Internal sales reports cannot tell you whether a bad month is your fault or the market's. Market benchmarking answers that question by comparing your results against industry-wide sales data. Dave Low, General Manager of Power Equipment in New Zealand, uses it to separate internal problems from market-wide downturns, to report to his board with independent numbers and to decide which stock his business carries.
Your sales are down this quarter. Is that a failure, or the best result in your category? Your own reports cannot answer that question, because they only compare you with your own history. Market benchmarking closes that gap: industry market share data shows where you really stand against the whole market. Few people describe its absence better than Dave Low, who runs marine and industrial engine distributor Power Equipment in New Zealand.
"A world without industry data would be almost like flying blind," Dave says. "Very difficult to gauge how you're performing in the market and against your competitors is really the bottom line."
Internal data alone cannot tell you if the problem is you
Power Equipment distributes engines and marine products through a network of about 22 marine dealers and 15 to 20 industrial dealers across New Zealand. The company measures its own sales closely, but internal numbers only answer one question: how are we doing against last year?
That question stops being useful when conditions change. At the time of our interview, Dave rated the New Zealand marine market as the toughest he had seen, and peers across other equipment industries were saying the same. In a market like that, a soft month tells you nothing by itself. You could be losing ground to competitors, or you could be outperforming an industry-wide slump. Without market data, the two look identical.
Market benchmarking turns a bad month into a diagnosis
Comparison against the market tells Dave where to look when results disappoint. "If we can compare ourselves against our competitors, and if we see that our competitors are doing okay and we're not doing so well, then we clearly know that something is not working internally," he says.
That signal triggers a defined response. The team goes out to its sales people and its dealer network for intelligence: why are we losing sales, and why aren't quotes converting? The same market view supports structured dealer performance benchmarking across a network, because it shows how each territory performs against its local market rather than against a national average.
The comparison works in the other direction too. "We can see the trends and we can see that everyone's struggling. It's not just us. So it sort of gives us a little bit of peace of mind," Dave says. When the whole market is down, the data confirms the strategy is sound and the direction has not changed - a reality check that cuts both ways.
Independent numbers make board reporting faster and more credible
Power Equipment reports monthly to its board and annually to a wider meeting, and the first question is always the same. "We always get asked about how the market's performing," Dave says. "And really, the only way we can do that is through some form of platform like PowerStats."
Dave regularly builds graphs from the data to give the board a picture of the market. The wider Power Equipment group is a participant in a sister PowerStats project in Australia, so the two markets can be compared side by side. Independent data also helps justify the decisions behind the numbers: how the sales strategy is structured, where marketing money goes and how much stock the business holds.
The benefit Dave finds easiest to measure is his own time. "It certainly saves me a lot of time when it comes to the reporting aspect of the business," he says. He works from the raw data export, dumping it into spreadsheets and pivot tables he already knows well - one of the two ways participants consume the data, as we explore in interactive dashboards versus raw data.
The same market view guides which stock you carry
Right-sizing stock is one of the hardest parts of distribution. Dealers would like every model in the catalogue sitting in the warehouse; no business can afford that. Power Equipment decides what to carry by combining its own sales history, intelligence from its dealers and the market picture from PowerStats.
Market data earns its keep when the company weighs up entering a new segment. "We'll look at the market stats and we'll say, okay, what is the market currently consuming? And then we can go back and look at our own products and go, okay, what part of that demographic can we cover with our products?" Dave says. The company recently used exactly that process to choose which generator models to stock - a measured bet on where the demand already is.
The same trends feed supplier conversations. Power Equipment forecasts 12 to 18 months ahead with its dealers and suppliers, and market direction tells the company whether to lift its stock holding or wind it back.
Why competitors agree to share their numbers
Industry data only exists because participants contribute their own historical unit sales and receive the combined market view in return. Dave acknowledges the natural hesitation, and his conclusion is pragmatic: "If everyone's supplying that data, then you're all on the same playing field. I think the benefits outweigh the cons."
For him it is also bigger than any one participant: "For the greater good of the industry, I think it's important to have that data available."
Key takeaways
- Internal sales data compares you with your own history; market benchmarking compares you with reality, so you know whether a bad month is you or the market.
- Trailing the market is a diagnostic signal: it tells you the problem is internal and points your questions at sales teams and dealers.
- Matching a falling market is reassurance: the data shows everyone is struggling, confirming your strategy rather than condemning it.
- Independent market data makes board reporting faster and more credible than internally produced estimates.
- The same market view guides stocking decisions, from right-sizing inventory to choosing which new models to carry.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if falling sales are an internal problem or a market problem?
Compare your results against industry-wide sales data. If competitors are holding steady while you decline, the problem is internal and worth investigating with your sales team and dealers. If the whole market is falling at a similar rate, your position is stable and the strategy is likely sound.
What is market benchmarking?
Market benchmarking is comparing your own sales results against industry-wide sales data rather than against your internal history alone. It shows your true position in the market: your share, your trend against the market's trend and how you perform against competitors.
How does industry data help with board reporting?
Boards ask how the market is performing, and internal records cannot answer that. Independent industry data lets managers show the market trend, their position within it and the reasoning behind strategy, marketing and stock decisions. Customers like Dave Low report that it also cuts the time reporting takes.
Why would competitors agree to share sales data?
Because every participant contributes its own historical sales figures and receives the combined market view in return, everyone operates on the same playing field. Participants gain a market visibility none of them could build alone, which most judge to be worth far more than the data they give up.
See where you really stand
Gut feel and internal reports cannot place you in your market; shared industry data can. Whether the news is a competitor pulling ahead or a downturn hitting everyone equally, knowing beats guessing every time.
See how your brand really performs against your market - explore our guide to industry market share data or contact PowerStats to learn how a data sharing programme could work in your industry.
