I first met Perry Marshall many years ago when his book The Definitive Guide to Google Adwords came out in 2006, and then his Ultimate Guide to Google AdWords came out in 2007. He’s a smart cookie, has a degree in engineering, and is the son of a pastor. So he has some fascinating views. 

I’ve met him several times and even worked with him. What I love about him is that he’s very down to earth, honest, has integrity, and he’s what I’d call a Soulful Marketer and expert in his field.

When he came out with his book – 80/20 Sales and Marketing, I got it as a gift for being in Brian Kurtz’s Masterclass group. I basically devoured this book from cover to cover. And have a bunch of tabs in it to go back to certain pages. (See below.)

For a refresher — The 80/20 Principle (or 80/20 rule)  is based on Vilfredo Pareto, an economist who said that 80% of results come from just 20% of the effort put in. It’s a terrific reminder that not everything is equal, and a small amount of input can greatly impact the outcome.

Marshal takes this principle and applies it to the entrepreneur’s business and focuses on sales and marketing. What he shares is pretty groundbreaking because it’s helping you focus on doing the 20% of things that will end up bringing you the most results.

If you’re not an economist or good at math, not to worry. He breaks down his principles into action steps and uses several down-to-earth examples. I’d highly recommend this book to any entrepreneur or marketer who wants to grow their business.

A Book Summary to Inspire You To Read It!

Quick Summary:

The book offers a practical and hands-on approach to improving your sales and marketing results by focusing on the 20% of activities that produce 80% of your results. 

Marshall then explores how you can identify your top 20% of customers and create targeted marketing campaigns to reach them. He also provides strategies for identifying and addressing the needs and desires of this key customer group.

The book also covers topics such as pricing strategies, effective advertising, and leveraging technology to streamline sales and marketing efforts. Marshall includes case studies and examples of businesses that have successfully applied the 80/20 principle to their sales and marketing strategies. 

Who Ought to Read this Book & Why:
If you’re an entrepreneur, you simply have to get a copy of this book. It will totally change the way you think and do your marketing. He shows why and how cold calling is dead and a waste of time. There are way more efficient ways to get new clients/customers in your business. He shares with you a wealth of information to help you build your business in a simple way. Sales and marketing are not complicated. And if you have a small budget, this book will help you discover how you create more income by doing less and doing it smart with the information within the covers of the book.

Things You Will Discover:

Marshall emphasizes the importance of prioritizing your sales and marketing activities based on their value. He provides a roadmap to identifying high-value activities, including how to identify the most profitable products/services, most valuable customers, and most effective marketing channels.

The Marketing Power Triangle – This section alone in the book is totally worth picking up a copy of because he explains how the 80/20 principle works inside the Power Triangle. And also how important it is for you to work the triangle backward. You need to decide FIRST what you will sell and for how much, then walk your way back up to Conversion and Traffic.

The Marketing Power Triangle consists of the following: 

T – Traffic – Who would buy this? (Defining your dream client/customer.)

C – Conversion – What can you say to persuade them to buy?

E – Economics – Can you reach them affordably?

E – Economics – Can they give you money?

Perry Marshalls – 80/20 Power Tactical Triangle:

Creating Your Ideal Customer Persona:

The book explores how to build your ideal customer persona and understand their buying impulses, behaviors, and preferences. By knowing the characteristics of the ideal customer, the author provides guidance on how to create targeted marketing strategies that resonate with them.

Optimizing Your Sales Funnel:

Marshall emphasizes the importance of creating a sales funnel that will lead to maximum conversion rates. He outlines how to optimize your sales funnel that attracts your ideal customer, creates higher-converting landing pages, and maximizes the potential of upsells and cross-sells.

Leverage Technology and Automation:

He stresses the importance of using technology and automation to streamline and scale your marketing efforts, from machine learning algorithms to paid advertisements. 

Measuring and Adjusting Your Strategies:

Marshall emphasizes the importance of measuring and analyzing your marketing data to identify which strategies are working and which are not. 

Case Studies and Examples:

He includes real-world examples and case studies from online and offline businesses that demonstrate how the 80/20 principle can be applied to increase revenue and profitability.

INSPIRING BOOK QUOTES:

It’s Not About Knocking On Doors:
“No cold calling. Ever. You should attempt to sell only to warm leads.”

What Will You Pay for a Customer?
“Before you try to sell anything, you must know how much you’re willing to pay to get a new customer.”

They Need to Find You First:
“A prospect who “finds” you first is more likely to buy from you than if you find him.”

It’s Not About the Product:
“Generate leads with information about solving problems, not information about the product itself.”

No Need In Selling to Strangers:
“The most valuable asset you can own is a well-maintained customer database because people who’ve already bought from you are way easier to sell to than strangers.” 

Defining Your “Right Person” To Sell to Is Best:
“Selling to the right person is more important than all the sales methods, copywriting techniques, and negotiation tactics in the world. Because the wrong person doesn’t have the money. Or the wrong person doesn’t care. The wrong person won’t be persuaded by anything.”

Don’t Ignore the 80/20 Rule:
“80/20 applies to almost everything in business that you can count. Almost every frustration you have in sales has something to do with ignoring 80/20.”

Best Kept Marketing Secret:
“Why Do People Spend Insane Amounts of Money? Here’s a little marketing secret for you: Almost everybody has at least one passion, one interest, one obsession where they’ll gleefully spend irrational amounts of money.”

The Five Power Disqualifiers® are::
“1. Do they have the money? 2. Do they have a bleeding neck—an urgent problem that must be solved now? 3. Do they buy into your unique selling proposition? 4. Do they have the ability to say YES? 5. Does what you sell fit in with their overall plans?”

This is the ONLY Reliable Number for Success:
“No web tracking system I’ve ever seen gives perfectly accurate numbers. But dollars in the bank—that’s a pretty reliable measure.”

About the Author –Perry Marshall:

Perry Marshall is one of the most expensive business strategists in the world. He is endorsed in FORBES and INC Magazine and has worked with clients such as FanDuel, InfusionSoft, and LoanBuilder.

He founded the $10 million Evolution 2.0 Prize with judges from Harvard, Oxford, and MIT. Launched at the Royal Society in London, it’s the world’s largest science research award. He is co-founder of the AACR’s Cancer & Evolution Working Group. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Labs uses his 80/20 Curve as a productivity tool. His reinvention of the Pareto Principle is published in Harvard Business Review.

His Google book laid the foundations for the $400B digital advertising industry, and Ultimate Guide to Google Ads is the world’s best-selling book on Internet advertising. He’s consulted in over 300 industries. He has a degree in Electrical Engineering and lives in Chicago.

Where I Would Recommend Getting Your Copy:
80/20 Sales and Marketing – The Definitive Guide to Working Less and Making More by Perry Marshall

Other Books by Marshall
The Ultimate Guide to Facebook Advertising

The Ultimate Guide to Google Ads, 6th Edition

The Ultimate Guide to Pay-Per-Click Advertising ​​

The Ultimate Guide to Local Business Marketing

Evolution 2.0 – Breaking the Deadlock Between Darwin and Design

The Definitive Guide to Tik Tok Advertising: How to Access 1 Billion People in 10 Minutes

Memos From the Head Office: Channeling the Muse in Business and in Life

Detox Declutter Dominate – How to Excel by Elimination

Other Books I’d Recommend: 

Beyond the 80/20 Principle” The Science of Success from Game Theory to the Tipping Point by Richard Koch
The 80/20 Principle, Third Edition: The Secret to Achieving More with Less by Richard Koch