The Pareto Principle, the observation that roughly 80% of effects come from 20% of causes, appears in an enormous variety of contexts. Tracy finds it consistently accurate in sales: 20% of salespeople account for 80% of sales in almost every industry he has studied. The question he pursues is not whether this pattern exists, it does, but why. What are the top 20% consistently doing that the bottom 80% are not? His findings cluster around several themes. Prospecting: top salespeople spend more time with better-qualified prospects. They are selective about who they invest their time in, because they understand that the quality of the prospect pool determines the ceiling on their results more than anything they do in the sales conversation itself. Presentation: top salespeople are better at understanding the customer's specific situation and matching their presentation to it, rather than delivering the same pitch to every prospect. Follow-through: top salespeople have systems for follow-up that most average salespeople do not. The majority of sales in complex situations are made after the fifth contact. Most salespeople give up after one or two. Self-development: top salespeople invest continuously in improving their skills. The average salesperson in most fields spends almost nothing on self-development after initial training. The top performers treat learning as a permanent competitive investment.