Cost Per Lead
Monthly Marketing Spend ÷ Monthly Leads
$7,500 ÷ 60 leadsCost Per Lead: $125
This tells you approximately how much you spend to generate one lead.
Marketing ROI Calculator for Sewer, Drain & Trenchless Companies
Use this free calculator to estimate how your marketing spend may translate into leads, customers, revenue, ROAS, and marketing ROI.
It is designed for sewer repair companies, drain cleaners, trenchless contractors, pipe lining companies, hydro jetting providers, drainage contractors, plumbing and drain companies, and septic businesses.
Enter your numbers below to get a clearer picture of your marketing economics.
How Each Result Is Calculated
Estimated Customers
Monthly Leads × Lead-to-Customer Conversion Rate
60 leads × 25%Estimated Customers: 15
This estimates how many customers are generated from the lead volume entered.
Customer Acquisition Cost
Monthly Marketing Spend ÷ Estimated Customers
$7,500 ÷ 15 customersCustomer Acquisition Cost: $500
This shows approximately how much you invest to acquire one customer.
Estimated Revenue
Estimated Customers × Average Job Value
15 customers × $3,500Estimated Revenue: $52,500
This is estimated gross revenue attributed to the marketing activity.
ROAS
Estimated Revenue ÷ Monthly Marketing Spend
$52,500 ÷ $7,500Estimated ROAS: 7.0x
For every $1 invested in marketing, the example generates approximately $7 in attributed revenue.
ROAS measures revenue—not profit.
Estimated Gross Profit
Estimated Revenue × Gross Margin
$52,500 × 50%Estimated Gross Profit: $26,250
This provides a stronger foundation for estimating actual marketing ROI.
Estimated Marketing ROI
(Estimated Gross Profit − Marketing Spend) ÷ Marketing Spend × 100
($26,250 − $7,500) ÷ $7,500 × 100Estimated Marketing ROI: 250%
This means the estimated gross profit remaining after marketing cost is equivalent to 250% of the original marketing investment.
Why Cost Per Lead Is Not Enough
A company may say: “Our leads cost $100 each.”
But that does not tell you whether the marketing is profitable. Two businesses can have the exact same CPL and completely different results.
Company A
- Leads
- 100
- Customers
- 10
- Close rate
- 10%
Customer acquisition cost$1,000
If both spend $10,000
Company B
- Leads
- 100
- Customers
- 30
- Close rate
- 30%
Customer acquisition cost$333
The same marketing spend can produce very different business outcomes.
Customer Acquisition Cost Matters More
CAC tells you approximately what it costs to acquire an actual paying customer.
Marketing Spend ÷ Customers
This makes it easier to compare customer acquisition cost against:
- Average job value
- Gross profit
- Customer lifetime value
A high cost per lead may still work if the leads convert well into high-value projects.
Average Job Value Changes Everything
Marketing economics differ significantly between services.
For example:
A basic drain-cleaning job may have a relatively modest value.
A sewer replacement, pipe lining, or pipe bursting project may be worth significantly more.
That means a company may be able to profitably spend more to acquire the second type of customer.
This is why blended company-wide averages can sometimes be misleading.
Calculate ROI by Service
For better insight, run the calculator separately for each major service.
You may discover that some services deserve more marketing investment than others.
For example: Drain Cleaning
Enter:
- Drain-cleaning marketing spend
- Drain-cleaning leads
- Drain-cleaning close rate
- Average drain-cleaning job value
Then repeat for:
- Hydro Jetting
- Sewer Repair
- Sewer Replacement
- Pipe Lining
- Pipe Bursting
Calculate ROI by Marketing Channel
You can also use the calculator separately for different acquisition channels.
SEO
Enter only:
- SEO investment
- SEO-generated leads
- Organic close rate
- Organic customer value
Google Ads
Enter:
- Ad spend + management cost
- Paid leads
- Paid close rate
- Paid customer value
Google Business Profile
If you can accurately attribute leads, estimate the investment involved in:
- Local SEO
- GBP management
- Review management
Then compare performance.
Calculate ROI by Location
Multi-location companies can use the calculator to compare markets.
Location B produces fewer leads but may generate significantly more revenue.
This is why lead volume alone can be misleading.
Location A
- Spend
- $5,000
- Leads
- 50
- Close rate
- 30%
- Average job
- $3,000
Location B
- Spend
- $5,000
- Leads
- 35
- Close rate
- 40%
- Average job
- $6,000
Use Qualified Leads When Possible
If a large portion of your inquiries are:
- Spam
- Job seekers
- Outside your service area
- Services you do not offer
consider using qualified leads rather than total inquiries in your calculations.
That gives you a more useful view of acquisition efficiency.
Gross Margin Makes ROI More Useful
ROAS can look impressive while profitability remains weak.
Suppose:
- Marketing spend
- $10,000
- Revenue
- $50,000
- ROAS
- 5x
That sounds strong. But if gross margin is only 25%:
- Gross profit
- $12,500
- After subtracting marketing spend
- $2,500
The economics look very different.
That is why the optional gross-margin field is important.
Revenue Is Not Profit
Marketing dashboards frequently stop at:
“We generated $100,000 in revenue.”
But contractors still have costs such as:
- Labor
- Materials
- Equipment
- Subcontractors
- Fuel
- Warranty work
A strong marketing system should ultimately support profitable growth.
What Is a Good Marketing ROI?
There is no universal number.
