It’s the key question every leader needs to ask: Do you have a “Noble Purpose?” Or do you just sell stuff? The answer is directly linked to your profitability.
The data is clear, organizations with a Noble Purpose (that focus on improving life for their customers) outperform organizations that are focused on hitting financial targets.
I created the concept of Noble Purpose five years ago after my research with sales teams revealed that salespeople who sold with Noble Purpose – who truly wanted to make a difference to customers – consistently outsold the salespeople who were focused on sales goals and money.
The words Noble and Selling are rarely seen together. Most people believe that money is the primary motivator for top salespeople and that doing good by the world runs a distant second. That belief is wrong.
The Noble Purpose concept is catching on. The Wall Street Journal chronicled Merrill Lynch leader John Theil’s annual address to his more than 13,700 financial advisers and his mission to find Merrill’s “Noble Purpose.” And he’s not the only one. When I shared the stage with HootSuite founder Ryan Holmes at a recent Town Hall, he told his entire organization, “Our business is about helping our customers transform their message into meaningful relationships with their customers.”
Our other Noble Purpose clients include forward-thinking organizations like G Adventures, Flight Centre, Aperian Global, and Genentech.
If you have a Noble Purpose, the odds are on your side. If you’re just selling stuff, you’re going to be in for a very tough time.
