It’s likely you’ve heard of the Pareto principle or the 80-20 rule — in many disciplines 80% of the outcome generally come from 20% of the effort. Do you believe it? Enough to do something about it? Are you ready to give up or at least dramatically cut back on the 80 percent of activities that only give 20 percent of the results?

A client was working to focus on the vital few activities that would make all the difference for them. They looked are carefully at their marketing and sales activities and discovered that two groups of customers were so unprofitable that they were impacting the overall profitability of the company.

However, after a lengthy discussion they realized that several customer segments weren’t doing much for profitability either and that there was tremendous potential for market growth in some other segments.

Now they are focusing all their sales and marketing efforts on the 40% of customers that generate 160% of their profitability.

What are you willing to give up?

What are you willing to give up to get focused on the best opportunities in your business — the best customers, the best staff, the best products, the best partners? Put Pareto to work, and you’ll be amazed at the results.