Published December 9, 2011 | 
It almost seems inevitable. It happens all too often. When push comes to shove and the sales person or manager has some leeway, sales are slow, and pressure to produce is high, then decisions are often made to cut the profit margin just to get the sale. I have been there, and wore that T-shirt! In fact, I have seen cases over the years where profit is totally given away to get the sale.
Not only does it happen on the sales floor or between handshakes on the golf course or at the restaurant, but it happens nearly every day in office after office throughout the country. Workers, in the office or on the road, take extra time away from their jobs, spend time reading personal email, send messages over the computer or their mobile phone to Facebook and other social outlet media, answer an abundance of personal phone calls to their cell phone and burn profit without recognizing it or unfortunately not seeming to care. Service personnel who drive between jobs get done a few minutes early and instead of going back to the office, go home.
It really doesn’t hurt anything, right? Well, wrong! Take a longer lunch break than you are allowed, go home early when no one is watching, use the copy machine to print your teens’ term paper, without permission, use “business time” for “personal time” and you drastically affect the bottom line. You may not own the company, so who really is hurt, anyway?
My partner and I had arrived by flight in Los Angeles late one night to participate as vendors in a trade show. Arriving at the car rental agency counter, where we had a rental car confirmed, we were assisted by the night manager, a very attractive young lady. As trained to do, she asked about upgrading our reservation, this time saying, “We have a new Cadillac that you gentlemen can rent for only extra xx dollars.” Now, sometimes we would upgrade, if the situation required it, however that night was not one of those times. Upon declining her suggestion, she looked at us both and said, “Just put it on your expense account gentlemen, the company won’t know!”
We looked at each other and started laughing and nearly at the same time, replied, “Miss, we ARE the company! We own the business!” Just like some employees, she figured “who would care, charge it to the company, who cares about the bottom line.”
You see it becomes a mindset if you are not careful. You don’t own the company, so who cares if the profit is slim? Who cares if the sale gets made and you give up some of that profit margin? Who cares, if I don’t feel like putting in a full effort today, and goof off a little? I work hard. I deserve a break.
It doesn’t stop with employees or even those in your management team. Your customers want to get as low a price as possible, but often would never accept the profit margin you live on. They play you against your competition and call it “due diligence.” They play the “I can’t afford it” game, until you offer a better deal. But stop a minute! You need to remember!
Remind yourself today that profit is NOT a dirty word. Profit allows you to take a much needed paid vacation and to have part of your insurance paid for. Profit means there may be money available to upgrade much needed equipment and provide those extra benefits that you have been wanting. Profit means there may be money to hire extra needed help and give a “fair” wage. It will not happen, however, if you allow the mindset that “profit is a dirty word” to permeate your life and business dealings.
So the next time an opportunity comes to waste some time or to spend company money that is not necessary, remember that PROFIT IS NOT A DIRTY WORD!
