I decided to write this post after a comment I left on my Facebook Profile, it stated:

The Law Of Profitable Returns: As long as the value of your goods and services exceeds what was paid for them, then the profit received will always exceed your expectations.

The idea behind this law came from a comment that Bob Burg left on LinkedIn, it was a link to a blog post he had written that said: "Business is mainly about two things; providing truly exceptional value to those you serve…and making a profit."

I responded to it by saying, "As long as the value given exceeds your profits, your profits will exceed your expectations. There is some kind of law we can create out of that I'm sure!"

He agreed and that's when the idea of The Law Of Profitable Returnswas born.

As I'm writing this I'm reminded of something I was told long, long ago, while selling Fords in Florida. I honestly don't remember who said it but I remember the words very well, "David, selling cars is easy, all you have to do is show your customers why the car you're trying to sell them is more valuable than their big stack of money."

In other words, build so much value around your product or service that your customer desires or needs it more than the actual money it costs. Seems simple enough doesn't it? That's because it is! Value can be built in the product, yourself and the company, you should do whatever you can to build it in all three.

Always keep in mind that it's one thing to build value and another one to exceed all expectations by building untoldamounts of perceived value. I'll give you a great example, Maggiano's Little Italy in Denver. I've never been to a Maggiano's before when my wife and I, along with our two children, were driving back home to Colorado Springs from Denver. We saw the building, and decided that we would take a detour and have some Italian for dinner. At first glance, you would think the prices would be insane because the restaurant's exterior is absolutely beautiful. In fact, the picture doesn't do it justice... you'll just have to take my word for it!

In fact, my wife asked me, "you okay with taking the kids to an expensive restaurant?" I said yes and as we walked through the doors I noted that the inside was every bit as beautiful as the outside, for those of you that have been to this particular Maggiano's, you know what I'm talking about. I remember walking in the bathroom, seeing the bathroom attendant and wiping my hands on hand towels that had the restaurants name on them and thinking, I wonder how much the lasagna is going be? After opening the menu I was shocked, not only was the the lasagna just $12.95 they would even give me another piece to take home!

That's the kind of perceived value that I'm talking about. I was expecting to pay at least $20 for the lasagna and was blown away when I got two pieces for $12.95. You better believe that the next day, while I was eating some yummy lasagna, I couldn't help but feel that I ripped Maggiano's off.

What kind of perceived value are your customers leaving with? Are you following up after the sale as well to give them even more value? Are you giving them ample reasons to keep coming back and to tell others about you? Just look at what I just did, I wrote a blog post about Maggiano's Little Italy, would your customers do the same? If not, why not? What can you do to build value, what can you do to make YOUR customers feel that they have ripped you off?

Always remember: As long as the value of your goods and services exceeds what was paid for them, then the profit received will always exceed your expectations.

Where are you building value?

David Johnson

PersuasiveConcepts.com