Get your highest margin work

Posted: September 20, 2013 | Categories: Sales

Last year I wrote a blog on a process we could use to determine our highest margin work.

Doing work that gives us the highest margin of profit makes sense, doesn’t it? Yet how many times do we find ourselves getting caught in the price-matching game where we end up falling short of a comfortable profit margin.

This summer my wife and I were taking a leisurely bike ride along a trail when a man raced by us. He was not in our league! Later on, we found him stopped along the side of the path making some adjustments to his bike. We began a conversation and discovered that the bike he was riding was a $3500 bike. He was proud to say he got a deal by only paying $3000 for it. He also had a special bike seat that he paid $200 for. To my wife and me, that seat looked very uncomfortable. We wouldn’t have paid a nickel for it. We were not that kind of bike enthusiasts who would appreciate its value.

Who is your ideal prospect? Do they fully understand and appreciate the value of what you offer? Do they want it? Do they have the money for it? Like the racer, do they know the value of what they are getting, or are they more like Joyce and I…we didn’t know a high-valued bike when we saw one. The prospects and clients who understand our value are usually the most profitable.

To make a healthy profit, we must:

1. Clarify what work is our highest margin work. (Hint…it us probably something you are very good at)
2. Commit ourselves to make a list of prospects who appreciate, want, need, and can afford the special product or service we provide
3. Create plan of action to get in front of those people. Be prepared for some hard work. It is usually much more difficult to get an appointment with a prime prospect. (For tips see: How to Warm Up Cold Calls)

Think of the fellow in the bike trail: If he wanted to sell his bike and make a good profit, he would not try to sell it to me. There are probably very few people he passed on the trail who want or need that kind of bike. He knows he has to find them, or sell the bike and lose money. Remember, there is something we do very well, and that is where our highest margins are. Go for it!

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