Why is sales maximization considered an inappropriate business objective?

The primary purpose of any business is to maximize profit, or to make money. Profit is defined as:

Profit = Total Revenue from Sales - Total Expenses to make those Sales

In order to make profit, a business must sell something, either be product or service. So maximizing sale is only half of the equation. You also have to minimize expenses in order to maximize profit. If you have less money left after making sales and paying all your bills, you are worse off then when you started. Therefore, profit also have to be greater than zero. (i.e. not lose money).