Last week the BNI Up and Coming education moment was a worksheet: what a customer is worth to you, what one costs you to get, and the ratio between them. If you missed it, the worksheet is here and it takes about five minutes.
A ratio on its own is trivia. This week it turns into something you can actually act on: a dollar figure you can hold every marketing decision up against.
Turn the ratio into a ceiling
Take line E from last week — net profit per customer. That is the absolute most you could ever spend to land one and still break even. Spend exactly that, and you did all the work for nothing.
So the working number is lower. Divide profit per customer by three and you get your target CAC: the most you should pay to land one customer. If a customer nets you $900, your target is $300. Under it, you’re building something. Over it, you’re buying customers at a loss and hoping volume fixes it.
Why three? Because two thirds of that profit has to cover everything acquisition doesn’t — your time, the overhead, the jobs that go sideways, and the quarter where nothing comes in. It’s the same 3:1 from last week, read backwards. It’s a rule of thumb, not arithmetic handed down from on high. But it’s a much better rule of thumb than “advertising feels expensive.”
Three places customers come from
Every customer you’ve ever had arrived through one of three doors, and the three behave completely differently on cost:
Paid — ads, mailers, sponsorships. The cost is known up front, which is why it feels safe. It isn’t cheap, it’s just legible. The catch is that results stop the day the spending stops, and it’s usually the highest CAC of the three.
Organic — your website, your reviews, the stuff you write, showing up in search. The cost is time and setup rather than a monthly invoice. It builds slowly and then keeps working without being fed. CAC starts embarrassing and falls for years.
Referral — BNI, word of mouth, partners who send you work. The cost is dues and hours. Highest close rate of the three by a wide margin, because someone else already vouched for you. Usually the lowest CAC — if the referrals actually convert.
Most owners are heavy in one door and blind in the other two. That’s fine. The point of measuring is to find out which one, not to be in all three.
Put BNI on the sheet
Here’s the part nobody enjoys. BNI is a marketing channel and it has a CAC like any other, so work it out honestly.
Dues and fees for the year, plus your meeting time priced at what an hour of your time is actually worth — the weekly meeting, the one-to-ones, the drive. Call it a couple of hours a week across 48 weeks. Divide the total by the referrals that closed in the last twelve months. Not referrals passed. Closed.
That number is your BNI CAC, and now you’ve got something to compare it to.
If it’s under your target, this channel is working and it deserves more of your attention, not less. If it’s over, resist the obvious conclusion. The fix is almost never to spend more or quit — it’s conversion. You’re getting referrals and not closing them, or you’re getting the wrong referrals because the room doesn’t really understand what you do. Both of those are fixable in a way that “buy more leads” isn’t.
And that logic applies to every channel, not just this one. Over target means fix the conversion. Under target means feed it.
This week’s worksheet
Bring last week’s sheet, or just line E and your ratio. Same deal as before — print it, fill it in, your numbers stay with you.
One page, letter size. Or just hit Ctrl+P.
// worksheet · week 2 of 3
What your number means
Bring last week’s sheet or just the two numbers below. Today the ratio becomes a spending limit.
Your ceiling
| Net profit per customerLine E from last week |
$
|
| Your ratioLast week’s result |
: 1
|
| Target CAC — the most you should spend to land one customerE ÷ 3. Spending up to E breaks even; E ÷ 3 leaves room to grow. |
$
|
Where customers come from, and what each one costs
| PaidAds, mailers, sponsorships. Cost is known up front. Results stop the day spending stops. Usually the highest CAC of the three. | OrganicWebsite, reviews, content, social. Cost is time and setup. Results build slowly and keep working. CAC starts high and falls over years. | ReferralBNI, word of mouth, partners. Cost is dues and hours. Highest close rate. Usually the lowest CAC — if the referrals actually convert. |
Put BNI on the sheet
| Annual dues and feesMembership, chapter, events |
$
|
| Your meeting time, pricedWeekly hours × 48 × what an hour of your time is worth |
$
|
| Referrals that became customers, last 12 monthsClosed, not passed |
#
|
| Your BNI CAC(dues + time) ÷ closed referrals |
$
|
Under your target: this channel is working — give it more. Over your target: the fix is conversion, not more spend. That applies to every channel, not just this one.
Next week: members show which channels they’re actually in and what it’s costing them.
Worksheet by Bondbyte Inc. · bondbyte.com · 509.949.2162
What to bring next week
Week three is the one where it gets uncomfortable in a useful way: members put up which channels they’re actually in and what each one is costing them. Nobody has to share revenue. Channels and cost per customer only.
If your organic number is the one that looks bad — and for most local businesses it is, because the website was built once and never touched again — give me a call. That’s the channel I work in, and it’s usually the cheapest lever nobody’s pulling. No forms, no funnels. Just a conversation.