Blog · Wallet share and penetration
Whitespace is an account-by-product grid with empty cells that similar accounts have filled, and what the product is changes by desk: a category, a practice, a policy line, a strategy, a service line, a site, a programme. This hub gives, for twelve industries, the rows and columns of the grid, what makes an empty cell count, how it is valued, and the guide for each.
Whitespace has one shape, a grid, and a different column on every desk. This hub gives, for twelve industries, the rows, the columns, what makes an empty cell count, how it is valued, and where the guide is.
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Account A | $ | $ | |
| Account B | $ | $ |
Rows: accounts at the decision level. Columns: product lines, ten to thirty. Cells: trailing revenue. Empty cells in expected columns, valued at the norm, are the whitespace.
| Industry | Rows | Columns | Expected if held by | Valued at | Guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial banking | Relationships at group level | Products: lending, deposits, treasury, cards, FX | Most customers of the size and sector | Median product revenue in the segment | Cross-sell measurement |
| Law firms | Clients by originating partner | Practices | Most clients of the sector and size | Median practice fees | Referral share |
| Insurance broking | Clients | Lines of business | Most clients of the sector | Median premium per line | Placement share |
| Asset management | Intermediaries | Strategies in the range | Intermediaries holding peer strategies | Assets in peer strategies | Channel share per strategy |
| Accounting firms | Clients | Service lines: compliance, advisory, tax planning | Most clients of the size and complexity | Median service fee | Service line gaps |
| B2B telecoms | Customers | Products per site: connectivity, voice, mobile, security | Most sites of the type | Median product revenue per site | Site penetration |
| Education | Contracting entities | Programmes | Most entities of the type and enrolment | Median programme fee | Programme fit |
| Industrial manufacturing | Customers | Catalogue families | Most customers of the segment | Median family revenue | Catalogue fit |
| Foodservice | Kitchens | Categories | Most kitchens of the menu type | Norm per cover × covers | Menu-driven demand |
| Hotel groups | Corporate accounts | Properties in the group | Accounts of the size in the market | Median nights per property | Property penetration |
| Healthcare supplies | Facilities | Product categories on contract | Sister facilities in the system | System norm × category purchases | Standardisation opportunities |
| SaaS | Accounts | Modules and seat tiers | Accounts of the segment | Median module ARR | Whitespace as a number |
The column. It is whatever the desk sells as a line, and the norm that says which columns are expected is the desk's own customers of the same kind.
SKUs as columns. Whitespace everywhere.
Every empty cell counted. The total is fantasy.
Cannot-buy cells included. The rep learns the list is wrong on the first call.
Grid not reconciled. The filled cells do not sum and the whitespace inherits the error.
Covirage builds each desk's grid from its ledger and product list, applies the desk's norm, and values the expected empties with the method stated. The whitespace analysis guide covers the method in general form, and each desk's guide covers its columns.
The norm: the share of similar accounts holding that column. A column held by three quarters of similar accounts is expected; one held by a tenth is not. Empty cells in unexpected columns are excluded, so the list is not padded with things the account does not want.
At the median spend on that column among similar accounts that hold it, scaled by the account's size where the desk has a size measure. The method is stated on every cell.
An account attribute rules some columns out: a line the client's sector does not need, a programme for an age group the school does not teach. Those are marked cannot-buy from the master and excluded, counted.