The answer to this question drives to the very heart of the difference between salespeople who just sell and salespeople who actually produce. Selling is a process.  Depending upon the situation the process can be simple or complex.  Virtually anyone can study and follow a process. Producing is an outcome. It is an achievement.  It is the ultimate goal of any business and any person in business . . . to produce and to be compensated for that production. What is the Difference Between Selling and Producing? was last modified: October 10th, 2013 by Dr. Chris Croner

If you have been in and around sales for a long time you have probably heard reference to the “80/20 Rule.”  The 80/20 rule states that in any given sales group, 20% of the “stars” produce 80% of the revenues, so expecting a better distribution than that is probably impractical. But, actually the 80/20 rule is more of a convenient urban myth than a useful analytic tool, and it can actually be counterproductive when used to replace real metrics when hiring and managing salespeople. So here is some data  . . . some bad news first then followed by some