It’s OK to make a profit. I would even say it’s GREAT to make a big profit!
This does not mean you’re greedy. What it means is you’re able to deliver a very high level of value to your customers and you should be proud of it. I don’t hear of professional sports teams being ashamed of their performance when they beat their opponent decisively. Of course not! They are proud of it! You should feel the same way also, since you too are a professional.
Now, this does not mean you’re out to exploit people. If you are exploiting people, not only are you exercising very poor judgment, you also are showing your ignorance (it’s doubtful you will be able to operate with low integrity for very long). Achieving a high level of profit merely means that you’re able to deliver a high level of value to your customer, and you’re able to do this while keeping your costs in line.
High profit is not bad. It’s what you do with it that counts. If you’re using the profits to reinvest into the business to help develop your business even more in ways that will help your customers realize even more value, then what you’re doing is a real service to your customers and to your prospects. Profits are what allow companies to sustain themselves. Without profits there is no way for a company to survive. They risk either delivering an inferior product or service or going out of business.
I never cease to be amazed at the number of salespeople I meet who are hesitant about their company making a decent profit! This is ridiculous. Stop treating the word “profit” like it is profanity. Your sales motivation needs to be aligned with the realization that profit is a good thing… a very good thing!
3 Responses
In addition to not understanding ‘profit,’ too many salespeople can’t grasp the concept of ‘gross margin.’ Profit is what’s left over from the gross margin we make on a sale after we pay all the bills.
Whenever a salesperson give away a dollar (or many dollars) to make a sale, they just gave away a dollar of margin, not cost. Without margin we don’t pay for the lights in the building, support staff, and salespeople’s salaries.
We need gross margins to survive. We need profits to grow and thrive.
You do make a great point with this article. Isn’t profit the reason why we are all in the sales game? Sure there is that feeling of accomplishment that we do get from “the close”. However, the profit is the end result of our hard work.