Account funnel

Opened, first purchase within thirty days, still buying at six months, per branch and per account opener, from the account master and the ledger. Measured on the last step, not the first, so that opening effort produces customers rather than records.

DefinitionOpened, first purchase within thirty days, still buying at six months, per branch and per account opener, from the account master and the ledger. Measured on the last step, not the first, so that opening effort produces customers rather than records.

The opener is the cause

A branch's poor funnel is usually one person opening forms without follow-up. Record who opened it.

The list

Accounts opened in the last thirty days with no purchase, while the customer remembers opening it.

How it is computed

From the account master and the ledger: accounts opened in the period, those with a first purchase within thirty days, and those still buying at six months. Each stage is divided by the one before, per branch and per person who opened the account.

Example

A branch opened 120 trade accounts in a quarter. 78 bought within thirty days, 65 percent. 41 were still buying at six months, 34 percent of those opened. The branch next door opened 60 and kept 38.

Where it goes wrong

Accounts opened is celebrated as a result. The funnel shows it is a cost until the second purchase, and that the branch opening the most accounts often keeps the fewest.

Articles that use this term

Coverage and territory · Construction and building materials

Accounts opened and never used: the trade account funnel per branch

How a builders' merchant or trade supplier measures what happens after a trade account is opened, from the account master and the ledger: accounts opened per branch, the share with a first purchase within thirty days, the share still buying at six months, the median first-purchase value, and the branches and account openers whose funnel leaks at each step, so that the opening effort produces customers rather than records.

16 Sept 20262 min read