I'm embarrassed to admit this. I've stacked email automation, two connectors, a dashboard tool and I still can't show a client — or myself — whether automation is actually paying for itself. My service is productised, so every subscription comes straight out of margin. I tried calculating hours saved, but it turned into a spreadsheet argument about what my time is worth. For those of you running automation for clients: what number do you actually show them? How do you separate the automation's impact from the offer and campaign changes we made at the same time? I want to raise prices, but I can't do that confidently while I don't know which tools earn their keep.
Solved
Too many tools and no way to tell which one earns its keep
What a useful answer should help achieve
A single defensible number to show clients and himself that automation is paying for itself.
Already tried
Calculated hours saved, but it turned into a spreadsheet debate about what his time is worth.
Constraints and unknowns
Productised service margin: every tool subscription comes straight out of profit, and he wants to raise prices without proof.
Marketing Strategist · productised service · Scaling · This snapshot stays with the question when the author updates their profile.5 replies
Audience: Public. Replies follow this audience.
Accepted answer
0Olivia WhitfieldCareer Coach · Personal BrandsUnited States·Established Solo·6d ago
Patrick, I tried Kipchoge's before/after method and it fell apart because we'd changed the offer and onboarding at the same time. The number that held up was revenue from a matched holdout — same list, same offer, one half getting the automated sequence, one half not. It's the only way I could show a client 'this automation, not the campaign, made the difference.' The downside: you need enough volume and a few weeks. Tool cost then goes against that incremental revenue. Hours saved is nice for internal decisions, but it didn't help me raise prices. I'd start with one flow you're embarrassed about, run a holdout, and ignore the rest until that one pays.
Why the asker chose this: This is the one I am acting on — thank you.
0Kipchoge KimaniLegal Educator · group programmeKenya·Established Solo·6d ago
Patrick, the answer that finally worked for me is simpler than most consultants want to admit: take the quarter before you switched on the automation and the quarter after, subtract one from the other, and divide by the full cost of the tools. That number is your ROI. I made the mistake of trying to attribute individual actions and it just produced spreadsheets nobody trusted. When I was running my legal workshops manually, I compared two periods and the revenue difference was enough to justify every subscription. In my group programme I now teach this before/after comparison on the first day, and we skip the advanced attribution nonsense. If you like, I can send you the exact module. But honestly, if the after number is bigger than the before number, automation is working. Stop looking for a more complicated truth.
0Angelo BautistaFitness Coach · self-paced coursePhilippines·Growing Team·6d ago
Time returned is the only metric I've tested that survives a pricing conversation.
0Jonas BeckerIndependent Publisher · self-paced courseGermany·Established Solo·6d ago
I stopped calculating ROI and just automated onboarding. Took a weekend, saves me Mondays.
0Akinyi KimaniCommunity Manager · sponsorship & adsKenya·Established Solo·6d ago
Kipchoge's before/after will show you your price change, not your automation. And Angelo, time saved is not ROI until you decide what that time now earns. Ask what the freed hour is worth in billable work, then subtract tool and setup cost.
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