Signal · Revenue-quality

Land vs expand

Attributes recent-period growth to new-client wins vs existing clients billing more — tells you where the next unit of sales effort pays off.

Revenue-quality

What the signal measures

Attributes recent-period growth to new-client wins vs existing clients billing more — tells you where the next unit of sales effort pays off.

Why it matters

Growth from new clients and growth from existing clients are two very different sales operations. A book growing 20% year-on-year sounds great — until you learn all 20% came from one new whale, and existing clients are quietly shrinking. This signal attributes recent-period growth to new-client wins vs existing-client expansion so you know where the next unit of effort pays off.

How to act on it

If land dominates, the drafted action is an expansion campaign on your top existing clients (a companion service, a next-year retainer bump, a scope expansion). If expand dominates, keep doing what works — but audit new-client acquisition, because you may be growing on top of a shrinking base.

Worked example — fixture consultancy

On the fixture, Foundry Tech (new client, joined month 14) contributes clean "land" growth, while Evergreen Studios ramps from 4 days to 6 days per month mid-window — that is textbook "expand". Compass splits the growth number so both patterns are visible instead of averaged out.