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The norm by industry: what 'similar customers' means on twelve desks

Every gap on this site is measured against a norm from the company's own best customers of the same kind, and what the same kind means changes by desk: same menu type and covers, same size band and sector, same tenure band, same rig count, same property type and market. This hub gives, for twelve industries, the fields that define similar, the unit of size the norm scales by, the population the norm is drawn from, and the guide for each.

The short answerThe norm is what customers of the same kind demonstrably do with the company when the relationship is full: the median products held, spend per unit of size, share achieved, among the customers where the company is the main supplier. What defines the same kind is two or three fields from the customer master, and they differ by desk: menu type and covers for a kitchen, size band and sector for a bank customer, property type and market for a hotel, model and age band for an installed unit. The population is always the company's own customers, never a survey.

Every gap is a customer measured against a norm, and the norm is drawn from the company's own customers of the same kind. This hub gives, for twelve desks, the fields that define the same kind, the unit of size, the population, and the guide where the norm is built.

The norm, once

Among the company's own customers of the same kind where the company holds most of the business: the median of the measure, per unit of size

Applied to a customer of that kind with its size, it is what the customer would do if the relationship were full.

Twelve desks

Industry Fields that define similar Unit of size Population Guide
Foodservice distribution Menu type, segment Covers per week Kitchens the distributor supplies nearly everything to Menu-driven demand
Commercial banking Size band, sector Turnover band Customers with an operating account and full relationship Cross-sell measurement
Financial services Segment, tenure band Balances band Customers in the band, on products used Tenure and depth
Hotel groups Property type, market tier, size Rooms The comparable set within the group Segment mix per property
Oilfield services Basin, service line Active rigs Operators the company serves fully Activity-weighted coverage
Industrial manufacturing Model, age band Installed units Customers with every unit under service contract Aftermarket attach
Healthcare supplies System, facility size Beds or procedures Sister facilities in the same system Standardisation opportunities
Accounting firms Turnover band, entity count Filings Clients in the band Fee per client against the norm
Law firms Sector, size band Fees Clients in the band, by practices used Referral share
Education Entity type, enrolment band Enrolment Institutions in the band Programme fit
Trading desks Client type, product Notional inquired Clients with a high hit ratio in the product Client tiering by flow
General B2B Size band, sector, channel Employees or sites Main-supplier customers in the cell How to define the norm

What is the same everywhere

  • The population is the company's own customers.
  • The fields come from the master, never from behaviour with the company.
  • The cell has a minimum size, and cells under it are merged and greyed.
  • The norm is stated on every line it is applied to, with its version.

What is different

The fields and the unit of size. A hotel is compared to hotels of its type in its market; a kitchen to kitchens serving its menu at its covers. The same rule, applied to what the desk's master knows about its customers.

Where it goes wrong, everywhere

Behaviour in the definition. The norm becomes circular and every customer is at it.

A survey as the norm. Not defensible; not specific.

Cells too small. A norm from six customers.

Norm unstated on the gap. The gap cannot be checked.

One rule, every desk

Covirage computes the norm from the customer master and the ledger within stated cells, and shows it on every gap it produces. The norm guide covers the method in general form, and the segmentation guide covers the cells the norm is computed within.

Questions people ask

Why never an external benchmark?

Because an external figure describes an average company's average customer, and the gap it produces cannot be defended to a rep or a client. A norm from the company's own customers can: these customers, of this kind, buy this much from us. The argument is over.

How many fields define similar?

Two or three from the customer master, never from behaviour. Enough to separate customers that genuinely differ, few enough that each cell has thirty or more members. The hub shows the fields per desk.

What is the unit of size?

The thing the norm scales by: covers, sites, beds, employees, rigs, seats, units installed, assets. Spend per unit of size among full-relationship customers, times the target customer's size, is the norm for that customer.