Most distribution companies measure their account managers on one thing: revenue. A rep can have $2M in annual revenue from accounts that are quietly reducing their order frequency and are three months away from switching suppliers. Revenue is a lagging indicator.
The 5 Metrics That Actually Matter
1. Account Activation Rate: What percentage of a rep's accounts have placed at least one order through the portal in the last 30 days? A rep with 40% portal activation has a book that is heavily rep-dependent and vulnerable to churn on rep turnover. 2. Order Frequency Per Account: An account who ordered 8 times per month for a year and is now ordering 5 times per month is reducing their commitment to you, whether or not they say anything to the rep. Set a 25% decline over 60 days as the flag for rep intervention. 3. New Account Adds Per Quarter: 3–6 new accounts per quarter is a reasonable benchmark at the $5M distributor scale. 4. At-Risk Account Intervention Rate: When the system flags an account as at-risk, did the rep contact the account within 48 hours? 85%+ is the target. Below 70% is either a capacity problem or a coaching problem. 5. Average Order Value Growth: Growing by adding accounts is different from growing within existing accounts. A rep with growing average order value per account, even with a flat account count, is expanding wallet share — that's where the best margin-per-rep-hour economics live.