The 80-20 Principle in Sales Success - Do You Know It?

The 80/20 principle is also know as the Pareto principle after the economist who developed it. It is an almost universal principle that can be applied to business and life. It generally shows us that 80% of your return comes from 20% of your effort. We use this principle right throughout our sales training.

We coach salespeople to consider the 80/20 principle when thinking about their communications with prospective customers and clients. Where should the emphasis be between talking about you and talking about them?

Did you get 80% talking about them and 20% talking about you? #

If you did then you can pat yourself on the back for a job well done. If you didn't then congratulate yourself because you are just about to have a sales breakthrough.

This might come as a shock to you but your prospective clients or customers don't care that much about you. They especially don't care too much about:

Your product or service
Your company and your company history
Your desire to sell something
Your company plans for the future

What they really care about is:

Whatever their boss says is important
Whatever they are currently working on
Whatever they're working weekends to keep up with
What they really like to do
What makes them the most money
What makes them look good to their boss
What gets them promoted
What gets them home at an earlier hour
What gets them excited
What gets rid of their current headache
What gets the biggest pain-in-the-neck person in their company off their back
What could elevate their status
What makes them look good to their colleagues

Yet most salespeople spend most of their time talking about themselves and their company. Stop it! You don't need sales training to tell you that this just doesn't cut it anymore. Rewrite your sales presentations so that you focus on the other person and your sales success is guaranteed.