I was lucky enough to hear Mike Bosworth speak Saturday at the B2BCamp ‘UNconference’ in Boston about his new book What Great Salespeople Do: The Science of Selling Through Emotional Connection and the Power of Story one of the statistics he quoted was from a 2008 Sales Benchmark Index study that showed the 80/20 Rule had gotten worse, it was now 87/13.
Where common thought has been that 20% of your salespeople bring in 80% of your business the Sales Benchmark Index showed that it was actual 87% of your revenue came from 13% of your salespeople.
For more on Mike’s ideas around that check out his February Selling Power blog post Turning the 80/20 Rule Upside Down.
What hit me is that I use to say that the top 10% demanded attention and the bottom 10% HR demanded you gave them attention… now I wonder what those numbers really would be. I really believe that if we focus our attention on:
- The people who WANT to be fantastic
- Are in the middle of the curve and don’t seem to what to do now
- Have a little success
we’re going to have the largest return on our investment.
3 Things to do TODAY
What I believe you can do right now is identify ONE person on your team in the middle who:
- has the drive and work ethic to put in the effort
- sees glimpses of success but it isn’t consistent
- has their attitude and emotions under control
Now have a conversation where you find out what their goals are, make sure they are aligned with your team and company goals – start mentoring and coaching them TODAY! Don’t wait.
This Post Has 4 Comments
You really make it seem really easy with your presentation however I to find this topic to be really one thing that I think I’d by no means understand. It kind of feels too complicated and extremely wide for me. I’m looking forward in your next put up, I’ll try to get the hold of it!
Thanks for visiting, I hope you wrap your arms around the ideas. Mike’s book is very comprehensive so check it out.
Great article. Keep up the good work.
Thanks Isaiah! What did you find most interesting?