Customer acquisition cost = marketing spend ÷ new customers.
Enter realistic numbers from the property, equipment, job record, or company reports. Small input changes can produce large differences, so compare the estimate with actual performance.
Practical answers
What costs should be included in customer acquisition cost?
Include the marketing and sales costs used to generate and convert new customers for the period being measured. Use the same scope each time.
Is a lower acquisition cost always better?
Not by itself. Compare acquisition cost with gross profit, repeat-service potential, agreement revenue, payment risk, and the type of work acquired.
Why separate leads from new customers?
The gap between leads and new customers shows the combined effect of lead quality, call handling, availability, estimating, follow-up, and close rate.