Hourly and day rate calculator
The day and hourly rate you need to charge to take home what you want, after tax and costs.
Open →Free tool
What is one customer really worth?
A new customer is rarely worth one job. They come back, and they tell their friends. Work out what a customer is worth over the years, so you know what it is sensible to spend to win one.
Free tool
Your customer, in pounds
How it works
How the value is worked out
First-year spend
Average spend per job or order × how many times a year a customer buys from you.
Lifetime spend
First-year spend × the number of years a typical customer stays. Use your own records if you have them; a cautious guess if not.
Referrals
Customers each one refers × one customer’s first-year spend. We deliberately value a referral at one year, not a whole lifetime, to keep the figure cautious.
Lifetime profit
Lifetime spend plus referrals, × your margin. Profit is what you can spend on winning customers, so it is the figure that matters.
Worth spending to win one
A third of lifetime profit - a common rule of thumb that leaves room for overheads and for customers who do not stay. Adjust to suit your business.
Why it matters for your website: if one customer is worth hundreds of pounds in profit, a website only has to win a handful of customers a year to pay for itself. The calculator shows that number against our Monthly plan.
Questions
Common questions
What is customer lifetime value?
Customer lifetime value is the total a customer spends with your business over the whole relationship, not just their first purchase. For most local businesses it is several times the first job, because good customers come back and recommend you to others.
How do I calculate customer lifetime value?
Multiply average spend per purchase by purchases a year, then by the number of years a typical customer stays. Multiply that by your profit margin to get lifetime profit. Add the value of referrals if customers regularly send friends and neighbours your way.
How much should I spend to get a new customer?
A common rule of thumb is up to a third of a customer’s lifetime profit, which leaves room for overheads and for customers who do not come back. If your lifetime profit is small, keep your cost of winning customers low; if it is large, you can afford to invest more.
What if most of my customers only buy once?
Then set purchases a year to 1 and years to 1, and lean on referrals. Businesses with one-off jobs, such as a new kitchen or a wedding, often win most new work through recommendations, so the referral figure matters more than repeat spending.
How can I increase customer lifetime value?
Make it easy to come back and to recommend you: remind customers when a service is due, keep your contact details and booking options clear on your website, and ask happy customers to review and refer you. Small increases in repeat visits compound over the years.
Win customers worth keeping.
£299 setup, then £99 a month. Live in 3 working days. Tell us what your business does - we reply the same working day.