Sign in

Blog · Coverage and territory

Dormancy on ten accounts: the whole arithmetic on one page

The complete dormancy calculation on ten accounts small enough to check by hand: each account's order dates, its own cadence as the median gap, days since the last order, the multiple that makes it dormant and the ceiling that makes it lost, the seasonality flag, the run rate before the silence, the states that sum to ten, and the recovery list ranked by run rate, so a reader can reproduce every figure and then run it on their own export.

By CoviragePublished 16 September 20263 min read
The short answerTen accounts, each with its order dates over the year. Cadence is the median gap between orders; dormant is silence beyond three times the cadence; lost is beyond twelve times or 365 days. Two accounts have fewer than three orders and use the segment cadence. One orders only in autumn and is flagged seasonal. Five are active, two dormant, one lost, one seasonal on schedule, one insufficient history: the states sum to ten. The recovery list is the two dormant accounts ranked by run rate before the silence, and the lost one goes to reclassification. Every number can be reproduced by hand.

Dormancy is a rule per account, and on ten accounts the rule can be applied by hand. This page works it: the order dates, the cadence, the days silent, the multiple and the ceiling, the seasonal flag, the run rate, the states and the list. Today is 16 September 2026.

The accounts and their orders

Account Orders in the last 12 months Gaps, days Cadence (median gap) Last order Days silent
A 48 7, 7, 8, 7, … 7 3 Aug 44
B 12 30, 31, 29, … 30 10 Mar 190
C 4 91, 92, 90 91 19 May 120
D 26 14, 14, 13, … 14 12 Aug 35
E 2 200 insufficient: segment 30 1 Jul 77
F 6 Sep to Mar only: 30, 31, 30, 30, 28 30; seasonal 12 Mar 188
G 24 14, 15, 14, … 14 9 Sep 7
H 3 120, 118 119 2 Jun 106
I 20 14, 14, … then 21, 30, 45 14; lengthening 1 Sep 15
J 1 none insufficient: segment 30 14 Aug 33

The rule

Dormant if days silent > 3 × cadence Lost if days silent > 12 × cadence, or > 365 Seasonal: silence inside the account's off-season is on schedule

The states

Account 3 × cadence Days silent State
A 21 44 Dormant: 6 orders missed
B 90 190 Dormant: 6 missed; 12 × 30 = 360, not yet lost
C 273 120 Active: one order late
D 42 35 Active
E 90 (segment) 77 Active, insufficient history
F 90 188 Seasonal: off-season until September; on schedule
G 42 7 Active
H 357 106 Active
I 42 15 Active; cadence lengthening: watch
J 90 (segment) 33 Active, insufficient history

Active 5, dormant 2, lost 0, seasonal 1, insufficient 2: sums to 10.

The run rate before the silence

Account Revenue in the 3 months before last order Run rate per month
A $27,000 $9,000
B $18,000 $6,000

The recovery list

Rank Account Run rate Cadence Orders missed Days silent
1 A $9,000/mo 7 6 44
2 B $6,000/mo 30 6 190

And the watch: I, not dormant, cadence gone from 14 to 45 in three periods.

The identity

active + dormant + lost + seasonal + insufficient = 5 + 2 + 0 + 1 + 2 = 10

Where it goes wrong, even at ten

A fixed 90-day rule. A is active at 44 days, wrongly; F is dormant at 188, wrongly; C is dormant at 120, wrongly. Three of ten wrong.

Ranked by days silent. B first, then F; A, the largest and most recoverable, third.

Cadence from two orders. E's 200-day gap makes it never dormant.

I unread. Not dormant yet, and going.

From ten to ten thousand

The same rule per account from the order history, the segment stand-in for thin accounts, the seasonal flag from order months. Covirage runs it on the ledger every week. The dormant threshold guide covers the rule, and the dormant list reading guide covers the list at scale.

Questions people ask

Why the median gap and not the mean?

Because one long gap, a holiday or a stock build, would double a mean cadence and hide a real silence. The median is the account's typical interval and it moves only if the account's habit does.

What is the run rate before the silence?

Revenue per month over the window before the last order, here the three months before it. It is what the account was worth, and it ranks the recovery list. Days silent does not rank it; the account silent longest is the least recoverable.

What about the seasonal account?

It orders September to March. In July its silence is on schedule and it is flagged, not dormant. In November, silent, it would be dormant. The flag comes from its order months over two years.

Related reading

Coverage and territory · Sales teams

A new rep's first ninety days, from the data: the list that replaces shadowing

What a newly hired rep should be given on day one from the book they inherit: the accounts ranked by revenue with days since last touch, the returning lines that were bought and dropped, the dormant accounts with their cadence and run rate, the open deals with slip counts, and the tier cadence that says who to call first. A ninety-day plan in three lists, the measures that say whether the ramp is on track, and why it beats a week of shadowing.

16 Sept 20263 min readCoverage and territory

Account penetration rate: formula, denominators and a worked example

Account penetration rate defined, accounts buying over accounts in a stated universe, the four denominators it is computed against and what each answers, the target list, the estate, the segment universe and the installed base, a worked example per rep against a target list, the roll-up, the identity to the universe file, and why a penetration rate with no stated universe is a percentage of nothing.

16 Sept 20262 min readCoverage and territory · Construction and building materials

Accounts opened and never used: the trade account funnel per branch

How a builders' merchant or trade supplier measures what happens after a trade account is opened, from the account master and the ledger: accounts opened per branch, the share with a first purchase within thirty days, the share still buying at six months, the median first-purchase value, and the branches and account openers whose funnel leaks at each step, so that the opening effort produces customers rather than records.

16 Sept 20262 min readCoverage and territory · Oil and gas services

Activity-weighted coverage: which operators are drilling, and whether we are there

How an oilfield services company weights its operator coverage by current activity from public rig and permit data: operators ranked by active rigs or permits per basin, the company's revenue with each, the activity-weighted coverage per basin, and the list of operators drilling most where the company is least, valued at revenue per rig from the operators it serves fully.

16 Sept 20262 min read