top of page

Tackling ROI: Demonstrate the True Worth of Your Service Business

Many small service-based businesses avoid discussions about ROI (Return on Investment) with their clients, often believing that it doesn't accurately reflect the value they provide. However, the issue generally isn't that the impact isn't measurable; it's often a matter of measuring it correctly. As a service provider, ROI plays a crucial role in quantifying the value of your work with clients. When approached correctly, ROI can tell a compelling story about the impact of your services and serve as a powerful tool to communicate your business's value to both existing and potential clients. Let’s review a few key elements of defining an accurate ROI. Starting Point Calculating ROI effectively requires establishing a baseline. Align with your clients on what success looks like. It's crucial to be on the same page about what success means to them. Are they aiming for increased revenue, more web traffic, higher conversion rates? Clearly define how you'll measure these goals and pinpoint the relevant comparison points from before and after your services come into play. When you align your clients' objectives with specific, measurable metrics, you establish a solid foundation for evaluating the work you do together. Timeline Use your expertise to set realistic expectations regarding the timeline for achieving results. While everyone wants fast results, most meaningful changes will not happen overnight. Showing progress can help build confidence with eager clients while full results likely require more time to mature. Choosing the right timeline might involve multiple check-in points to showcase initial impact, ramp-up performance, and the end-state results. This method allows you to offer reassurance as your services go into effect as well as providing enough time to see fully realized results. Seasonality and Current Trend Not accounting for seasonality is a major reason why service providers may be wary of ROI. Without adjusting for seasonality it is nearly impossible to measure impact because it often means comparing apples to oranges. Imagine trying to compare holiday sales volume (traditionally the busiest time of the year) to February sales volume (traditionally one of the quietest times of the year). Without realigning sales volumes, it would be easy to reach an incorrect assumption about the impact of your service. Similarly, it is important to identify current business trends. Knowing the pace the business is currently tracking means you can recognize shifts in pace that result from your services. Noise ROI is easily muddled by anomalous external factors. To ensure clean results, discuss possible outliers with your clients and make sure to exclude them from your calculations. You may want to implement additional control measures to ensure that ROI reflects the true performance of your services rather than unrelated events.

If you are a small service-based business owner, ROI is more than a nice-to-have. It is an irrefutable way you can prove your value to your consumers. If you have struggled to make sense of ROI in the past, consider applying some of these guidelines when reviewing your service outcomes. ROI represents the real impact you make on your clients' businesses and is something worth celebrating.

Recent Posts

See All
bottom of page