Will your product be better or worse than average? As an estimate, look at the December Customer Survey score in the lower part of each Segment Analysis. The Customer Survey drives demand each month. For example, if there are four products in December scoring 32, 28, 22, and 14 (for a total of 96), then the top product’s December demand would be 32/96 or 33%.

Top Product in Segment’s Score / Sum of All Scores =  32 / 32 +28 +22 + 14  =  32 / 96  = 33%

What monthly Customer Survey scores will your product have during the year? The score will change from month to month because the segments drift, your product ages and it might be revised. Each monthly score is driven by how well your product satisfies the segment buying criteria, plus its awareness and accessibility levels. If the TQM module is on, some initiatives could increase the score. See “How is the Customer Survey Score Calculated?” in the FAQ|Reports section of the website’s Manager Guide for more information on assessing your product.

Tip: Any new products about to come to market must have a plant. Plant purchases are reported on the Production Analysis (Courier, page 4).

Tip: Consider whether or not the top products in the segment can meet customer demand. On the Production Analysis, examine the top products’ capacities. Can they manufacture sufficient units? If not, you could have an opportunity to exploit.

Tip: The “Industry Demand Analysis” in the "Situation Analysis" provides close approximations of segment demand for each round. Products can enter or leave the segments, however the demand projections will not change.