCool laser, posted $2 million in revenue for 2002 and $10 million in 2003, with the final 2004 tally expected to be far higher.

A prime example of the possibilities is 34-year-old Stephanie Calhoun. Obagi, a leading pharmaceutical skincare company, recruited her five years ago when she was a corporate trainer for Estee Lauder. “How hot is this field?” she asks. “I posted my resume online one night at 4 a.m. on a pure whim, and a headhunter called me within five hours.” Estee Lauder had a reputation within the industry for well-trained reps, so it was relatively easy for Calhoun to make the jump from cosmetic skincare into corrective skincare.

“There were some changes,” she says. “Obagi was invented by a dermatologist, and now my target clientele wasn’t the ladies in the mall, it was exclusively doctors. I knew basic skincare terminology, but I had to quickly learn the medical language.” Within three years Calhoun was the number one salesperson at Obagi and tapping at the salary ceiling. So she made the leap to Candela Lasers, where she is now selling lasers to the same doctors who used to be her cosmeceutical clients. Even though assigned to the relatively unglamorous territory of the Carolinas, after two years with Candela, Calhoun is once again the number one salesperson in her company.

Different lasers treat different conditions, which is bad news for the doctors who may have to purchase an array of pricey machines to satisfy their customer’s needs, but good news for Stephanie and company. “These are big ticket items,” says Calhoun. “Doctors may pay $90,000 for a Gentle Lase that removes hair and $50,000 for a SmoothBeam that attacks acne, wrinkles and age spots. There are different machines for vein removal and tattoo removal, or to shrink the broken capillaries that some people, especially men, get around their nose.”

Even more key is the built-in obsolescence that comes with all anti-aging technology. “You can sell a doctor a machine and five years later sell her the new-and-improved machine,” says Calhoun. “Dermatologists and plastic surgeons are always under pressure to give their patients the latest treatment they just saw on TV or read about in a magazine. Young doctors are especially hot clients because they trained on the machines in med school, and they love having the newest and the latest.”

There’s plenty of money to be made, but only smarties need apply. “Our average sales rep has 15 years’ experience in sales,” says Tom Albright, “but when you switch to a product like Botox, you have to understand the regulatory issues and know the lingo. There are extensive restrictions for people who sell pharmaceutical products, and we search high and wide for our salespeople.” When they find them, they carry the exalted title of Botox Cosmetic Development Manager to reflect the complexities of the job. “It’s really a combination of selling and helping the doctor achieve the best patient outcome,” says Albright. “We spend a lot of time working with the doctor and his staff to help them perfect their technique.”

As their income increases, some reps find their desire to move into management fades. “I have a good gig,” Calhoun says. “My manager may make $100,000 more a year, but at what cost? I know how hard I tug at him to be with me at key demonstrations, and he has eight other reps under him tugging just as hard.”

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One of the most interesting facts about the anti-aging industry is that some of the sales reps refer to people who use their products as “patients” and others as “clients.” The semantics illustrate one of the recurring debates about anti-aging treatments. Do people need them or merely want them?

Rebecca, a self-proclaimed “Botox junkie” points out, “It’s a cyclic thing. No one even noticed when I started using Botox, but I felt like I looked better, and that translated to me feeling better. There was definitely increased self-confidence, and that affected every aspect of my job. The only thing is, when the four months are up and the Botox starts wearing off and the wrinkles come back, I feel like I have to get back to the doctor’s office immediately.”

“You get hooked,” agrees Phil, who began with laser resurfacing but is now using Botox and considering hair transplants. “Once you’ve had one procedure, it’s much easier to get the second. I swear, I don’t even laugh at Michael Jackson anymore.” Social scientists call this the “Diderot Effect” after the French philosopher who bought a new robe and then begin to think he should replace his slippers. They both looked great but when he sat down, the armchair looked scruffy, then the rug…

We’re all a bit like Diderot, which assures salespeople like Stephanie Calhoun that they’ll be hearing the “ka-ching” of increased sales for years to come. Is it about vanity or success in business? Do people need it or want it? Those points may be moot, but there’s one thing everybody can agree on: There’s gold in them thar wrinkles.