Measuring Market Share
AIM conducted one study on a client’s distributor customer base. Knowing this client, we also surveyed the distributor’s customers, the contractors. We painted a more accurate picture of the true size of the market.
We presented privately to the National Sales Manager. “Where did you get these numbers?” he asked. “From your customers,” we told him. “They’re wrong,” he argued. Anticipating his reaction, we proudly countered that we had surveyed his customer’s customers and showed the conclusion. The client was stunned. Up until that time, they had calculated the market as their sales plus a certain number of units. As they were the market leader, they figured that was a good estimate. Our research revealed a much larger market, and once they saw that, in two years, they increased their sales over 33% by driving their rep force to new heights and not being satisfied with the status quo.