roi-calculator

name	roi-calculator
description	Build ROI calculators and business cases — 3-scenario projections (conservative, moderate, aggressive), payback period analysis, TCO comparison, assumption documentation, MEDDICC integration, value driver identification. Use when building ROI models, creating business cases, quantifying value for prospects, or supporting economic buyer conversations. Triggers on: "ROI calculator", "business case", "ROI model", "value calculator", "TCO comparison", "payback period", "build the business case".
license	MIT
compatibility	Claude Code, Jesse, Codex, Hermes, Windsurf, OpenCode, Gemini CLI, Copilot, Zed, VS Code, Goose
metadata	{"version":"2.0.0","author":"LeadMagic","category":"design","tags":["roi","calculator","business-case","financial","value-selling","meddic"],"related_skills":["deal-desk","pricing-strategy","saas-metrics-calculator","sales-enablement","demo-scripts"],"frameworks":["Madhavan Ramanujam — Monetizing Innovation (WTP research)","ValueSelling Framework — Value pyramid and quantified value","David Skok — SaaS Unit Economics","MEDDICC — Economic Buyer + Metrics (quantified value)","Gartner — TCO and ROI methodology"]}

ROI Calculator

Overview

An ROI calculator turns "this seems valuable" into "this pays for itself in 4.3 months with a 3-year ROI of 340%." It is the single most powerful document in enterprise sales because it translates product capabilities into financial outcomes that economic buyers can approve. The mistake: building a calculator that overclaims and destroys credibility. The fix: conservative assumptions with documented sources, so every number is defensible under scrutiny.

Authoritative Foundations

• Madhavan Ramanujam — Monetizing Innovation (WTP research) — Monetizing Innovation (WTP research)
• ValueSelling Framework — Value pyramid and quantified value — Value pyramid and quantified value
• David Skok — SaaS Unit Economics — SaaS metrics — CAC payback, LTV/CAC, unit economics by stage.
• MEDDICC — Economic Buyer + Metrics (quantified value) — Qualification scorecard — Metrics, Economic buyer, Decision criteria, Champion, Competition.
• Gartner — TCO and ROI methodology — TCO and ROI methodology

When to Use

Trigger phrases: "build an ROI calculator", "create a business case", "calculate the ROI for [prospect]", "quantify our value", "build a TCO comparison", "payback period calculation", "3-year ROI projection", "value calculator", "economic buyer justification", "MEDDICC metrics slide"

5 Types of ROI Calculators

Type	Use When	Best For	Example
Time Savings	Your product eliminates manual work	Productivity tools, automation	"Eliminates 15 hours/week of manual data entry"
Revenue Increase	Your product generates more revenue	Sales tools, marketing platforms	"Increases reply rates from 3% to 12% = 4x pipeline"
Cost Reduction	Your product replaces existing spend	Infrastructure, tool consolidation	"Replaces 3 tools at $500/mo each with 1 at $800/mo"
Risk Mitigation	Your product prevents losses	Security, compliance, data	"Prevents average data breach cost of $4.45M"
Hybrid (TCO)	Your product impacts multiple areas	Enterprise platforms	Total cost of ownership: current vs proposed state

Step-by-Step Process

Phase 1: Identify Value Drivers

Map product capabilities to financial outcomes:

Capability	Value Driver	Metric	Data Source
Automated email finding	Reduced research time	Hours saved/week × hourly rate	Customer interviews
Email validation	Reduced bounce rate	Bounces prevented × cost per bounce	Deliverability data
CRM enrichment	Improved lead routing	Faster MQL→SQL × pipeline increase	Internal analytics

For each value driver, answer:

1. What changes? (current state → future state)
2. How much changes? (specific number)
3. What's that worth? (× unit cost or value)
4. What's the source? (customer data, industry research, internal measurement)

Phase 2: Build Scenario Models

3 scenarios — every calculator needs all three:

Conservative (what 80%+ of customers achieve):

• Use the LOW end of customer-reported ranges
• Exclude value drivers that are "nice to have" rather than proven
• This is the safe number — every customer should beat it

Moderate (what typical customers achieve):

• Use the MEDIAN of customer-reported ranges
• Include most value drivers with measured impact
• This is the expected outcome for most deployments

Aggressive (what best customers achieve):

• Use the HIGH end of customer-reported ranges
• Include all value drivers
• Requires full adoption and process change
• Frame as "potential" not "promised"

Phase 3: Build the Calculator

Structure for each scenario:

SECTION 1: CURRENT STATE COSTS
  Current Tool Spend:        $X/year
  Current Labor Cost:         Hours × Rate × Occurrences = $X/year
  Current Error/Loss Cost:    Incidents × Cost per Incident = $X/year
  Current Opportunity Cost:   Missed Revenue = $X/year
TOTAL CURRENT COST:           $X/year

