CLTV formula: How to calculate customer lifetime value

Did you know that a mere 5% increase in customer retention can boost profits by a whopping 25% or more? That's the power of understanding and maximizing customer lifetime value.

In this article, we'll break down the CLTV formula. We’ll also explore how SaaS businesses can calculate and leverage this metric for sustainable growth.

You'll also learn:

• Why CLTV is critical for SaaS success
• Step-by-step instructions to calculate CLTV
• Real-world examples and case studies
• Proven strategies to increase CLTV
• How to use CLTV for strategic decision-making

Let’s get started by defining CLTV. 

What is customer lifetime value (CLTV)?

Customer lifetime value (CLTV) — sometimes called just LTV — is a vital metric for any business. It tells you the total revenue you can expect a single customer to bring in throughout your entire relationship with them. 

Think of it like this: CLTV measures the total value of a customer's journey with your company.

To understand CLTV, it's important to remember that it's not just about a single purchase. Instead, CLTV takes into account all the purchases a customer makes over time. 

It also factors in how long you expect that customer to stick around. The longer they remain a loyal customer, the higher their CLTV will be.

CLTV vs. other SaaS metrics

CLTV is a powerful metric, but it's not the only one you should be paying attention to. Let's see how it compares to some other important SaaS metrics:

• ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue): This measures the total recurring revenue your business generates each year. It's a good indicator of your overall revenue growth, but it doesn't tell the whole story. 
  
  Why? Because ARR doesn't factor in how long customers stay with you. You could have a high ARR but still be losing customers quickly, which isn't good for long-term success.  

• MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue): MRR is similar to ARR, but it focuses on your monthly revenue. This is helpful for keeping an eye on short-term trends, but it doesn't give you the big-picture view that CLTV does. 
  
  Think of MRR as a snapshot, while CLTV is more like a full-length movie.  

• Net Revenue Retention (NRR): This metric tracks how much revenue you keep from your existing customers, including upsells and renewals. NRR is a valuable measure of customer satisfaction and loyalty. 
  
  A high NRR is a good sign, but it's still important to look at CLTV to understand the overall value of your customers over their entire lifetime.  

CLTV offers a more complete view of customer value than these other metrics. It goes beyond just looking at revenue and considers the entire customer lifecycle. By focusing on CLTV, you can make better decisions about how to acquire, retain, and grow your customer base.

For many reasons, CLTV is important for SaaS businesses to track, so let’s look into it further. 

Why CLTV is critical for SaaS businesses

CLTV is more than just a number; it's a guiding light for SaaS businesses. Here's why:

• Understand customer profitability: CLTV helps you identify your most valuable customer segments — the ones that contribute the most revenue over time. This way, you can focus your efforts on acquiring and retaining these high-value customers.
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• Improve marketing ROI: By understanding which customer segments have the highest CLTV, you can fine-tune your marketing campaigns. Doing so leads to a better return on your marketing investment.
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• Optimize pricing strategies: CLTV can help you find the sweet spot for your pricing. You can test different pricing tiers and see how they impact customer lifetime value. This approach ensures you're maximizing revenue without driving customers away.
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• Balance CAC and CLTV: Acquiring new customers can be expensive. CLTV helps you keep customer acquisition costs (CAC) in check. It's crucial to confirm that your CLTV is higher than your CAC to achieve sustainable growth.
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• Drive retention efforts: A high churn rate can be a SaaS killer. CLTV highlights the importance of keeping your customers happy and engaged. When you reduce churn, you increase customer lifetime value and boost your bottom line.
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• Make informed business decisions: CLTV provides valuable data that can guide critical business decisions. It can help you determine where to invest resources, which products to develop, and how to improve your customer experience.
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• Forecast future revenue: CLTV helps you predict future revenue streams with more accuracy. This advantage is vital for planning and making strategic decisions about the future of your business.
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• Attract investors: A strong CLTV shows the long-term viability of your business. This is a key metric that investors look at when evaluating SaaS companies.

By understanding and using the CLTV formula to calculate customer lifetime value, SaaS businesses can make decisions that lead to sustainable growth and profits. Next, we’ll explain how to calculate CLTV. 

The formula for calculating CLTV

Calculating CLTV might seem a bit intimidating, but it doesn't have to be. Let's break down the CLTV formula and make it easy to understand.

The standard CLTV formula

The most common CLTV formula is:

CLTV = ARPU × Customer Lifetime

Simple, right? But to really grasp it, we need to define those variables:

• ARPU (Average Revenue Per User): This is the average amount of revenue you generate from each customer. You can calculate ARPU monthly or annually, depending on your preference.
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• Customer Lifetime: This is how long, on average, a customer stays with your business. It's usually measured in months or years. (To learn how to calculate average customer lifespan, check out the next section). 

