Demo ROI Calculator
A live, buyer-supplied ROI calculation you can build on screen during the demo — formulas, discovery questions to source every input, and a spreadsheet layout you can paste in and use today.
What's inside
- The 4 value formulas: Time Savings Value, Risk/Error Reduction Value, Revenue Acceleration Value, Total Annual Value
- Investment, Net Value, ROI%, and Payback Period formulas
- Input table mapping each variable to the discovery question that sources it
- A fully worked numeric example end to end
- Word-for-word script for building the number live, on screen, with the buyer
- Spreadsheet cell layout with paste-ready formulas
- Credibility rules for keeping the number defensible instead of inflated
What this calculates
A defensible annual dollar value and payback period, built from numbers the buyer supplies — not your assumptions. The goal is a number the buyer believes because they typed it in themselves.
Inputs you need
| Variable | Where to get it in discovery | Example value |
|---|---|---|
| Hours spent/week on the manual task | "Walk me through how long that takes today" | 6 hrs/week |
| Number of people doing this task | "Who else does this?" | 3 people |
| Fully loaded hourly cost | "What's a rough loaded cost per hour for that role?" (or use a public benchmark) | $45/hr |
| Current error rate | "How often does that number come back wrong?" | 8% |
| Cost per error | "What happens when it's wrong — what does that cost you?" | $2,000 |
| Annual volume of the process | "How often does this run — weekly, monthly?" | 52/year |
| Deal cycle time reduction (if applicable) | "How much faster would deals move if X was solved?" | 10% |
| Average deal value | From their CRM/reporting | $30,000 |
| Deals per year affected | From their CRM/reporting | 80 |
| Annual subscription/license cost | Your pricing | $24,000 |
| One-time implementation cost | Your pricing/services | $6,000 |
The formulas
1. Time Savings Value = Hours saved/week × People × Hourly cost × 52
2. Risk/Error Reduction Value = (Current error rate − New error rate) × Cost per error × Annual volume
3. Revenue Acceleration Value (use only if cycle-time or win-rate impact was discussed) = Cycle time reduction % × Average deal value × Deals per year
4. Total Annual Value = Time Savings Value + Risk Reduction Value + Revenue Acceleration Value
5. Investment (Year 1) = Annual subscription + One-time implementation cost
6. Net Annual Value = Total Annual Value − Investment
7. ROI % = (Net Annual Value ÷ Investment) × 100
8. Payback Period (months) = Investment ÷ (Total Annual Value ÷ 12)
Worked example
- Time Savings: 6 hrs/wk × 3 people × $45/hr × 52 = $42,120
- Risk Reduction: (8% − 1%) × $2,000 × 52 = $7,280
- Revenue Acceleration: 10% × $30,000 × 80 × 0.5 (conservative 50% attribution) = $120,000
- Total Annual Value = $169,400
- Investment Year 1 = $24,000 + $6,000 = $30,000
- Net Annual Value = $169,400 − $30,000 = $139,400
- ROI % = 139,400 ÷ 30,000 × 100 = 465%
- Payback Period = 30,000 ÷ (169,400 ÷ 12) = 2.1 months
Building it live, on screen, with the buyer
Open a blank spreadsheet on your shared screen and ask each input question in sequence, typing their answer in as they say it:
"Let's actually build this together rather than me showing you a generic number. How many hours a week does your team spend on this today?" (type it in) "And roughly how many people are doing that?" (type it in) "If I use a conservative $45 an hour loaded cost — does that feel right, high, or low for this role?" (adjust, type it in) "Okay — with just those numbers, that's $[X] a year in time alone. Now let's add what a bad number costs you..."
Let the buyer watch the total build in real time. The number lands harder because they supplied the inputs.
Spreadsheet layout (paste-ready)
| Cell | Label | Formula |
|---|---|---|
| B1 | Hours saved/week | (input) |
| B2 | People affected | (input) |
| B3 | Hourly cost | (input) |
| B4 | Time Savings Value | =B1*B2*B3*52 |
| B5 | Current error rate | (input) |
| B6 | New error rate | (input) |
| B7 | Cost per error | (input) |
| B8 | Annual volume | (input) |
| B9 | Risk Reduction Value | =(B5-B6)*B7*B8 |
| B10 | Total Annual Value | =B4+B9 |
| B11 | Annual subscription | (input) |
| B12 | Implementation cost | (input) |
| B13 | Investment | =B11+B12 |
| B14 | Net Annual Value | =B10-B13 |
| B15 | ROI % | =(B14/B13)*100 |
| B16 | Payback (months) | =B13/(B10/12) |
Credibility rules
- Never fill in an input the buyer hasn't confirmed — if they haven't given you a number, leave the cell blank and ask.
- Apply a conservative attribution discount (30-50%) to any revenue-acceleration input — it's the softest number and the first thing a skeptical CFO will challenge.
- Show your formulas, not just the total — a buyer who can audit the math trusts the output.
- Round down, never up, when a number is uncertain.
How to use it
Ask the discovery questions live, on shared screen, typing the buyer's own numbers directly into the spreadsheet formulas so the ROI total builds in front of them instead of being presented as a pre-baked slide.