Blog · Wallet share and penetration
A reading guide for an account-by-product whitespace grid: why most empty cells are not whitespace, the norm penetration row that says which columns are expected, the three kinds of empty cell and the shading that marks them, why returning lines come first, the value column that ranks the rows, the cannot-buy cells to ignore, and the cell to act on first: the largest expected empty with a returning-line history.
A whitespace grid is a wall of empty cells, and reading it as a wall of opportunities is how the list becomes fiction. Three things turn the grid into a list: the norm penetration row, the shading of the empties, and the value column. This guide is the reading order, the cells to ignore, and the cell to act on first.
| Part | What it is | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Norm penetration row | Share of similar accounts holding each column | Which columns are expected |
| Cell shading | Filled; never bought; bought and stopped; cannot buy | Which empties count and which come first |
| Value column | Σ expected empties at the norm's median spend | Ranks the rows |
| Returning count | Bought-and-stopped cells per row | The easiest recoveries |
Norm penetration: A 96%, B 74%, C 61%, D 30%, E 12%.
| Account | A | B | C | D | E | Value | Returning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4471 | $310k | — stopped | — never | — never | — never | $82,000 | 1: B |
| 2207 | $120k | $40k | — cannot | $18k | — never | $0 | 0 |
| 9034 | $22k | $9k | $14k | — never | $6k | $0 | 0 |
| 1187 | $60k | — never | — never | — never | — never | $75,000 | 0 |
Penetration: D and E are under the floor. Their empties are not whitespace, for anyone.
Cannot-buy: 2207's C is shaded; the account's attributes rule it out. 2207's value is zero, correctly.
Value: 4471 first at $82,000: B and C empty, both expected. 1187 second at $75,000.
Returning: 4471's B was bought and stopped. That is the first call on the page.
Never-bought expected: 4471's C and 1187's B and C. The second calls.
4471, column B: largest expected empty on the top-value row, with a returning-line history. The conversation is about why it stopped.
Every empty read as whitespace. The value column is fantasy; the rep learns it on the first call.
Norm penetration row missing. No way to tell expected from ordinary.
Cannot-buy unmarked. The rep pitches a line the account cannot use.
Returning lines not shaded. The easiest recovery buried among the never-boughts.
Covirage shades the grid by cell kind, shows the norm penetration row, and ranks rows by value with returning cells first. The whitespace analysis guide covers how the grid is built, and the presenting a gap guide covers what to say at the cell.
Because a grid with thirty columns has cells for lines that only a tenth of similar accounts buy, and an empty cell there is the account being normal. The norm penetration row per column, the share of similar accounts that hold it, is what separates an expected empty from an ordinary one.
Because the account bought the line before, had a reason to stop, and the reason may be gone. A returning line is a conversation about what happened; a never-bought line is a conversation about whether the account needs it. The first converts more often, at most companies, by a wide margin.
A column the account's own attributes rule out: a service for a site type it does not have, a product its licence does not permit, a category its menu does not use. Marked from the account master and shaded out. A grid without cannot-buy marking has a value column that is fantasy.