CLTV formula for SaaS companies

For SaaS businesses, there's a slightly more nuanced CLTV formula:

CLTV = (ARPU / Customer Churn Rate) - Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

Let's explore the variables in this CLTV formula:

• ARPU: Just like in the standard formula, this represents the average revenue generated per customer.
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• Customer Churn Rate: This is the percentage of customers you lose over a specific period (e.g., monthly or annually). A lower churn rate means you're keeping more customers, which is great for CLTV. 
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• CAC: This is the average cost of acquiring a new customer. It includes things like marketing and sales expenses.

Why two formulas?

You might be wondering why there are two different CLTV formulas. The standard formula is a good starting point. 

However, the SaaS formula provides a more accurate picture for subscription-based businesses. It factors in churn rate and customer acquisition cost, which are essential considerations for SaaS companies.

Steps to calculate CLTV for SaaS companies

Here's a step-by-step guide to help you calculate CLTV:

Step 1: Determine ARPU

First things first, you need to figure out your ARPU. This is the average amount of revenue you generate from each customer on a monthly or annual basis. To calculate ARPU, simply divide your total revenue for a given period by the number of users during that same period.

Pro tip: Segment your customers into different groups (e.g., basic plan users, premium plan users) to get more granular insights into ARPU. Doing so can help you pinpoint which customer segments are the most valuable.

Step 2: Calculate the customer lifetime

Now, let's determine how long you can expect those customers to stick around. We can use the following formula to calculate customer lifetime:

Customer Lifetime = 1 / Churn Rate

Remember: Your churn rate is the percentage of customers you lose over a specific period. For example, if you lose 5% of your customers each month, your churn rate is 5%.

Step 3: Incorporate CAC

Don't forget about CAC. To calculate CAC, divide your total marketing and sales expenses by the number of new customers acquired during a specific period.  

Why is CAC important for the CLTV formula? 

Because it gives you a more accurate view of customer profitability. By deducting CAC from your revenue-driven CLTV, you get a clearer picture of your net profitability.

Step 4: Include expansion revenue

SaaS businesses often have chances to increase revenue from existing customers through upsells, cross-sells, and upgrades. Make sure to factor in this expansion revenue when calculating CLTV.

How? Track the extra revenue generated from existing customers over time and include it in your CLTV calculations. This addition will give you a more complete picture of your customer's long-term value.

Step 5: Adjust for discount rates (optional)

For SaaS companies with longer customer lifetimes (think years, not months), it's a good idea to adjust for discount rates. This means discounting future revenue to account for its reduced present value.

Why? Because a dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow. Discounting future revenue provides a more accurate view of CLTV in today's terms.

Real-world example scenario: Calculating CLTV for a SaaS business

Let's imagine a SaaS company called "CloudBoost," which offers a project management tool. Here's how they can calculate their CLTV:

1. Gather the data

CloudBoost gathers the following information:

• ARPU: $100 per month
• Customer Churn Rate: 5% per month
• CAC: $500 per customer

2. Apply the CLTV formula

Now, let's plug those numbers into the CLTV formula for SaaS companies:

CLTV = (ARPU / Customer Churn Rate) - CAC

CLTV = ($100 / 0.05) - $500

CLTV = $2,000 - $500

CLTV = $1,500

So, CloudBoost's CLTV is $1,500. This means they can expect an average customer to generate $1,500 in revenue over their entire relationship with the company.

3. The impact of lowering churn

Let's see what happens if CloudBoost reduces its churn rate to 2% per month:

CLTV = ($100 / 0.02) - $500

CLTV = $5,000 - $500

CLTV = $4,500

By lowering its churn rate, CloudBoost has increased its CLTV to $4,500. This highlights the dramatic impact that customer retention can have on a SaaS business's bottom line.

Key takeaways

• The CLTV formula helps SaaS companies understand the long-term value of their users.  
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• Reducing churn is a powerful way to increase CLTV and boost profitability.  
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• By focusing on user retention, SaaS companies can create a more sustainable business.

