Blog · Wallet share and penetration
A reading guide for a share of wallet table: which columns are facts from the ledger, revenue and the norm, which is an estimate, the wallet and therefore the share, how the source column changes what the share is worth, why to sort by gap value rather than by share, the ceiling column that stops a rep chasing the impossible, the trend that outranks the level, and the row to act on first.
A share of wallet table looks like a table of facts, and half of it is. Reading it well means knowing which half, sorting it by the right column, and checking two columns most readers skip. This guide is the reading order for a share of wallet table and the row to act on.
| Column | Fact or estimate | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | Fact | The ledger |
| Norm | Fact about similar customers | Computed from the company's base |
| Wallet | Estimate, unless stated | Customer-stated, norm method, or public figure scaled |
| Share | Inherits the wallet's status | Revenue ÷ wallet |
| Gap value | Inherits the wallet's status | Wallet × ceiling − revenue, or norm − revenue |
| Ceiling | Fact about the category | The company's own customers where wallets are known |
| Trend | Fact | Share this period vs trailing |
| Customer | Revenue | Wallet | Source | Share | Ceiling | Gap value | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1187 | $90,000 | $855,000 | Norm | 11% | 90% | $680,000 | Flat |
| 4471 | $140,000 | $570,000 | Norm | 25% | 90% | $373,000 | Flat |
| 9034 | $160,000 | $190,000 | Stated | 84% | 90% | $11,000 | −9 pts |
| 2207 | $310,000 | $380,000 | Stated | 82% | 90% | $32,000 | +3 pts |
Source: two stated, two norm. The stated shares are facts about the customer; the norm shares are facts about the segment.
Gap value: 1187 first, 4471 second. Both norm-method, so the gap is what similar customers spend, applied.
Ceiling: 90 percent in this category; 1187 and 4471 have room.
Trend: 9034 is above norm and fell nine points. That is a retention finding at a stated-wallet customer, and it outranks the two large gaps for urgency, if not for size.
Share: read last; it explains what the gap already said.
Two rows, for different reasons: 1187, the largest reachable gap; 9034, the fall at a customer whose wallet is known. The rep's week has both.
Sorted by share. The smallest customers at the top.
Source ignored. A norm estimate read as the customer's statement.
Ceiling skipped. The rep chasing the last ten points in a category that never gives them.
Level without trend. The customer above norm and leaving, unnoticed.
Covirage lays out the share of wallet table in this order: source, gap value, ceiling, trend, share. The share of wallet calculation guide covers how the columns are computed, and the good share of wallet guide covers the three comparisons the reading applies.
Because a 25 percent share of a stated wallet is a fact about the customer, and a 25 percent share of a norm-estimated wallet is a fact about similar customers applied to this one. Both are useful; they are not the same weight, and the source column says which the reader is looking at.
Sorting by share puts the smallest customers at the top, because small customers have the most extreme shares. Gap value in dollars puts the customer with the most spend elsewhere at the top, which is where the rep's time should go.
The share the largest supplier typically holds in this category among the company's own customers where wallets are known. A customer at 45 percent in a category whose ceiling is 50 is nearly done; one at 45 where the ceiling is 90 has room. The column keeps the list honest.