One effective strategy is to compare purchases by similarly sized customers. This type of analysis can reveal gaps in your market share and help you identify customers whose purchases from you are lagging behind others.  

For example, if you notice that sales to one customer are 20% higher than those to another company of similar size, it’s a sign that you may not be capturing the full sales potential from that second customer. Such insights challenge the assumption that you already have the majority of the company’s business, prompting a deeper investigation into the underlying reasons.  

It’s easy to assume that this customer simply conducts business differently and that you really have the vast majority of their business, but if you skip the excuses and dive deep into the data you may see where you are missing sales and that you actually do not have the market share that you took for granted. It is just easier to tell yourself the lie: I have all their business, and this customer is my friend.  

A thorough examination of your customers’ purchasing patterns can highlight specific areas in which your company is underperforming. It’s easy to overlook missing business — such as a lack of orders for copper products or a drop in sheet metal sales — unless you actively analyze each segment of your customers’ sales. It is easy to miss where you are losing sales to a competitor. Paying close attention to these details ensures that you do not miss valuable sales opportunities.  

Advanced CRM software can break down these segments automatically, offering actionable insights. Although data analysis may not be the most exciting part of sales, ignoring it can lead to significant missed opportunities. Consistent, detailed analysis enables you to approach customer meetings with a structured message about what products you are not selling and investigate the reasons behind these gaps. You will need to get past the “go away” answers such as, “Your prices are too high,” because typically they’re not the real story. You need to challenge this kind of answer and ask to see your competitors’ pricing, or simply ask what the real reason is. You must get past petty objections.  

If a customer is satisfied with your services and products in certain areas but chooses another wholesaler for other products, there are reasons behind those decisions. It could be that the customer wants a diversity of suppliers, or is pulled by incentives offered by competitors, or other factors. By investigating and discovering these patterns, you can uncover the truth about why you are not getting all of the customer’s business.  

Once you understand a customer’s reasoning, you are in a stronger position to present compelling arguments for consolidating their purchasing with your company. You now have the opportunity to problem-solve and earn this lost business. This approach not only strengthens your relationship with the customer but also opens up avenues for additional growth.  

The goal is to analyze your various customers and group them all into size categories. If you have a small customer who is really giving you all of its business, you’d want to compare all customers of a similar size and find out how much business you’re getting from them. If you’re not getting all the business from a customer, try to find out why. You want to repeat this process with all your customers, classifying by size and comparing those of a similar size to each other.  

You will discover a gold mine of opportunities this way. If you find you’re getting all of one customer’s business, for example, you could leverage that information by going to competitors and suggesting that, because success breeds success, they too need to give you all their business.  

Effective use of CRM software goes beyond basic customer management — it’s about leveraging analytical data to identify gaps, understand customer behavior, and proactively pursue sales opportunities. By dedicating time and effort to data analysis, you can position yourself to have meaningful conversations with your customers, uncover the real reasons behind their purchasing decisions, and ultimately encourage them to funnel more business your way.  

Happy selling!