The False Choice CEOs Face: Why Sales Growth and Profit Don’t Have to Compete

For many CEOs, sales feels like a trap. Push hard for revenue and margins erode as reps give away the farm. Defend margins and growth slows. Either way, frustration mounts — because enterprise value suffers.

This is the false choice CEOs face: believing growth and profit are competing goals. The truth? With the right sales strategy, they can and should rise together.

Four Strategies to Grow Revenue AND Profit

Here are four strategies to ensure your sales team can grow revenue while maintaining profit.

1. Teach Reps to Sell Value

Research from our SalesIndex data partner, OMG, shows that only about one-third of sales professionals are competent at selling value, and less than 15% are truly competent at consultative selling. This means most reps default to pitching features or cutting price. The result? Margins erode and deals stall because reps fail to create a compelling business reason to buy. Training and ongoing coaching must focus on shifting reps from price-based conversations to value-based dialogues that highlight impact, outcomes, and ROI.

Research on proficiency of 16,326 active sales professionals from 1/1/2024 through 8/31/2025 conducted by Objective Management Group, the data partner of SalesIndex.

A related mindset challenge is what we call a Supportive Buy Cycle. Many reps assume that buyers will purchase the same way they would personally shop. If they grew up chasing discounts, they project that same behavior on their prospects. Left unchecked, this mindset undermines margin in nearly 80% of sellers. Identifying and coaching these beliefs early helps reps gain the courage to defend price and sell on impact.

Research on the mindset of 16,326 active sales professional from 1/1/2024 through 8/31/2025 conducted by Objective Management Group, the data partner of SalesIndex.

The False Sales Choice CEOs Face: Why Growth and Profit Don’t Have to Compete

For many CEOs, sales feels like a trap. Push hard for revenue and margins erode as reps give away the farm. Defend margins and growth slows. Either way, frustration mounts — because enterprise value suffers.

This is the false choice CEOs face: believing growth and profit are competing goals. The truth? With the right sales strategy, they can and should rise together.

Here are four strategies to ensure your sales team can grow revenue while maintaining profit.

1. Teach Reps to Sell Value

Research from our data partner, OMG, shows that only about one-third of sales professionals are competent at selling value, and less than 15% are truly competent at consultative selling. This means most reps default to pitching features or cutting price. The result? Margins erode and deals stall because reps fail to create a compelling business reason to buy. Training and ongoing coaching must focus on shifting reps from price-based conversations to value-based dialogues that highlight impact, outcomes, and ROI.

A related mindset challenge is what we call a Supportive Buy Cycle. Many reps assume that buyers will purchase the same way they would personally shop. If they grew up chasing discounts, they project that same behavior on their prospects. Left unchecked, this mindset undermines margin in nearly 80% of sellers. Identifying and coaching these beliefs early helps reps gain the courage to defend price and sell on impact.

2. Hire Value Sellers

Hiring reps based on industry experience or charisma often leads to disappointment. Experience doesn’t guarantee the ability to sell value. At SalesIndex, when we evaluate teams that typically hire experienced reps from inside their industry, we often discover that many of those hires are not consultative sellers and are not proficient at selling value. The assumption that industry veterans know how to sell profitably is a costly mistake.

To build a team that protects margin, CEOs must implement a structured process that screens candidates for specific competencies: reaching decision makers, selling consultatively, and defending margin. Assessments, structured interviews, and role plays should reveal whether a candidate can elevate the conversation to business impact rather than relying on product specs or price concessions. Once in place, this disciplined hiring approach raises the baseline capability of the sales force and accelerates profitable growth.

3. Compensate on Revenue and Profit

Comp plans that reward only revenue send the wrong signal. To grow Return on Sales, compensation needs to include both top-line revenue and gross profit. This ensures reps are motivated not just to close deals, but to close the right deals — profitable ones that strengthen ROS.

Here are a few approaches CEOs can consider:

• Dual Metrics: Pay commissions on both revenue and margin. For example, reps earn base commission on revenue but receive accelerators when they protect or grow margins.

• Profit-Based Bonuses: Offer quarterly or annual bonuses and President's Club qualification tied to gross profit contribution rather than pure top-line performance. This helps align rep behavior with company profitability.

• Tiered Incentives: Reward higher payout percentages when deals exceed target margins, creating a clear signal that quality is as important as quantity.

When comp plans balance revenue and profit, reps learn to prioritize value-driven deals over discounting to make quota. Over time, this builds a culture where profitability is just as celebrated as top-line wins.

The Scorecard Metric: Return on Sales

Return on Sales (ROS) is the simplest way to measure the effectiveness of your sales investment. It’s calculated by dividing gross profit by the total cost of sales. In plain terms, ROS shows how much profit you generate for every dollar you spend on sales.

For example, if your sales team produces $5M in gross profit and your total sales costs (compensation, tools, travel, and lead generation) are $2.5M, your ROS is 2.0. That means for every $1 invested in sales, you generate $2 in gross profit. Get your CEO's Guide to Maximize Return on Sales Here.

Why it matters:

• Clarity: Revenue alone can be misleading. ROS shows whether selling activity produces profitable growth.

• Comparability: ROS gives CEOs a way to benchmark teams, regions, and even individual reps.

• Control: Unlike net income, which is influenced by interest and overhead, ROS focuses only on what the sales team can control — revenue growth and margin protection.

By tracking ROS, CEOs can quickly see which parts of their sales engine are efficient, where margin is being given away, and how to improve profitability without sacrificing growth.

The Payoff

When you sell value, growth and profit stop competing. They reinforce each other:

• Revenue grows as reps win larger, impact-driven deals.

• Margins hold strong because customers buy outcomes, not discounts.

• ROS rises, creating stronger cash flow and long-term enterprise value.

A Final Word

CEOs don’t need to choose between growth and profitability. By focusing on Return on Sales and building teams that sell value, you can unlock both — scaling revenue while multiplying profit.

Want to know your team’s current ROS and how to grow it? Schedule a Return on Sales Consultation with SalesIndex. Visit https://salesindex.ai/ros

Originally published on Darrell Amy's LinkedIn.