Bill CanadyCEO & Founder, The 80/20 Institute · Be a Great CEO: Learn how to Fix it, Grow it, & Sell it.

Small Accounts Steal Sales Time: Is It Worth It? #shorts

24 Aug 2026 · 1 min

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0:35

In this YouTube short, Bill Canady highlights a major sales efficiency problem: roughly one‑third of a company’s field sales time—the most costly selling hours—is being spent on small accounts that generate little revenue. He explains that this misallocation stems from territories organized by geography rather than account value, and because small accounts require disproportionately more support per order due to lacking systems, processes, and dedicated personnel. Canady notes that sales reps are simply following the incentives built into the existing system, not being lazy, and that the current structure leads to higher costs for low‑yield accounts.

Chapters

And that's a lot. That's almost a third of their time. And the sales number was its own conversation. So roughly a third of field sales time, the most expensive selling hours in the company were going to accounts that produced almost nothing. Some of those guys like to take those guys golfing too. Produces less, costs more. Not because their salespeople are lazy, because small accounts need more help per order. They don't have the systems, the process. They don't have the people. And territories were built by geography rather than value. And every one of those reps was doing exactly what the system asked.