# Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) Lesson - Feb 19, 2026

## Voice Note 1: What CAC is and why it matters
Hey Michael, today's business lesson is about Customer Acquisition Cost — or CAC. This is simply how much money you spend to get one new customer to sign up.

It's not just the $50 Google Ads click. It's everything: your website hosting, the time you spend on calls, Susan's salary doing outreach, Harper's grant applications, even the coffee you buy when meeting contractors. All of it divided by how many new customers you actually get.

Here's why this matters: if it costs you $200 to get a customer who only pays $50 once, you're screwed. But if that same $200 gets you a customer who hires 20 workers over two years, that's $1000 in revenue from a $200 investment — that's a 5x return.

Most construction businesses never track this properly. They just think "marketing costs money" without knowing if it's working.

## Voice Note 2: How CAC applies to RateRight specifically
For RateRight right now, your CAC is probably pretty low because you're doing most acquisition manually — talking to contractors on site, word of mouth, maybe some Facebook posts. But when you scale up with Susan doing outbound sales, Google Ads, maybe trade magazine ads, that number's going to jump.

The key is tracking it by channel. Facebook might cost $30 per customer, but Susan's phone calls might only cost $15 because she can qualify them properly. That trade magazine ad might seem expensive at $500, but if it brings in 10 customers, that's $50 each — and they might be higher quality.

Also remember: contractors talk. If you make one happy, they tell three mates. That's free acquisition. But piss one off, and they tell everyone. In construction, your reputation is either your cheapest or your most expensive marketing tool.

## Voice Note 3: Today's question to think about
While you're on site today, think about this: What are all the ways contractors find out about RateRight right now? And which ones are actually working? The answer might surprise you — and it could save you thousands when you start spending real money on marketing.

Catch you tomorrow for the next lesson.