By Larry Goddard, Laurence Franklin and Jennifer Goddard

Most business leaders can rattle off their top-line revenue, year-over-year growth, or gross margin without hesitation. But ask this simple question—“What percentage of your customers’ total spend are you getting?”—and the room often goes quiet.

That silence highlights the power—and the untapped opportunity—of Wallet Share.

Wallet Share is one of the most valuable yet overlooked metrics in the middle market. It reveals how much of your customers’ total potential spending actually flows to you. For many companies, the truth is eye-opening: while teams hustle to acquire new customers and chase new leads, they’re leaving massive growth potential untouched within the accounts they already have.

That’s why growing Wallet Share is a cornerstone of the SOAR Growth Engine™—our proprietary framework that helps businesses uncover, evaluate, and prioritize the myriad of growth opportunities available. By focusing on Wallet Share, leaders can unlock faster, more profitable growth without the grind of constant new-customer acquisition.

What Is Wallet Share?

Wallet Share is the percentage of a customer’s total spend in your category that goes to your business. It’s not about how much the customer is spending with you—it’s about how much they could be spending.

If a customer buys $100,000 worth of packaging materials per year and gives your company $25,000 of that business, your Wallet Share is 25%.

And while most businesses obsess over gaining new customers and market share, few take the time to understand the share of wallet they hold with their existing clients. That’s a costly mistake.

Types of Wallet Share

There are three distinct types of Wallet Share, each representing a different growth path with an existing customer:

Wallet Share A – Deepening Customer’s Spend on What You Already Sell Them
This is the percentage of a customer’s total purchases for products you already sell them.

Example: You supply a regional contractor with $400,000 worth of industrial fasteners each year. The contractor spends $800,000 total on fasteners across all suppliers. Your Wallet Share A is 50%.

Strategic Question: What will it take to grow your share beyond 50%—better pricing, more reliable delivery, or a value-added service like vendor-managed inventory?

Wallet Share B – Expanding into Products You Offer but They Don’t Buy From You
This is the opportunity to win purchases for products that are already in your catalog but currently sourced by the customer from someone else.

Example: In addition to fasteners, your company also sells safety equipment. The contractor spends $300,000 a year on safety gear—but buys none of it from you. Your Wallet Share B in safety equipment is 0%.

Strategic Question: How can you persuade the customer to shift some—or all—of that spend to you? Would bundling, single-invoice convenience, or volume discounts make the case?

Wallet Share C – Entering Products You Don’t Currently Offer
This represents the most ambitious form of wallet share growth: supplying products you don’t currently sell but your customer purchases from others.

Example: The same contractor spends $1 million annually on rental equipment, but your company doesn’t currently offer rentals. That’s a Wallet Share C opportunity.

Strategic Question: Should you expand into rentals—by acquiring equipment, partnering with a rental firm, or developing a new service line? The upside is significant, but it also comes with higher risks: capital investment, expertise, and operational complexity.

Why Wallet Share Matters More Than You Think

There are few metrics that offer as much strategic insight as Wallet Share. Here’s why:

1. It Reveals Untapped Growth

Wallet Share doesn’t just show how much you’re winning—it shows how much you’re leaving on the table. A customer buying from you regularly may seem like a win, but if you’re only getting 20% of their total spend, you’re missing the real opportunity.

Growth doesn’t always require more leads or more territory. Sometimes, the most profitable move is to go deeper, not wider.

2. It Highlights Competitive Exposure

Low Wallet Share often means you’re just one of several vendors your customer is working with. That’s a signal: your relationship is shallow, your value isn’t differentiated, or your competitor is outmaneuvering you.

By tracking Wallet Share, you uncover where your real competition lives—not in the market at large, but inside your customers’ purchasing decisions.

3. It Identifies Risk

The more Wallet Share you hold with a customer, the “stickier” that relationship tends to be. Low Wallet Share customers are often at higher risk of churn. Why? Because they’re not deeply invested in you. You’re transactional, not strategic.

If a customer only relies on you for one product line or service, it’s easy for them to walk away—or never think of you for anything more.

4. It Drives Smarter Sales Strategy

Knowing your Wallet Share helps your sales team focus on the right priorities. A high-volume customer with low Wallet Share might be a prime target for expansion. A low-volume customer with high Wallet Share may already be maxed out.

Without this context, sales teams waste time chasing new accounts or pushing products that don’t fit—while missing the low-hanging fruit sitting right in front of them.

Why Middle-Market Businesses Miss It

If Wallet Share is so important, why don’t more companies track it?

The answer lies in a combination of cultural habits, system limitations, and a legacy sales mindset that prioritizes “wins” over depth.

1. They Track Revenue, Not Potential

Most companies define a “good customer” as one that spends a lot. But high revenue doesn’t always equal high loyalty or high opportunity.

