Plumbing
Plumbing Customer Lifetime Value Calculator
Work out what a customer returns across the whole relationship rather than on the first job.
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 AuditWhat moves the number
- Retention, which multiplies everything else.
- Call frequency, which for plumbing is irregular but persistent.
- The larger jobs that come to whoever the customer already trusts.
Where this one goes wrong
Modelling lifetime value and then acquiring customers who never return. The figure is only real if retention matches the assumption, and most businesses assume better than they achieve.
Questions
About this calculator
What drives plumbing lifetime value?
Being the company the customer calls without searching. That is built on the first visit, and it determines whether you get the bathroom job three years later.
How long do customers stay?
Measure your own rather than assuming. Repeat rate across two or three years tells you more about the business than any single job metric.
Should referrals be counted?
They are real but hard to attribute. Worth tracking separately rather than folding into the number and making it less reliable.
The formula
lifetime value = average job x jobs per year x years x gross margin
Put this calculator on your site
Free to embed. Paste this where you want it to appear. It stays up to date automatically because it loads from BDEVY.
Please keep the attribution line. It is the only thing we ask in return.
How to use this calculator
- Average job value ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $480.
- 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 50%.
- 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 | $480 |
| Jobs per customer per year | 1.4 |
| Years they stay | 6 |
| Gross margin | 50% |
| Customers they refer | 0.4 |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Lifetime gross profit main result | $2,016 |
| Lifetime revenue | $4,032 |
| Including referred customers | $2,822 |
| Gross profit per year | $336 |
One customer is worth $2,016 of gross profit over 6 years, or $2,822 once the people they refer are counted. That is what you can afford to spend winning one.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only average job value, this is what happens to lifetime gross profit. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Average job value ($) | Lifetime gross profit |
|---|---|
| $240 | $1,008 |
| $360 | $1,512 |
| $480 example above | $2,016 |
| $720 | $3,024 |
| $960 | $4,032 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Average job value ($)
- A money amount, starting at $480.
- 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 50%.
- 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. |
Before you rely on this number
Pipe sizing, flow and pressure figures depend on the actual fittings, the run, the material and local code. Code requirements vary by jurisdiction and override any general calculation, so check what applies where the work is happening.
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.