There is a classic thread of business thought that posits the customer against the profit. Are you in
business to help people or to make money? Because, obviously, it can’t be both.
This thinking exists because of the inaccurate belief that people don’t want to spend money. We all want to spend money. We are more than willing to spend money, as long as we value what we receive as greater than what we pay. The real world is about trade-offs; there will always be two sides to any situation: cost and benefit. Saying that people don’t want to spend money focuses only on cost.Whenever we spend money we do so with full awareness of the cost (which business is aware of), but with equal awareness of the benefit (which business tends to forget).
Marketers are especially exposed to this false reasoning, being on the front-lines of the buy/sell exchange. because of these fundamental realities; we ignore them at our own expense.
So, are you in for the money or the people? Not only can it be both, it must be both. Any business that can’t align corporate and consumer incentives won’t be successful.
