ROI Calculator Spreadsheet

- Pull your last 12 months of closed-won deals

• Calculate the average contract value (for subscription businesses, use annual contract value)
• Exclude outlier deals that are not repeatable
• If you sell multiple products, use the average for the product line you will promote through outbound

**Benchmark ranges:**

• SMB SaaS: $5,000 - $25,000 ACV
• Mid-Market SaaS: $25,000 - $100,000 ACV
• Enterprise SaaS: $100,000+ ACV
• Professional Services: Varies widely by engagement type

- Pull your historical data on meetings-to-close conversion

• Use data from a similar lead source (outbound) if possible, as close rates vary by source
• If you do not have outbound-specific data, use your overall close rate as a starting point and apply a 10-20% discount since outbound leads typically close at a slightly lower rate than inbound

**Benchmark ranges:**

• Outbound-sourced deals: 10-20% close rate
• Inbound-sourced deals: 15-30% close rate
• Referral-sourced deals: 25-40% close rate

- Include all open opportunities in your CRM

• Use weighted pipeline if available (opportunity value multiplied by probability)
• This field helps you understand what percentage of your total pipeline outbound could represent

- Start with a realistic number based on your sending infrastructure

• Factor in the number of sending domains and mailboxes you have
• A typical setup with 3 domains and 2 mailboxes each can support approximately 6,000-9,000 emails per month at safe sending limits

**Sending capacity formula:**

• Domains x Mailboxes per domain x Daily limit per mailbox x 20 business days = Monthly capacity
• Example: 3 domains x 2 mailboxes x 50 emails/day x 20 days = 6,000 emails/month

- **Open rate assumption**: 35-45% of cold emails are opened

• Reply rate assumption: 3-8% of opened emails receive a reply
• Meeting conversion assumption: 30-50% of positive replies convert to meetings
• Net meeting rate: Approximately 0.5-2% of total sends result in a meeting

- Projected meetings x Average deal size = Raw pipeline value

• This represents the total potential value if every meeting became a deal
• The weighted version applies your close rate to show expected pipeline

- Projected meetings x Close rate x Average deal size = Expected revenue

• This is a monthly figure that compounds over time as pipeline matures
• Most outbound pipeline takes 3-6 months to close, so factor in the time lag

- **Revenue**: Expected closed revenue from outbound

• Cost: Include sending tools, data subscriptions, team salaries (or agency fees), and infrastructure costs
• ROI formula: (Revenue - Cost) / Cost x 100
• Payback period: Cost / Monthly Revenue = Months to recoup investment

- Open rate: 30%

• Reply rate: 3%
• Positive reply rate: 40% of replies
• Meeting book rate: 35% of positive replies
• Net meeting rate: ~0.4% of total sends

- Open rate: 40%

• Reply rate: 5%
• Positive reply rate: 50% of replies
• Meeting book rate: 45% of positive replies
• Net meeting rate: ~1.1% of total sends

- Open rate: 50%

• Reply rate: 8%
• Positive reply rate: 55% of replies
• Meeting book rate: 55% of positive replies
• Net meeting rate: ~2.4% of total sends

**If the ROI is strong across all scenarios:**

• You have a clear case for investing in outbound
• Start with the moderate scenario as your planning target
• Build infrastructure to support the projected volume

**If the ROI is strong only in the aggressive scenario:**

• Outbound can work, but execution needs to be excellent
• Invest in messaging and targeting before scaling volume
• Start with a smaller test and validate assumptions before going all-in

**If the ROI is weak across all scenarios:**

• Your deal size may be too small to justify outbound economics
• Consider whether you can increase deal size through packaging or upselling
• Explore lower-cost outbound approaches (more automation, less personalization)
• Outbound may not be the right channel for your business at this stage

**Key variables to improve ROI:**

• Increase deal size: Upsell, cross-sell, or target larger companies
• Improve close rate: Better qualification, stronger sales process, better fit prospects
• Increase reply rate: Better targeting, messaging, personalization, and deliverability
• Reduce costs: Optimize tools, improve efficiency, automate where possible

- Use real data from your business, not industry averages, for the most accurate projections

• Model all three scenarios to understand the range of possible outcomes
• Focus on the variables you can control: targeting, messaging, deliverability, and sales process
• Revisit the calculator quarterly as your metrics improve
• Remember that outbound ROI compounds over time as your process matures