Most share shifting in the industry seems to be coming from volume gained within existing customer relationships rather than from new customers

Symptom: Much of today's share growth appears to be coming from volume gained within existing customer relationships rather than from gains in new customers.

Implications for the market:

• In any market, a company can take share from its competitors either by increasing its penetration of existing customer relationships or by taking some or all of the volume in a new customer relationship.

• The advent of hostility shifts the primary source of share growth, requiring a change in marketing emphasis.

  • In a non-hostile market, a company gains most of its share by displacing competitors in new customer relationships. The marketing emphasis should be on selling to new customers.

  • In hostility, however, most successful companies gain the bulk of their share increases from current customers. The marketing emphasis should shift to selling more within existing customer relationships.