Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) calculator

See how much money each customer is worth to your business across the whole time they keep coming back.

What this calculator does

This tells you the dollar value of one typical customer over their full relationship with your business. You give it four things: average order value, how often a customer buys per year, how many years they stay, and your gross margin.

It returns three numbers:

• The total money a typical customer spends with you.
• The actual profit per customer after the cost of what you sold.
• The most you should reasonably spend to get a new customer.

Why this number matters

A lot of small businesses look only at the price of a single sale. That hides the real picture. The same customer who spent $40 today is worth $400 if they keep coming back for two years.

Once you know that number, two things become clearer. First, how much you can spend on advertising or promotions without losing money. Second, how big a deal it is to keep customers around longer.

What to do next

If your customers are worth a lot, two moves usually pay off the most: reach more new people who fit, and stay in touch with the ones you already have. The cheapest way to stay in touch is email, and you can start free with Minutemailer.

If you want to see how returning customers stack up against first-timers, try the repeat customer rate calculator.