Challenges in calculating CLTV for SaaS

While the CLTV formula offers valuable insights, calculating it accurately can be tricky. Here are some challenges to keep in mind:

• Accurate churn prediction: In the fast-paced SaaS industry, predicting churn rates with bullseye accuracy is tough. Customer behavior can change quickly, making it difficult to forecast how long they'll stay with your service.
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• Factoring in expansion revenue: Many SaaS companies rely on upselling and cross-selling to increase revenue from current customers. However, predicting the impact of these expansion strategies on CLTV can be tough.
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• Accounting for variable customer behaviors: Not all customers are the same. They have different usage patterns, contract lengths, and upgrade potential. These variations can make it challenging to calculate an accurate average CLTV.
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• Adjusting for pricing changes: If you plan to change your pricing in the future, you'll need to incorporate those changes into your CLTV calculations. Doing so can add another layer of intricacy to the process.
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• Data limitations: Accurate CLTV calculations rely on having good data. If your data is incomplete or inaccurate, your CLTV calculations will be too.
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• The human factor: CLTV can't predict unexpected events. For example, a sudden shift in the market or a major competitor entering the scene. These external factors can impact customer behavior and make CLTV predictions less reliable.

How to increase CLTV for SaaS businesses

Now that you understand the importance of CLTV, let's explore some proven strategies to boost it for your SaaS business:

Reduce churn

Reducing churn is like plugging a leaky bucket. When you keep more customers, you naturally increase their lifetime value. 

Invest in customer success initiatives to confirm your customers achieve their desired outcomes with your solution. Proactive support and health score monitoring can help spot and mitigate risks before they lead to churn.

Increase ARPU

Increasing ARPU is another effective way to boost CLTV. Consider implementing value-based pricing, where customers who gain more value from your product pay more. 

You can also introduce add-ons, premium features, and upgrade options. These additions can encourage customers to spend more and unlock greater value from your service.

Optimize CAC

Acquiring new customers is essential, but it's important to do it efficiently. Focus your acquisition efforts on high-value customer segments who are more likely to stay with you for the long haul. 

Also, refine your onboarding process to accelerate time-to-value and reduce early churn. When customers experience the benefits of your product quickly, they're more likely to stick around.

Keep retention high

Retention goes beyond simply preventing churn. It's about actively engaging your customers and providing ongoing value. 

Regularly release feature updates, create educational content, and foster a sense of community. Consider implementing loyalty programs and offering incentives to reward your long-term customers. It’s a great way to keep them coming back for more.

How to use CLTV for strategic growth

CLTV is a strategic compass that can guide your SaaS business toward sustainable growth. Here's how:

• CLTV in pricing strategies: Your pricing model plays a crucial role in CLTV. Use CLTV data to refine your pricing tiers and confirm you're maximizing profitability. 
  
  Experiment with different pricing structures and analyze how they impact customer lifetime value. This data-driven approach can help you find the pricing sweet spot that attracts and retains high-value customers.

• CLTV and product development: What features make your high-CLTV customers tick? Determine the features that resonate most with your most valuable customers and prioritize them in your product development roadmap.
  
  By focusing on the needs of your highest-value customers, you can increase their satisfaction and encourage them to stay with you longer.

• CLTV for sales and marketing alignment: CLTV can help bridge the gap between sales and marketing. By understanding which customer segments generate the highest CLTV, you can focus your acquisition efforts on those groups. 
  
  You want to make sure that your marketing investments are bringing in the most valuable customers. If you do so, this can lead to a higher ROI and a more efficient sales process.

Orb helps SaaS companies keep CLTV high with accurate billing

We've explored the ins and outs of the CLTV formula. But let's face it — calculating CLTV and making data-driven decisions is much easier when you have the right tools in place. 

That's where Orb comes in.

Orb is a done-for-you billing platform with greater extensibility. It empowers SaaS businesses to improve their CLTV and drive long-term growth. By providing accurate billing, flexible pricing structures that grow with your needs, and in-depth reporting, Orb helps you understand and maximize the value of every customer.

Here's how a partnership with Orb can help you keep CLTV high:

• Reduce churn with transparent billing: Orb guarantees accurate and transparent invoices. This advantage helps reduce billing disputes and increase customer satisfaction. Remember, happy customers are less likely to churn.
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• Increase ARPU with adaptable pricing: Orb's flexible pricing features give you more billing agility. They allow you to test different pricing models and tiers to maximize ARPU. You can easily adjust your pricing strategy as your business evolves and customer needs change.
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• Optimize CAC with data-driven insights: Orb provides detailed reports. They help you understand CAC and identify your most profitable customer segments. This way, you can focus your marketing efforts on acquiring high-value customers.
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• Boost retention with usage-based billing: Orb lets you implement usage-based pricing models. These models can incentivize customers to stay longer and increase their lifetime value. Why? Because they’re paying just for what they use. 
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• Improve your projection estimates: With Orb's extensive reporting and analytics, you can more accurately calculate your range of future revenue. Then, you can make data-driven decisions to improve your CLTV strategy.

Ready to boost your CLTV with Orb? Explore our flexible pricing options to find the perfect plan for your needs.