Pareto's Law (also known as the 80/20 rule) states:

80% of our results come from 20% of our actions.

It's one of the most fundamental laws in the universe. Applying this law to my sales career has helped me become a top producer at Salesforce, while building my coaching business on the side.

Today I'm sharing with you 8 tactics to apply the 80/20 in your day-to-day sales. So that you can sell MORE while working LESS.

1. Account Targeting

80% of your pipeline and revenue come from 20% of your accounts.

Instead of going a mile wide (targeting many accounts) and an inch deep (superficial research & outreach), it's better to go an inch wide (a few focus accounts) and a mile deep (deep research, tailored outreach).

Fewer accounts means more focus.

More focus means better results.

2. Account Research

80% of research insights typically come from 20% of data points.

Most sellers spend too much time on research, and not enough time doing the actual outreach. It's paralysis by analysis.

Spend 10-15 minutes max per account and collect the most relevant data points. Focus on recent trigger events with high business impact, such as product launches, funding, hiring or regulatory changes.

3. Outbound Messaging

20% of your customer's problems cause 80% of the negative impact on their business.

Instead of trying to solve every problem in the book, focus on 1-2 really impactful key issues. Build clear & concise problem statements around those that you can repurpose for all prospecting channels.

This will simplify your messaging and help prospects understand better how you can serve them.

4. Objection Handling

20% of objections appear in 80% of your conversations with prospects.

Most of them come down to the same things: they want to protect their time, money and status. They're not REAL objections but rather polite ways of telling you to leave them alone.

Build & rehearse strong rebuttals for classics such as "I'm not interested", "We already have a vendor", "call me in 6 months" etc.

A handful of strong rebuttals will go a long way!

5. Discovery

20% of discovery questions will bring 80% of the insights you need.

Discovery is such a daunting task for most salespeople. It's also where the most mistakes happen.

Every sales cycle comes down to the same questions asked in different ways:

• What are their top goals?
• What are the top initiatives to reach those goals?
• What are the obstacles that are in the way?
• What is the Cost Of Inaction (COI)?
• etc.

A/B test different questions and keep a log file of the best ones.

6. Demo

20% of your product features create 80% of customer value.

Start every demo with your number 1 feature to create a Wow effect. Then, reverse-engineer a click path that got you there.

This is the opposite of what most sellers do. They get lost in the weeds of their tool, make it overly complex and lose their audience along the way.

7. Time Management

80% of your results can be achieved in 20% of your time.

You have 2 jobs as a seller: generating pipeline (prospecting) and progressing pipeline (running sales cycles). You should be spending 80% of your time on these 2 activities!

Example day: 8-11am prospecting (block this time), 11-12pm internal meetings or admin, 12-1pm lunch, 1-4pm customer meetings, 4-5pm internal meetings or admin

Final takeaway:

The key to success in sales is focus + taking massive action.

Don't fall victim to distraction & perfectionism.