V i r g i l ’ s V i e w s

Profit is a benefit a buyer seeks from a product or service

A popular definition of profit is a transaction in which the income exceeds the outgo.  Everyone knows that this benefit or gain is essential for a prospering business.

Buyers look for opportunities for profit when they buy a product or service for resale, as wholesalers, or when they buy raw materials for manufacturing a product that can be sold at a profit.  Alert sales persons point out how the product or service can result in a gain for the buyer.  They should not assume that these gains will always be apparent to the buyer.

A profit can result in many ways.  An insurance agent informed a recent widow that her deceased husband had an insurance policy worth $1,000.000.  This astounding news  made her regain composure and partially dry her tears.  She blurted out “You know, I would give up half of this just to have him back.”  The profit motive runs deep.

 Pride is a benefit a buyer seeks from a produce or service.

William James, the American philosopher, said “The deepest principle of human relations is the craving people have to feel important. He uses the extreme word craving instead of the milder desire.  Contemporary people might call it self esteem, something which stimulates people to set goals and go to work in the morning.

Sales people often can rightly indicate a feature of what they sell that will inspire a healthy pride in the buyer.  For example, a salesclerk may point out that a lady will be proud to wear the blouse she is considering because it coincides perfectly with her hairdo, complexion and facial features. Or with a male customer a car salesman can indicate the pride of being among the first to have a car with combined electric and gasoline propulsion.

During a visit in Iowa with my family I sent to a local barber for a short haircut.  He took me literally and cut everything save the skin.  When my niece heard my complaint, she marked “But it makes you look younger.”  Does anyone know a senior citizen who does not feel a twinge of pride when hearing , “ but it makes you look younger?”

Pleasure, or the desire to feel good, is a benefit a buyer seeks from a product or service.

One day I was in the seafood market in Corpus Christi, TX, and saw a man walking with a wiggling lobster under his arm.  I inquired “Where are you going to do with that lobster?”  He replied “I’m taking him home for dinner.”  The lobster piped up with “I’ve already had my dinner.  Take me to a movie.”

Here are two types of pleasure or means for feeling good:  food and entertainment.  Other sources include travel, cars, clothing, sports, shopping and countless others.  It’s also possible to double one’s pleasure.  If I stop by a table managed by winsome young ladies in uniform and buy one or more boxes of cookies,  I feel good because I did a good deed for the Girl Scouts while looking forward to the pleasant taste of the cookies.

People who rush donations of money, products or service in times of disaster often get pleasure from their generosity.   Their generosity makes them feel good.   They do well when they do “good.”

 Comfort is one of the benefits a buyer seeks from a product or service.

A man cam home one day and proudly told his wife that he had taken out a $1,000,000  life  insurance policy.  “Now,” he said, “if anything happens to me, you and the kids will   be well taken care of.:”  “Oh,” she enthused, “Now you don’t have to go to the doctor when you feel sick.”

Obviously this lady recognized the comfort inherent in insurance both for the insured and the insurer.  At this stage the comfort is emotional, but it can become physical when the company pays the beneficiary who will spend it for products that will give physical comfort.

Other examples of  physical comfort are furniture, clothing, autos and famously mattresses.  In addition to providing physical comfort by alleviating pain,  doctors can enhance emotional comfort by giving their patients encouragement..  Teachers and guidance counselors give emotional comfort when they encourage and inspire their students.