Is The 80/20 Rule For Success A Real Rule?

Should it be always expected that over 80% of the sales comes from less than 20% of the sales staff (or some similar numbers)?

Originally Posted by Wonderboy Should it be always expected that over 80% of the sales comes from less than 20% of the sales staff (or some similar numbers)?

Maybe not always and maybe not an expectation but as a rule of thumb in many cases it doesn't seem unreasonable.

Unfortunately, the Pareto Principle has taken on a life of its own as being the "gospel" for any situation at any time. In other words, its been accepted as a rule of nature.

Let me ask you something, did 80% of the work around your home get done by 20% of the household when you were growing up? It didn't happen that way in my home. Mom cooked and cleaned. My brother and I did chores outside. Dad worked. Basically, we all chipped in.

The same thing could be said for the % of students working in the classes I've taken throughout my educational career. Almost no one wanted to fail. About half did better than average and the other half was about average. Sure, there were the superstars. But there were just as many on the bottom of the scale.

It's called a natural distribution in statistics, and THIS is more of a natural law than Pareto's principle. But hey, if it works for you then go for it. But you may end up leaving a lot of sales money on the table if you're only shooting for 20% of your market when law of averages says that about half can be "sold" given the right timing, message and persistence.

Just my two cents,

John "Rainmaker" Davis, Ph.D.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Tap into the art and science of selling

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

In general, the better you are at selling, the higher the expectations become. Even though evereyone's on the same comp plan, the better sales people always have more expectaions from management.

Susan

"...the better sales people always have more expectaions from management." There's a danger in this whether or not the 80/20 rule is real.

When managers and others believe that you need to be talented at selling, then they'll give up on those who aren't producers and wait for these people to get discouraged enough to quit or dismiss them as the case may be so the turnstile keeps revolving.

Some places I've worked at either threw a script at you (some with rebuttals) and call that training and others just expect you to "wing it" while still others give you Mickey Mouse courses. I've never worked at a place that gave good training and I've progressed on my own to the extent that I don't seek training.

A notable example as to how bad it got is the federal do-not-call list as consumers got fed up with telemarketing calls (I couldn't begin to estimate how many billions have been lost and I understand up to 2 million jobs have been lost).

I think I've made my point.

Originally Posted by Wonderboy I think I've made my point.

What was the point?

Originally Posted by Calvin What was the point?

That the sales workplace needs good training courses along with good followup meetings.

Originally Posted by Wonderboy That the sales workplace needs good training courses along with good followup meetings.

If the leads were good enough the salespeople wouldn't need to learn how to "sell" they could just let the customer "buy".

Originally Posted by Calvin If the leads were good enough the salespeople wouldn't need to learn how to "sell" they could just let the customer "buy".

You've just described Sales Paradise.

Originally Posted by Wonderboy You've just described Sales Paradise.

That has a nice ring to it. Sales Paradise.