Painting
Painting Customer Lifetime Value Calculator
Works what a painting customer is worth, where the repaint cycle is the horizon.
Result
Gross profit, not revenue, because revenue you spend delivering the work is not available to spend winning customers. Referrals are the least reliable input here; measure yours rather than assuming.
Get a Free Business AuditHow the calculation works
Average job value times jobs per customer per year times years retained, with margin applied, plus referred customers. Painting has a long rather than frequent repeat cycle: a customer does not repaint annually, but a house needs attention room by room and exterior on a cycle of years, so a retained customer generates several jobs over a decade rather than many in a year.
What moves the number
- Years retained, which in painting is the main value driver.
- Jobs per customer, which accumulate slowly over a long relationship.
- Average job value across interior and exterior work.
- Referrals, which are unusually strong in this trade.
Where this one goes wrong
The value in a painting customer is realised over years, which means staying in contact is the whole mechanism. A customer whose interior you painted five years ago needs the exterior now, and will use whoever they remember or whoever contacts them, which is usually not the painter who did a good job and then disappeared. A simple record and a periodic contact converts a one-off into a decade. Referrals compound that, since a satisfied customer in a neighbourhood of similar houses generates enquiries that cost nothing.
Before you quote
- Keep records and contact customers periodically rather than waiting.
- Count the full repaint cycle rather than the first job.
- Measure referral rate, which is a large share of value here.
Questions
About this calculator
How often do painting customers come back?
On a cycle of years rather than annually, which means the value is realised over a long horizon. A house needs interior work room by room and exterior on a cycle, so a retained customer generates several jobs over a decade if you are still in contact.
Why do painters lose repeat customers?
By disappearing. The customer who was pleased five years ago needs work now and will call whoever they remember or whoever contacted them, which is frequently not the painter who did the good job. A record and a periodic contact is the whole mechanism.
How much are referrals worth?
A large share of lifetime value in this trade, because painted work is visible and neighbours in similar houses have similar needs. A satisfied customer generates enquiries that cost nothing to acquire and close at a much higher rate than advertising does.
The formula
lifetime value = average job x jobs per year x years x gross margin
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How to use this calculator
- Average job value ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $2,900.
- Jobs per customer per year. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 1.4.
- Years they stay. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 6.
- Gross margin (%). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 42%.
- Customers they refer. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 0.4.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to lifetime gross profit, 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 |
|---|---|
| Average job value | $2,900 |
| Jobs per customer per year | 1.4 |
| Years they stay | 6 |
| Gross margin | 42% |
| Customers they refer | 0.4 |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Lifetime gross profit main result | $10,231 |
| Lifetime revenue | $24,360 |
| Including referred customers | $14,324 |
| Gross profit per year | $1,705 |
One customer is worth $10,231 of gross profit over 6 years, or $14,324 once the people they refer are counted. That is what you can afford to spend winning one.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only average job value, this is what happens to lifetime gross profit. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Average job value ($) | Lifetime gross profit |
|---|---|
| $1,450 | $5,116 |
| $2,175 | $7,673 |
| $2,900 example above | $10,231 |
| $4,350 | $15,347 |
| $5,800 | $20,462 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Average job value ($)
- A money amount, starting at $2,900.
- Jobs per customer per year
- A number, between 0 and 60, starting at 1.4.
- Years they stay
- A number, between 0 and 60, starting at 6.
- Gross margin (%)
- A percentage, between 0 and 95, starting at 42%.
- Customers they refer
- A number, between 0 and 20, starting at 0.4.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Lifetime gross profit | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Lifetime revenue | A money figure. |
| Including referred customers | A money figure. |
| Gross profit per year | A money figure. |
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.