B2B unit economics

Marketing that looks healthy can still be destroying capital.

A green dashboard tells you marketing happened. It doesn't tell you whether you win each customer for less than they return, or more. We measure the difference, in the language the CFO already uses.

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What the full diagnostic delivers
Exhibit 01 · Capital Burn VelocityIllustrative
−£69,600/ month
Rate of capital destroyed by the acquisition engine
1 : 1 breakeven
0.53 : 1
03 : 1 target
CLV:CAC ratio0.53 : 1
At run rate−£835,000 / yr
Illustrative · what the diagnostic measures, in the CFO's language
The evidence Independent research, one consistent finding
64%

of B2B marketing leaders do not trust their own measurement.

Forrester, 2024
61%

say that measurement is misaligned with their growth objectives.

Forrester, 2024
4.3 yrs

average CMO tenure, below the 4.9-year C-suite average.

Spencer Stuart, 2025
20 to 40%

financial upside from connecting acquisition cost to customer value.

BCG
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.

One problem sits under all four. Marketing is measured on what it did, never on what a customer cost or returned, so the one number that says whether the work pays goes uncalculated, and unowned. That is a gap in the system, not a failing of the team.

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 · Two ways in

Start free. Then get the number.

Calibrate shows you where the problem is. The Commercial Logic diagnostic measures exactly how big it is.

Calibrate

Free

Self-assessment

  • Ten minutes, self-serve
  • An indicative read on your CLV:CAC position
  • Shows where the problem is
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The Diagnostic

Paid engagement

The measured answer

  • Comprehensive, delivered engagement
  • The measured CLV:CAC ratio, to finance standards
  • Exactly how big it is, with prioritised actions
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03 · What the diagnostic measures

Four stages. Every driver of your CLV:CAC ratio.

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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.

Measured to finance standards · board-ready verdict · prioritised actions

04 · The approach

A diagnostic instrument, not a marketing audit.

01

The prior question

Everyone optimises the marketing. Almost no one asks the question that comes first: is it creating value at all? Skip it, and you are tuning an engine that may be running at a loss.

02

One number, both sides

The CLV:CAC ratio is marketing's to own and finance's to bank, agreed on the same inputs, read the same way. The two functions stop arguing past each other.

03

A verdict, not a report

A ratio, a payback period, and four ranked actions, stated in the language capital is allocated in. Not campaign performance. Something the board can act on.

Alan Edwards, founder of Why Marketing
05 · 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 an agency. It is a commercial advisory practice built around one answerable question: is your acquisition engine earning its keep? The diagnostic, the working papers and the Calibrate tool all exist to answer it.

More about Alan
The practice behind the report

The report is the front door. Not the whole building.

Behind the diagnostic is an advisory practice for the same question, measured once or held to as a standard. Advise the board, run the function, or develop the leader. If you already know you need more than the number, there is a door straight in.

AdvisoryServes the decision-maker
Fractional / InterimServes the company
MentorServes the marketing leader
06 · Resources

The evidence base.

All resources
Working paperGated

The metric that changes everything

Why the CLV:CAC ratio is the most important number in B2B marketing.

Read
Working paper

Read the warning light

Six symptoms of deteriorating unit economics, and the levers that fix each.

Read
MethodologyGated

The Commercial Logic methodology

The full worked methodology, inputs, and governance structure.

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Free self-assessment

Calibrate

Ten minutes. 28 questions. A board-ready output with your CLV:CAC position and four prioritised actions, delivered by email on completion.

Begin Calibrate 28 questions · 10 min · emailed result

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