The 10/5/5 Theory of Selling was propounded by George Emetuche in 2018 as a theory for customer acquisition, retention, and expansion. Salespeople often struggle to acquire and retain customers because they lack clear, measurable sales strategies that will enable them to achieve their goals (Emetuche, 2018). Efforts without a defined objective will likely end in futility. In personal selling, the 10/5/5 Theory of Selling is an ideal key performance indicator [KPI] for measuring the performance of salespeople. The theory is easy to measure and easy to monitor in terms of implementation. The theory helps salespeople to know when they are on the right path and when they are not doing well in their sales activities (Emetuche, 2018; Kuhlemann, 2025). According to Emetuche, an important element in the art of selling is to keep the sales pipeline active. The sales pipeline is active when there are enough prospective customers to reach out to. To ensure there are enough prospective customers in the sales pipeline, the salesperson should adopt a system that measures sales activities (Kadic-Maglajlic et al., 2019; Malmberg, 2024; Yan, Gong, & Chu, 2015).
The theory explains that each number in the model represents a target to achieve in personal selling. Therefore, the number 10 represents the number of prospects to visit daily. This means that in prospecting activities, the salesperson must ensure that he meets 10 prospects daily and commence sales conversations with them with a view to converting them into customers (Vieira & Claro, 2020; Winter et al., 2024). The theory explains that if the salesperson fails to meet the target of 10 prospects in a day, he will add the remaining number to the next day’s target. That is, if he meets only 8 prospects in a day instead of 10, he will have to reach out to 12 prospects the next day instead of 10. This approach helps to ensure that the salesperson meets his daily target of 10 prospects when appraised at the end of the week or month. The theory helps salespeople to be results-oriented and avoid excuses that lead to poor performance (Emetuche, 2018; Indira et al., 2022; Samyuktha et al., 2022).
The 10/5/5 theory of selling further explains that the first number 5 in the theory means that the salesperson must visit or reach out to 5 customers who are already buying his products. Customers in this category are active customers who are currently buying the products of the salesperson. The theory argues that 5 people in this segment of customers must be reached daily to keep in touch with them. In personal selling, customers feel valued when salespeople reach out to them to know how they are doing, not just for business transactions (Kassemeier, Alavi, Habel, & Schmitz, 2022; Xie et al., 2023). This is how to build healthy business relationships that create the right environment for successful sales activities. The theory argues that salespeople should not reach out to customers only when they are selling to them. This makes the business relationship too transactional. When salespeople keep in touch daily with 5 customers in this category – to know how their business is doing, the customer will feel cared for, and this scenario boosts the salesperson-customer relationship. When salespeople meet or reach out to at least 5 customers they are currently selling to, there is a tendency that those customers will buy their products, especially when the volume of previous purchases has declined. The salesperson should design a schedule that will ensure that 5 different customers are visited or reached daily. This is how to maintain a healthy daily sales activity (Venkatraman, Lee, & Iyer, 2007).
The last part of the theory is the second number 5. The author posits that the last number 5 in the theory means that salespeople should reach out to 5 customers who were buying from them before and no longer do. The theory argues that this category of customers discontinued doing business with the salesperson’s company for one of the following reasons: the cause may be from the salesperson or former colleagues who the customer felt did not treat him or her fairly; the reason could be from the customer who may not have kept to the policy of the company; and finally, the reason may be from marketing activities in the industry that made the customer look in the direction of competitors. The theory argues that there is a likelihood of winning the customer back if he or she is reached out to and pacified, because the customer already knows the company and its products. The meeting will enable both parties to agree on how to move forward in a mutually beneficial business relationship (Cho & Jeon, 2022; Schendzielarz et al., 2022).
Finally, the author posits that the 10/5/5 Theory of Selling is a strategic approach to increasing the number of prospective customers in the pipeline, ensuring that current customers are maintained, and bringing back old customers who left the company to continue doing business with the organization (Emetuche, 2018; Yan, Zhang, et al., 2015). The theory argues that the number of the ideal prospects or customers the salesperson is dealing with will continue to increase because the salesperson would have reached out to 20 contacts daily, 100 contacts in a week of 5 days, and 400 contacts in a month of 25 working days. The theory further explains that the 10/5/5 model is how to be productive in sales activities because salespeople will always put themselves in front of the right audience (Malmberg, 2024; Yan, Gong, et al., 2015; Yan, Zhang, et al., 2015).