Greg is a sought-after speaker. Having faced many of the trials and tribulations facing the small business owner, Greg offers his audiences and clients practical actionable ideas to improve their organizations and ultimately get more “life” out of their business.
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Small Business Minute # 26 – The 80/20 Rules For Sales
Wilfredo Pareto discovered the 80/20 rule when he wanted to determine who owned all the lands in Italy in the 18th century. He found out that 80% of the lands holdings were owned by just 20% of the families. As he continued his research he soon discovered that many things fit that profile.
Applying The 80/20 Rules For Sales
So how do we apply the 80/20 rules for sales? Well as entrepreneurs we seem to manage to bog ourselves down doing all sorts of non-productive activities. Sure we justify them as necessary activities but in many cases we’re just doing busy work that could easily be delegated or maybe not even done at all.
Because sales are such a critical element of our businesses, it is the #1 item that owners ask for help or guidance when I advise them.
The Formula
So here is my simple formula; until you have enough sales to provide you with sufficient revenue to cover your monthly fixed cost, including your salary, you should be spending 80% of your time on sales related activities, period! Make sure these activities are actual productive and really sales related. Too often, we classify all sorts of activities as sales related when in fact, they’re really not.
So what are sales related activities? Here’s a list of seven:
* Preparing prospect lists
* Making calls to the list
* Sending emails to the list