Solar & battery
Solar Customer Acquisition Cost Calculator
Works what a solar customer costs, where the cost per install exceeds the cost per sale.
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 cost, including design and proposal work and the site surveys that did not convert, divided by installations completed. Dividing by installations rather than by contracts is the correction that matters, since a share of contracts never install and their acquisition cost still has to be carried.
What moves the number
- Marketing spend and sales compensation.
- Design, proposal and survey cost per opportunity.
- Close rate and cancellation rate.
- Whether leads are self-generated or purchased.
Where this one goes wrong
Acquisition cost per installed system is the real figure and it is higher than cost per sale by the whole cancellation rate, which in solar is substantial, so an installer measuring cost per contract understates what customers cost. Design and survey work on opportunities that do not proceed is the other overlooked element, since producing a proposal in solar takes real engineering time rather than a price list lookup.
Before you quote
- Divide by installations completed, not contracts signed.
- Include design and survey cost on opportunities that did not proceed.
- Compare acquisition cost against gross profit per install.
Questions
About this calculator
Why is cost per install higher than cost per sale?
Because a share of signed contracts never install, and their acquisition cost still has to be carried by the ones that do. Measuring cost per contract understates what a customer actually costs by the whole cancellation rate.
What is often left out?
Design, proposal and site survey work on opportunities that did not proceed. Producing a solar proposal takes real engineering time rather than a price list lookup, and that time is an acquisition cost whether or not the job sells.
What should acquisition cost be compared against?
Gross profit per installed system. If acquisition consumes most of the gross profit, the business is busy rather than profitable, and that comparison is the one that tells you which you have.
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 $21,500.
- Gross margin (%). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 30%.
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 | $21,500 |
| Gross margin | 30% |
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 | $6,450 |
| Recovered on the first job | 3,524% |
Each customer costs $183.04 to win, and the first job returns $6,450 of gross profit, 3,524% of the acquisition cost. The rest has to come from repeat work.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only marketing spend per month, this is what happens to cost to win one customer. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Marketing spend per month ($) | 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 $21,500.
- Gross margin (%)
- A percentage, between 0 and 95, starting at 30%.
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. |
A design still needs a site visit
Output and sizing figures use the assumptions you enter, not measured irradiance, shading or roof orientation at your address. Real production depends on all three, plus inverter behaviour and local interconnection rules.
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.