Measuring Relevance

Relevance is one of those marketing terms like "awareness" or "consideration" that is difficult to measure effectively. I like to use share of wallet as a measurement for relevance, because it is easy to measure and provides you with actionable insight.

I was once talking to a senior executive that was very excited about the fact that their largest channel partner had grown 10% with them over the previous calendar year. Certainly this sounds impressive, but what if the partners overall business grew by 15% or 20%? This company would have lost share, and therefore relevance with this particular partner. Gains (or losses) in partner share of wallet give better insight into your relative position with a specific channel partner and is a much better gauge of success than revenue growth.

It is also better to measure your share of wallet in segments. In other words, measure apples against apples and oranges against oranges. It is much more insightful to know where you have specifically increased your share of wallet based on product type or solutions set versus taking a holistic view of the entire business.

I believe that relevance (share of wallet) is directly tied to your profitability from a channel partner. Let’s say, for example, that you have 50% share of wallet and that the next closest competitor has a 10% share of wallet. It is much more likely that you will get first shot at the “better” deals. It makes sense because you are more relevant and probably have the better relationship (although this is not always the case). Conversely, if you have a very small share of wallet, you will not be the channel partner’s first consideration for the best opportunities.

I suggest setting and measuring share of wallet goals. Focus on winning a bigger piece of the pie. Growth and profitability will follow.