Painting
Painting Customer Acquisition Cost Calculator
Works what a painting customer costs to win, where estimating time is the hidden half.
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 AuditHow the calculation works
Marketing spend plus sales time and tools divided by customers won. The painting-specific adjustment is estimating: quoting a painting job normally means visiting, measuring and assessing condition, which takes an hour or more, and at a typical close rate several are consumed per job won. That time is a genuine acquisition cost and it never appears on a marketing invoice.
What moves the number
- Marketing spend across channels.
- Estimating time per quote and the close rate.
- Whether estimates are done by the owner, whose time is scarcest.
- Referral share, which costs nothing to acquire.
Where this one goes wrong
In an owner-operated painting business the estimating time is the owner's, which is the most constrained resource in the business, so a low close rate costs not just money but the capacity to run the work. Qualifying harder on the phone, using photographs for simple jobs and declining enquiries that are plainly shopping on price all preserve that time. Referrals are the other side: they cost nothing to acquire and close at a far higher rate, which makes deliberately asking for them the cheapest marketing available in this trade.
Before you quote
- Count estimating time as an acquisition cost.
- Qualify by phone before committing to a site visit.
- Ask for referrals deliberately rather than hoping for them.
Questions
About this calculator
What does it cost to win a painting customer?
More than the marketing, because estimating time belongs in it. Visiting, measuring and assessing takes an hour or more, and several estimates are consumed per job won. In an owner-operated business that is the owner's time, which is the scarcest resource there is.
Should I quote every enquiry?
Not necessarily. Qualifying on the phone, using photographs for simple work and recognising enquiries that are plainly collecting the cheapest price all preserve estimating time for the jobs worth having. A low close rate costs capacity as well as money.
What is the cheapest way to get painting work?
Referrals, by a wide margin. They cost nothing to acquire and close at a far higher rate than cold enquiries, which makes asking for them deliberately after every job the highest-return marketing activity available in this trade.
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 $2,900.
- 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 | $2,900 |
| 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 | $1,218 |
| Recovered on the first job | 665% |
Each customer costs $183.04 to win, and the first job returns $1,218 of gross profit, 665% of the acquisition cost. The rest has to come from repeat work.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only marketing spend per month, this is what happens to cost to win one customer. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Marketing spend per month ($) | 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 $2,900.
- 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. |
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.