The appropriate return depends on:
- Gross margin
- Growth goals
- Cash flow
- Service type
- Customer lifetime value
- Operational capacity
- Business maturity
A company aggressively entering a new market may temporarily accept different economics from a mature company focused on profitability.
Use your own financial requirements as the benchmark.
Do Not Ignore Customer Lifetime Value
Some customers may generate additional value after the initial job.
Examples include:
- Repeat drain cleaning
- Preventive hydro jetting
- Commercial maintenance
- Septic pumping
- Additional properties
- Referrals
If a customer generates repeat business, their true value may be significantly higher than the initial invoice.
Conversion Rate Can Be More Powerful Than More Ad Spend
Consider:
- Marketing spend
- $10,000
- Leads
- 100
- Average job
- $2,000
10% Close Rate
- Customers
- 10
- Revenue
- $20,000
20% Close Rate
- Customers
- 20
- Revenue
- $40,000
Marketing spend did not change.The conversion process did.
Before increasing marketing spend, look at:
- Response time
- Call handling
- Appointment scheduling
- Estimate follow-up
- Reviews
- Sales process
Better Marketing Tracking Produces Better ROI Calculations
Your calculator is only as accurate as the inputs.
Improve your tracking using:
- Google Analytics 4
- Google Search Console
- Google Tag Manager
- Call tracking
- Form tracking
- Google Ads conversion tracking
- CRM
- GoHighLevel
Ideally, each lead should have:
- Source
- Service
- Location
- Outcome
- Revenue
How GoHighLevel Can Help
We use GoHighLevel (GHL) where appropriate to help businesses connect marketing activity to the sales pipeline.
A lead may move through:
- New Lead
- Contacted
- Inspection Scheduled
- Estimate Sent
- Follow-Up
- Won / Lost
This makes it easier to calculate real close rates instead of guessing.
Five Numbers Every Contractor Should Know
If you only track five marketing numbers, start with these. They can tell you a tremendous amount about your marketing economics.
Marketing Spend
How much are you investing?
Qualified Leads
How many legitimate opportunities are you generating?
Close Rate
What percentage become customers?
Average Job Value
How much revenue does an average customer generate?
Gross Margin
How much revenue remains before overhead and other costs?
Example Campaigns
Illustrative examples—not industry benchmarks. Use your own numbers.
Example: Drain Cleaning Campaign
- Monthly marketing spend
- $5,000
- Leads
- 80
- Close rate
- 35%
- Average job
- $450
- Estimated customers
- 28
- Estimated revenue
- $12,600
- ROAS
- 2.52x
Whether this is profitable depends heavily on gross margin and operating costs.
Example: Sewer Replacement Campaign
- Monthly marketing spend
- $7,500
- Leads
- 25
- Close rate
- 20%
- Average project
- $12,000
- Estimated customers
- 5
- Estimated revenue
- $60,000
- ROAS
- 8x
The lead volume is much lower. The economic outcome is much larger.
This illustrates why you should not optimize only for the number of leads.
Example: Pipe Lining Campaign
- Monthly marketing spend
- $10,000
- Leads
- 30
- Close rate
- 20%
- Average job
- $15,000
- Estimated customers
- 6
- Estimated revenue
- $90,000
- Estimated ROAS
- 9x
Again, this is an illustrative example—not an industry benchmark.
Use your own numbers.
What the Calculator Does Not Include
This calculator is intentionally simple.
Use it as a planning tool, not as a replacement for full financial analysis.
It does not automatically account for:
- Sales salaries
- Office staff
- Overhead
- Financing costs
- Taxes
- Equipment depreciation
- Customer lifetime value
- Refunds
- Cancellations
- Warranty work
- Seasonality
How to Improve Your Marketing ROI
Improve Lead Quality
Better:
- Keywords
- Location targeting
- Service pages
- Ad messaging
can reduce wasted inquiries.
Improve Conversion Rate
Strengthen:
- Response time
- Reviews
- Calls
- Sales process
- Estimate follow-up
Increase Average Job Value
Focus marketing on the services you want to grow.
Improve Customer Retention
Use:
- Maintenance reminders
- Review requests
- Reactivation
- CRM
Reduce Waste
Identify channels that generate clicks but few qualified customers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Calculate My Marketing ROIWhat is ROAS?
ROAS compares attributed revenue with marketing or advertising spend.
What is marketing ROI?
Marketing ROI compares profit generated through marketing against the cost of that marketing.
What is cost per lead?
Cost per lead is total marketing spend divided by leads generated.
What is customer acquisition cost?
CAC is total marketing spend divided by new customers acquired.
Should I use revenue or gross profit?
Revenue is useful for ROAS. Gross profit provides a more useful foundation for estimating profitability and marketing ROI.
What if I do not know my gross margin?
You can still calculate CPL, CAC, estimated revenue, and ROAS. Ask your accountant or financial team for margin data if you want a more meaningful ROI estimate.
Should I calculate all marketing together?
You can, but separating performance by service, channel, and location can reveal much more useful information.
Is the calculator exact?
No. The output is an estimate based entirely on the numbers entered. Actual results can differ.
Know Your Numbers Before You Spend More
More marketing spend is not always the answer.
Sometimes the bigger opportunity is:
- Better lead quality
- Higher close rates
- Faster response
- Better estimate follow-up
- Stronger tracking
- More profitable service targeting
Use the calculator to understand your current economics.
Then find out where your marketing system itself may be limiting performance.