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Blog · Coverage and territory

How to read a dormant list: cadence, run rate, and the row that should not be there

A reading guide for a dormant account list: why the run rate column ranks the list and days silent does not, the cadence column as the reason the account is on the list, the multiple that says how many orders it has missed, the seasonality flag that marks the row that should not be there, the lost-versus-dormant boundary, and the two rows to act on, the largest run rate recently dormant and the account whose cadence has lengthened for three periods.

The short answerRank by run rate, the revenue the account produced per month before it went silent, because that is the value at stake; days silent alone ranks the accounts that left years ago first. Read the cadence column to see why the account is on the list: a weekly buyer silent for six weeks has missed six orders; a quarterly buyer silent for six weeks has missed none and should not be there. Check the seasonality flag, which marks accounts whose silence is on their own calendar. Check the lost boundary, which keeps accounts past the ceiling off the recovery list. Act on the largest run rate recently dormant, and on the account whose cadence has lengthened for three periods, which is going dormant slowly.

A dormant list sorted by days silent starts with the accounts that left in 2021. Sorted by run rate and read with the cadence column, it starts with the account worth nine thousand a month that missed its last six orders. This guide is the reading order for a dormant list, the columns that explain each row, the row that should not be there, and the two to act on.

The columns

Column What it is Use
Run rate before silence Revenue per month in the window before the last order Ranks the list
Days silent Today − last order Filters for recency
Cadence Median days between orders, trailing year Explains why the row is here
Orders missed Days silent ÷ cadence The size of the silence
Seasonality flag Account orders in specific months Marks rows that should not be here
State Dormant or lost, against the ceiling Keeps lost accounts off the recovery list
Cadence trend Lengthening, stable The early warning

The reading order

  1. State. Recovery list is dormant only; lost is a separate list.
  2. Seasonality flag. Remove, mentally, the rows whose silence is their calendar.
  3. Run rate, sorted descending. The value at stake.
  4. Orders missed. Six is a call today; one is a watch.
  5. Cadence trend. The lengthening rows, not yet dormant, are the earliest calls.

A worked read

Account Run rate Days silent Cadence Orders missed Seasonal State Cadence trend
3310 $9,000/mo 44 7 6 No Dormant Stable
2044 $6,000/mo 190 30 6 No Dormant Stable
0961 $4,000/mo 120 91 1 No Watch: not yet dormant Stable
1187 $6,000/mo 400 14 29 No Lost: past ceiling
5520 $11,000/mo 95 30 3 Yes: orders Sep to Mar On calendar
7702 $8,000/mo 38 45 0.8 No Not dormant Lengthening: 21, 30, 45

State: 1187 is lost and belongs on the reclassification list, not here.

Seasonality: 5520 orders September to March and it is July. The row should not be read as dormant.

Run rate: 3310 first. Nine thousand a month, six orders missed, forty-four days. The call is today.

Orders missed: 0961 has missed one and is a watch, not a call.

Cadence trend: 7702 is not dormant and has doubled its gap in three periods. It is going, and it is the earliest recovery on the page.

The two rows to act on

3310: largest run rate, recently dormant, six orders missed.

7702: not yet dormant, cadence lengthening, eight thousand a month. The call before the threshold.

Where it goes wrong

Sorted by days silent. 1187 first; the list is about the past.

Seasonal rows worked. The rep calls 5520 in July about a silence that ends in September.

Lost rows on the recovery list. The list fills with accounts that left; the rep stops reading it.

Cadence trend ignored. 7702 is on next quarter's list instead of this week's.

Every week, the same order

Covirage lays out the dormant list by state, seasonality, run rate, orders missed and cadence trend. The dormant threshold guide covers how the rows get there, and the reactivation list guide covers what the call is about.

Questions people ask

Why not sort by days silent?

Because the accounts silent longest are the ones that left long ago, and a list that starts with them is a list that starts with the least recoverable. Run rate before the silence is what the account was worth; recently dormant is what can be recovered. Sort by run rate, filter by recency.

What is the cadence column for?

It explains the row. An account is dormant because its silence exceeds a multiple of its own cadence, and the cadence column with the multiple says how many expected orders have been missed. Six missed orders is a different call from one late one.

What is the lengthening cadence?

An account whose median gap between orders has grown for three periods in a row: monthly, then six weeks, then two months. It is not dormant yet and it is going. That row is on the list before the threshold is crossed, flagged as lengthening, and it is the earliest recovery there is.