The Strokes Gained of Volume Effect: Pt 2

How Healthy Is Our New Business?

It’s an interesting question, and honestly, I’m not sure many companies ever stop to ask it. We celebrate new revenue, but do we ever pause to ask whether it’s good revenue or bad revenue? Another way to put it—are we dropping our pants just to land new customers? Sometimes that’s the uncomfortable reality.

As far as I know, there isn’t a widely adopted way to check the health of new business. Most teams don’t run this analysis, and many leaders don’t want to. But we should.

New Business Volume: The Only Way to Measure It

Because we don’t have two time periods for a brand‑new customer, the only real way to measure price performance is to compare:

  • the average price of the product in the base period,
  • to the average price that same product sells for with the new customer in the current period.

That’s it. Simple, but powerful.

Once you do that comparison, you can finally answer the real question:

Are our margins getting healthier, or are we eroding price just to get deals in the door?

This analysis can be a little scary. I don’t know many leaders—especially sales leaders—who want to hear that they’re eroding price to capture new customers. And look, I genuinely believe that bringing in new customers is one of the marks of a great sales rep. But if the only way they’re doing it is by manipulating price and discounting everything in sight… are they really that good? I’ll let you decide.

We don’t want price to be our primary lever for growth. We want to generate value. When a customer sees value—and when a sales rep has the skill to communicate that value clearly—that’s the real win.

How We Generate the Analysis

Here’s the process:

  • Take the customer–product combination
  • Compare the average price in the current period
  • Against the average price of that product in the base period
  • Multiply the difference by the current quantity to get the new business price effect

By removing the assumption that the customer stays constant over time, you isolate what matters:
Are we improving average selling price, or are we eroding it?

This is where we discover the truth behind the revenue.

Yes, we got the sale—but was it good business or bad business?
Are we building strong partnerships, or are we just buying volume?

Let’s Go Back to Golf

To bring the golf analogy home: we often view professionals in almost mythical terms. But the data grounds us.

In the 2025 PGA Tour season, Sam Burns averaged +0.983 strokes gained putting per round. That means he gains almost a full stroke on the field just with the flatstick. Yet even pros aren’t superhuman. A 30‑foot putt? They make it about seven percent of the time.

Seven percent. With that one putt being worth more than +2 strokes gained.

If I have 50 thirty‑footers over the course of a season and I make three, I’m basically tour average. Not bad.

Strokes gained helps us see whether we’re better or worse than average at different distances. Pricing works the same way. Some products will outperform. Some will underperform. The comparison is what matters.

And if we compare ourselves to the pros again: they make three‑foot putts about 95% of the time. My three‑foot make rate? Definitely not 95%. I wish. But the point is, there are ways to practice. There are ways to build consistency.

And we can bring that same discipline—that same practice mindset—into pricing, especially when it comes to new business. If we do, we’ll build healthier margins, stronger partnerships, and a much clearer understanding of what “good revenue” actually looks like.

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