Guest Blog: Bridging the Gap: Staying Away from Ground Zero
- PPS
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Author: Spence Goddard
We are a species obsessed with the showdown. Yankees vs. Dodgers. Messi vs Ronaldo. Scheffler vs. Tiger (okay, maybe too soon).
Even the 1500s weren't safe from a good comparison. Pope Leo X once staged a battle between his pampered white elephant, Hanno, and a rhinoceros named Ganda. When Ganda charged, the elephant fled, the Pope laughed, and the rhino was labeled a “beast of Satan.” The Pope got his entertainment, but he missed the point: he didn't know how to value the "charge."
In business, if you can’t measure the charge, you’re just the person with the fleeing elephant. We use revenue bridges to understand what is driving change—our version of a standard unit of measurement like a meter or foot.
Setting the Foundation
To build a bridge, you need two solid banks: the Base Period (where you started) and the Current Period (where you landed). Everything in between is the story of why things changed.
Choosing your time frame depends on your customer's heartbeat. If you’re selling cars, you need a wide window. If you’re a corporate supplier with monthly orders, you need a tighter view. The goal is consistency—comparing apples to apples, or rhinos to rhinos.
The "Moneyball" of Pricing
Once the periods are set, we look at the math. In the book Moneyball, baseball stats are treated like financial derivatives; analysts use tiny slices of performance to predict the game. In pricing, we can do the same by calculating the Price Effect.
We find the Average Selling Price (ASP)—total revenue divided by quantity—for both periods. Then, we apply the formula:
Price Effect = (Current ASP - Base ASP) × Current Quantity
We multiply by the current quantity because we want to know: on the volume we just sold, how much extra cash did our pricing strategy actually capture?
Stop Being Valued at Zero
Here is the hard truth: in many organizations, pricing teams aren't valued properly because their impact feels "invisible." In a boardroom, if you don’t put a clear number on the value of something, the default value is zero.
Without a calculated Price Effect, your contribution is at "Ground Zero"—a total blank. This formula pulls back the curtain and puts a cold, hard dollar amount on exactly what you and your team are bringing to the table.
Quick Example:
Base: 100 units at $10 → $1,000 Revenue
Current: 110 units at $11 → $1,210 Revenue
Price Effect: ($11 - $10) × 110 = $110 uplift
That $110 isn't just "growth"—it is the specific "win" created by your strategy.
Your Invitation to Adjust
Stop letting your impact be an "intangible." Intangibles get ignored during budget cuts. This week, take one customer and one product. Run the math. Give your contribution a heartbeat and a dollar sign. When you show the organization the Price Effect, you stop being a cost center and start being the team that moves the needle.
About the Author
Spence Goddard is a Pricing Analyst at Merit Medical with three years of experience and a Master of Science in Applied Econometrics. Passionate about translating data into actionable insights, he specializes in uncovering patterns that drive smarter, more sustainable decisions. His work focuses on building revenue bridges that clarify financial performance and support strategic planning. With a collaborative mindset and strong analytical skills, Spence helps organizations turn complexity into clarity and value.
