B2B unit economics

You're measuring marketing. Not what it returns.

Most B2B businesses have a sophisticated marketing dashboard and no answer to the CFO's actual question: what does it cost to acquire a customer, and what do they return?

Start the Calibrate diagnostic → Read the approach

Exhibit 01 · CLV:CAC ratioIllustrative

1.8: 1
reported vs. true

3:1 benchmark

0measured position ▲5:1

01 · The problem

Marketing is measured on activity. The CFO asks about return.

Leads, pipeline, campaign ROI, these tell you how much marketing happened. They don't tell you whether it created or destroyed value.

BCG research found that improving marketing measurement, specifically connecting acquisition cost to customer value, unlocks financial improvements of 20 to 40 percent. Forrester's 2024 survey found that 64 percent of B2B marketing leaders don't trust their own measurement, and 61 percent say it's misaligned with growth objectives. The gap is structural, not executional.

See the full diagnosis →

Exhibit 02Where the ratio breaks

Three errors, one direction

ACAC is almost always understated
Headcount and sales cost left out.−25-40%
BCLV is almost always overstated
Revenue used in place of gross margin.2×+
CThe ratio is almost never owned
No single function calculates it.n/a

Fig. illustrative · gross-margin basis, discounted

02 · What Calibrate covers

28 questions. Four stages. One commercial verdict on your acquisition engine.

Run the diagnostic →

Stage 01

Brand & Positioning

Whether your market position supports or undermines acquisition economics.

Stage 02

Awareness & Visibility

Whether the channels building your pipeline are reaching the right buyers.

Stage 03

Consideration & Nurture

Whether your qualification and nurture convert the prospects worth converting.

Stage 04

Conversion & Performance

Whether the cost of closing customers reflects the value they return.

28 questions · 10 minutes · 4 prioritised actions · board-ready output

03 · The approach

A diagnostic instrument, not a marketing audit.

The prior question

Before optimising your marketing, the question is whether it's creating value at the customer level. Most improvement programmes skip this step entirely.

A shared methodology

The CLV:CAC ratio belongs to finance and marketing simultaneously. Both functions can agree on the inputs. Both can read the result.

Capital return clarity

The diagnostic produces a ratio, a payback period, and four prioritised actions, in the language of capital allocation, not campaign performance.

04 · The founder

One adviser. One question. Answerable.

I work with CFOs, PE partners, and senior marketing leaders on the one number that determines whether marketing creates or destroys value.

Why Marketing is not a marketing agency. It's a commercial advisory practice focused on B2B unit economics. The Commercial Logic diagnostic, the working papers, and the Calibrate tool are all built around a single, answerable question: is your acquisition engine generating an adequate return?

More about Alan →

05 · Resources