Without understanding what the customer’s total spend looks like, you’re flying blind. That $1 million customer might be a $10 million customer with the right strategy—or a $1 million customer who’s already maxed out.

2. They Lack the Data

To calculate Wallet Share, you first need to understand a customer’s total category spend. For many middle-market businesses, that information isn’t readily available—and too often, it isn’t even pursued.

Most companies focus only on what the customer currently buys from them, rather than what the customer could be buying. Some dismiss Wallet Share analysis altogether, assuming it’s too complex or difficult to determine.

The truth is, while it does take thoughtful questions, patience, and timing, the payoff is worth it. Even if the answer comes in the form of an estimate or a range, it still provides the directional insight needed to gauge the size of the Wallet Share opportunity.

And in most cases, that effort uncovers growth potential far greater than chasing yet another new customer.

3. They Focus on Acquisition Over Expansion

New customer acquisition is exciting. It’s easy to measure, easy to celebrate, and often gets more attention from leadership.

But expanding Wallet Share with existing customers is often more profitable, more predictable, and more defensible.

You’ve already earned their trust. You know their business. They’re already in your system. You don’t have to “land”—you just have to expand.

4. They Confuse Frequency with Loyalty

A customer who orders regularly is seen as loyal. But frequency doesn’t equal commitment. A customer may be buying from you weekly—and still giving most of their business to someone else.

Wallet Share shows you the depth of the relationship—not just the activity.

The Cost of Not Knowing

Failing to measure Wallet Share isn’t neutral—it’s costly.

• You miss revenue that your competitors are getting.
• You under-invest in relationships with the greatest upside.
• You overvalue relationships that are already tapped out.
• You leave cross-sell opportunities undiscovered.
• You expose your business to silent churn.

And perhaps most importantly—you lose strategic visibility. You can’t build an effective account management, sales, or retention strategy if you don’t know how much of the customer you truly have.

The Mindset Shift That Changes Everything

Understanding Wallet Share requires a shift in thinking—from “What are they buying from us?” to “What else could they be buying from us?”

It’s a subtle change—but it leads to transformational conversations, better customer insight, and higher-value relationships.

It turns sales from order-taking into account leadership.

It reframes success—not as closing a deal, but as owning the relationship.

And it raises expectations—not just of your sales team, but of your customers, who come to see you as a true partner, not just a vendor.

So Why Aren’t More Companies Talking About It?

In middle-market businesses, Wallet Share isn’t part of the everyday language. It’s not on dashboards. It’s not in the CRM. It’s rarely mentioned in sales meetings.

That’s the missed opportunity.

Because the businesses that do start talking about it—tracking it, prioritizing it, managing it—often discover a goldmine of growth without adding a single new customer.

They build deeper loyalty. They improve margins. They reduce churn. And they grow faster—not because they’re working harder, but because they’re working smarter.

High Wallet Share –Rewards and Risks

A high Wallet Share means you’re already capturing most of a customer’s spend in your category. It’s a strong signal that the customer views you as a trusted, strategic partner rather than just another supplier. You’ve proven your value, reliability, and consistency well enough to displace competitors.

But that position also comes with heightened expectations. Customers who entrust you with the bulk of their spend often will demand:

• Consistently excellent quality and service
• Proactive innovation and new ideas that add measurable value
• Competitive pricing and terms
• A seamless, reliable experience across every interaction

The implications are clear:

• Strength in the Relationship – You’re embedded in the customer’s operations, which creates loyalty, stability, and predictability.
• Limits to Growth – With most of their spend already yours, expansion may be incremental unless the customer is growing significantly – or you move into adjacent products or services.
• Risk Concentration – Overreliance on a few high-share customers can create vulnerability if one changes course.
• Shift in Focus – The priority becomes protecting, retaining, and exceeding expectations—while leveraging your credibility with this customer to open doors with others.

Conclusion: Know What You’re Leaving on the Table

Most companies take pride in their biggest customers. But if you don’t know your Wallet Share, you don’t truly know how “big” those customers are—or how much bigger they could be for your business.

Wallet Share is one of the most powerful strategic metrics a company can track. It doesn’t require massive technology investments or new departments. What it requires is a shift in mindset:

• From total revenue… to total potential
• From chasing new accounts… to maximizing existing ones

Middle-market businesses don’t need to reinvent themselves to grow. They simply need to start asking the right questions—beginning with:

“What percentage of our customers’ spend are we actually getting?”

This isn’t about dismissing the importance of acquiring new customers. New business will always matter. But pouring disproportionate energy into new-customer acquisition while leaving Wallet Share potential untapped is one of the least productive uses of a company’s resources. The real opportunity lies in balancing both—winning new customers while fully realizing the growth potential in the ones you already have.

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