We’re getting plenty of first-time customers. How do we get more of them to come back?

Additional info

1. 1.What does it cost you to acquire one new customer (CAC)?

   How to identify it: Add up what you spent on sales and marketing during a period, then divide it by the number of new customers you gained.

   Formula: Sales & Marketing Spend ÷ New Customers = CAC

   Example: $2,000 spent ÷ 20 new customers = $100 CAC

2. 2.What is one customer worth over their lifetime (LTV)?

   How to identify it: Estimate how much an average customer spends each time, how often they buy, and how long they remain a customer.

   Formula: Average Purchase × Purchases Per Year × Years as Customer = LTV

   Example: $100 × 4 purchases × 3 years = $1,200 LTV

3. 3.What is your LTV-to-CAC ratio?

   How to identify it: Take the LTV you calculated above and compare it with what it costs to acquire that customer.

   Formula: LTV ÷ CAC

   Example: $1,200 LTV ÷ $100 CAC = 12:1

   This means you're generating roughly $12 in customer lifetime value for every $1 spent acquiring them.

4. 4.Where do most of your new customers come from?

   How to identify it: Look at your new customers from the last 30–90 days and identify how each originally found you. Group them into sources like Google, Instagram, Facebook, referrals, advertising, events, walk-ins, Rockland Connected, etc.

   Then ask: Which source produced the most actual customers, not just views or clicks?

5. 5.Could you handle twice as many customers tomorrow and still operate smoothly?

   How to identify it: Imagine every part of your current workload doubling. Walk through: Leads → Sales → Scheduling → Staffing → Inventory → Delivery → Customer Service → Billing. Ask at each stage: “Could this handle 2× today's volume without quality dropping?”

   The first place you answer no is probably a capacity constraint.

6. 6.If you had 10× more customers tomorrow, what would break first?

   How to identify it: This is an extreme stress test. Don't ask whether you could grow 10×. Pretend it already happened. Would you run out of employees? Appointments? Inventory? Equipment? Cash? Physical space? Management capacity?

   Whatever fails first reveals something the business currently depends on to scale.

7. 7.How do most people first discover your business?

   How to identify it: Map the very top of your funnel. Ask your customers: “How did you first hear about us?” Then track the answers: Google → Social → Referral → Advertising → Events → Walk-in → Other.

   Don't confuse where someone purchased with where they discovered you.

8. 8.Out of 10 people who show interest, how many become customers?

   How to identify it: Define what counts as an actual lead first, such as a phone call, form submission, DM, consultation, quote request, or appointment.

   Formula: Customers ÷ Qualified Leads × 100 = Conversion Rate

   Example: 100 people inquire → 25 purchase = 25% conversion rate

   Or simply: about 2.5 out of every 10 interested people become customers.

9. 9.Where do you lose the most potential customers?

   How to identify it: Draw your funnel: Discovery → Interest → Inquiry → Quote/Booking → Purchase → Repeat Customer. Put an approximate number underneath each step.

   Example: 1,000 discover you → 200 show interest → 80 inquire → 50 get quotes → 20 buy → 8 return

   Now look for the largest meaningful drop-off. That's where you investigate why people are leaving.

10. 10.What do you currently do manually that could become a system?

    How to identify it: Write down the tasks you repeat every week. Look especially for things like: Scheduling → Follow-ups → Quotes → Emails → Invoices → Reminders → Data entry → Customer onboarding.

    Then ask: “Does this actually require my judgment, or am I just repeating the same steps?” If the steps are predictable and repeatable, it's a strong candidate for a process, delegation, software, or automation.