80/20 + Kaizen for Real Estate Agents: Work Smaller, Win Bigger
What a gorgeous weekend! And how did I spend it? I did 6 hours of yardwork on Saturday. I was tired after but I didn’t mind because I was outside enjoying the day.
And… I was able to listen to an entire book on Audible. Specifically, “80/20 Sales & Marketing” by Perry Marshall. I think this book is so foundational to the success of your business that I will be talking about this book for the next few weeks - it’s that important.
And mind you, I will not just be spouting about the principles while I do nothing about it. I will be implementing what Perry discusses in the book and I will share my successes and struggles.
The book was first written in 2013, so some of the methods to enact the concepts are a little dated (Google Ad Words and SEO are being replaced by AI results and I’m still trying to figure out how that changes the game)... but the concepts remain timeless. Implementation of the concepts is what is changing. Don’t let that intimidate you.
First up - what is the 80/20 concept and why does it matter?
Why 80/20 isn’t just a rule—it’s your map
Perry Marshall’s “80/20 Sales & Marketing” argues that results in business don’t come in neat, even portions—they follow a power curve. Roughly 20% of inputs drive 80% of outcomes, and then the top of that top tier (the “20% of the 20%”) produces disproportionately more. Either you can believe what I’m saying or you can look at your business and see for yourself.
(Although, I’d be willing to put money down that you don’t track your business with the level of detail necessary to conduct this exercise.)
For an agent, that usually means a handful of lead sources, neighborhoods, clients, and even specific marketing moments are responsible for most of your GCI.
The hard part isn’t working more—it’s finding and amplifying the few things that already work while ruthlessly cutting what doesn’t.
From “massive action” to Kaizen
Real estate culture often shouts that “massive results require massive action,” which sounds inspiring but usually leads to procrastination and burnout.
You know I’m right. Heck, you don’t have to believe me - just listen to the highest paid real estate coach in the industry - Tom Ferry in his “Massive Action is the Answer” spiel.
He says the quiet part out loud - “If you’re feeling beaten down, exhausted, and like you want to give up, massive action is the answer.”
Anybody can do this for a little while. We can all work 12-15 hours days for a few days. The real crazies can do it for a week.
And it ALWAYS leads to burnout.
A better operating system is Kaizen—continuous, incremental improvement. If you improve your prospecting scripts, listing prep, or follow-up by 1% a day, the compounding effect over months is enormous.
In practice, this means setting small, repeatable upgrades (one better question at a listing consult, a tighter subject line on a buyer nurture email, a clearer CTA on your IG post) and reviewing them weekly.
How This Applies to New & Veteran Agents
In Mitch Matthews’ conversation with Perry Marshall, three takeaways translate directly to real estate.
Sales is a disqualification process.
Perry’s “5 power disqualifiers” (money, urgency, belief in your USP, authority to say yes, and strategic fit) are a faster way to stop chasing non-clients. For newer agents, this means asking tighter questions at first contact. For veterans, it’s permission to protect your calendar and push low-probability buyers toward education or drip campaigns instead of same-day showings.
Think backward from economics (his “Power Triangle”).
Start with your desired deal flow and margins, then engineer the marketing and traffic to support it. New agents can reverse-plan to 2–3 closings/month and build a micro-funnel to match. Seasoned agents can replace low-ROI channels with one great talk, one neighborhood guide, or one referral partner that consistently pulls.
Rack the shotgun.
Send a small signal that attracts the right people and politely repels the rest (e.g., a “7-minute buyer orientation” video that serious shoppers watch to the end). New agents learn who’s real; veterans spend less time convincing and more time serving ready clients.
How to run this (Kaizen cadence)
Pick one 80/20 focus for the week (e.g., “referrals from past clients who bought 3–5 years ago”) and a single Kaizen upgrade (e.g., “rewrite my check-in text to open a conversation”).
Do it Monday–Friday, 30 minutes a day. Friday, review: What produced genuine conversations or appointments? Keep the winner, cut a loser, and add one new test next week.
That’s 80/20 + Kaizen—smaller bets, bigger upside. It is testing, evaluating, and reviewing the results. Small actions stacked on top of each other yield massive results that are repeatable and don’t lead to burnout.
Next week we’ll get into the concept of “Racking the Shotgun” and how to implement it in your real estate business.
Action Tip
It doesn’t come up in the book until a bit later, but I think it’s worth taking action on now. Perry offers a “Discover your Marketing DNA” test on his site for $37 (or free with a purchase of his book). The test provides, “A Customized Communication Profile for Sales & Marketing Professionals”. Find out what your gifted zone is.
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