Forget The Money To Zhong

“money alone is not enough; my goal is much higher”

This appears to be the mantra of the current richest person in Asia.

Zhong Shanshan of China recently floated his company in Hong Kong and at time of blogging, is worth a blockbuster $64 Billion. Staggeringly, coming mostly from his enterprise of being the first person in 1993 to sell bottled water to Chinese consumers.

Also intriguingly, his surname may well have a double-meaning beloved of the nominal determinists.

中 zhòng : to hit (the mark) to be hit by [or] … to win (a prize, a lottery)

I learn of this deepism via his Bloomberg Billionaire profile [subscription req’d].

It may get a little lost in translation, but the theme is clear; think beyond the money.

It seems to be angled towards making products that customers like, as opposed to selling something more because you simply think it’ll make cash.

By extension, your first question should not be, ‘how much money can I make?’ But rather, ‘will this product serve customers well?’

And if you conclude it doesn’t bring client benefit, then what single improvement can you make to it so that it does?

Despite any lingering doubts as to true Chinese super-rich origins, this thinking pushes happily at my open door of ‘purpose before profit’.

Such phrase has been hijacked over recent times by specific causes, yet the fact remains you will do ‘better’ when you pursue something for any reason other than the money.

Yes, people like the banksters may have got – and continue to get – away with blue murder, but in the main, selling because you are improving the lot of a buyer in a particular way will shower you with more rewards than if your prime thought is always to the wodge of commission you aim to pocket.

It is precisely to this “higher goal” that any sales endeavour should laser-in on and constantly remind potential customers of.

What’s yours…?