Cleaning & janitorial
Cleaning Customer Acquisition Cost Calculator
Work out what winning a cleaning customer costs and whether the first months cover it.
Result
Sales time is included because it is a real cost of winning work even though it never appears on an advertising invoice. Recovering under 100% on the first job is normal in the trades, provided customers come back.
Get a Free Business AuditWhat moves the number
- Marketing spend and any quoting visits.
- Close rate, since unconverted enquiries are paid for.
- First clean cost, which is higher than the recurring visit.
Where this one goes wrong
Ignoring the cost of the first clean. If the first clean takes twice as long and is charged at the recurring rate, the extra hours are effectively part of the acquisition cost.
Questions
About this calculator
Is the first clean an acquisition cost?
If it is underpriced, effectively yes. Pricing it properly turns it from an acquisition cost into a profitable job, which is a better position to be in.
How long is the payback?
It depends on retention. A domestic customer retained for years pays back quickly; one who cancels after two months may not pay back at all.
What is the cheapest acquisition channel?
Referral from existing customers, usually by a wide margin. That makes retention and service quality an acquisition strategy.
The formula
acquisition cost = (marketing + sales cost) / customers won
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How to use this calculator
- Marketing spend per month ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $3,200.
- Sales time and tools ($). Quoting time, CRM, call answering.
- Leads per month. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 70.
- Share that become customers (%). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 32%.
- First job value ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $195.
- Gross margin (%). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 42%.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to cost to win one customer, and change it back. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
A worked example
These are the figures the calculator opens with. Every number in the results column below is produced by the same calculation the page runs, so you can follow it through before putting your own figures in.
What goes in
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Marketing spend per month | $3,200 |
| Sales time and tools | $900 |
| Leads per month | 70 |
| Share that become customers | 32% |
| First job value | $195 |
| Gross margin | 42% |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Cost to win one customer main result | $183.04 |
| Cost per lead | $58.57 |
| Customers per month | 22 |
| Gross profit on the first job | $81.90 |
| Recovered on the first job | 44.7% |
Each customer costs $183.04 to win, and the first job returns $81.90 of gross profit, 44.7% of the acquisition cost. The rest has to come from repeat work.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only marketing spend per month, this is what happens to cost to win one customer. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Marketing spend per month ($) | Cost to win one customer |
|---|---|
| $1,600 | $111.61 |
| $2,400 | $147.32 |
| $3,200 example above | $183.04 |
| $4,800 | $254.46 |
| $6,400 | $325.89 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Marketing spend per month ($)
- A money amount, starting at $3,200.
- Sales time and tools ($)
- Quoting time, CRM, call answering.
- Leads per month
- A number, between 0 and 20000, starting at 70.
- Share that become customers (%)
- A percentage, between 0 and 100, starting at 32%.
- First job value ($)
- A money amount, starting at $195.
- Gross margin (%)
- A percentage, between 0 and 95, starting at 42%.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Cost to win one customer | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Cost per lead | A money figure. |
| Customers per month | A number. |
| Gross profit on the first job | A money figure. |
| Recovered on the first job | A percentage. |
Time is the variable that bites
Pricing that works out on paper fails when the job takes longer than quoted. First cleans, heavily soiled sites and access problems all run over, so it is worth pricing the first visit separately from the recurring one.
Estimating is the easy part
The jobs you never hear about cost more than the ones you mis-measure. BDEVY builds the marketing, systems and automation that bring them in.