SECTION 2: PROPOSED SOLUTION COSTS
  Your Product Cost:          $X/year
  Implementation Cost:        $X (one-time)
  Training Cost:              $X (one-time)
  Ongoing Management:         Hours × Rate = $X/year
TOTAL SOLUTION COST:          $X/year (Year 1 includes one-time costs)

SECTION 3: PROJECTED BENEFITS
  Tool Savings:               $X/year (replaced tools)
  Labor Savings:              $X/year (time eliminated)
  Error Reduction:            $X/year (prevented losses)
  Revenue Increase:           $X/year (net new revenue)
TOTAL BENEFITS:               $X/year

SECTION 4: ROI CALCULATION
  Net Benefit (Year 1):       Benefits - Solution Cost = $X
  Payback Period:             One-Time Costs ÷ Monthly Net Benefit = X.X months
  1-Year ROI:                 (Net Benefit ÷ Solution Cost) × 100 = X%
  3-Year ROI:                 (3 × Annual Net Benefit ÷ 3-Year Solution Cost) × 100 = X%
  3-Year Net Present Value:   Sum of discounted cash flows = $X

Phase 4: Assumption Documentation

Every input must have a source, ranked by credibility:

1. Gold: Your customer data (anonymized, aggregated) "Based on data from 50+ customers across 12 months"
2. Silver: Third-party research (named source, publicly available) "According to Gartner's 2026 Cost of Data Quality Report"
3. Bronze: Industry benchmarks (credible institution) "SDR average fully-loaded cost: $80K/year (Bridge Group 2026)"
4. Copper: Prospect-provided data (they validate it) "Per your team's estimate of 15 hours/week on manual research"

Never use "our estimate" or "industry average" without a specific source.

Phase 5: MEDDICC Integration

The ROI calculator supports MEDDICC:

• Metrics: The calculator IS the metrics — quantified value for the economic buyer
• Economic Buyer: Send the calculator BEFORE meeting the EB. "Here's the quantified impact. I'd like 15 minutes to walk through the assumptions."
• Champion: Give the champion the calculator to socialize internally. "Share this with your CFO — the numbers are based on your actual team data."

Phase 6: Deliverables

Per-prospect, produce:

1. 1-page executive summary — key numbers, 3-scenario comparison, payback period
2. Detailed calculator — all inputs, formulas, assumptions, sources
3. Slide version — for the champion to put in their internal deck
4. Live calculator — web-based version they can adjust assumptions themselves

Output Format

ROI BUSINESS CASE — [Prospect Name]

Prepared for: [Champion Name], [Title]
Date: [date]

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
| Metric | Conservative | Moderate | Aggressive |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Benefit | $X | $X | $X |
| Annual Solution Cost | $X | $X | $X |
| Net Benefit (Y1) | $X | $X | $X |
| Payback Period | X.X mo | X.X mo | X.X mo |
| 3-Year ROI | X% | X% | X% |

VALUE DRIVER BREAKDOWN:
1. [Driver 1]: $X/yr — Source: [specific source]
2. [Driver 2]: $X/yr — Source: [specific source]
...

KEY ASSUMPTIONS:
- [Assumption 1]: [value] — Source: [gold/silver/bronze/copper]
- [Assumption 2]: [value] — Source: ...

NEXT STEP:
"Walk through assumptions with [Economic Buyer Name] to validate and refine."

Implementation Checklist

• 3 scenarios built (conservative, moderate, aggressive) with different assumptions
• Every assumption has a documented source (no "our estimate")
• Conservative scenario uses LOW end of customer-reported ranges
• Payback period calculated (months, not years — more precise)
• One-time costs separated from ongoing costs
• 1-year AND 3-year ROI calculated (3-year is the EB metric)
• Calculator can be shared as a slide (champion needs this)
• MEDDICC integration: calculator supports Metrics + Economic Buyer
• Numbers are defensible under CFO scrutiny

Quality Check

Before delivering, verify:

• Output matches the user's stated request
• Named frameworks or sources are reflected in the recommendation
• The deliverable is specific enough for an agent to execute
• Any assumptions, risks, or dependencies are explicit
• No unsupported claims, invented facts, or private/internal references are included

Common Pitfalls

1. Aggressive as default. Showing only the aggressive scenario trains prospects to be skeptical. Fix: Lead with conservative. "Here's what we can confidently promise. Most customers achieve more."

2. Unrealistic assumptions. "You'll save 40 hours/week" when your best customer saves 10. CFOs spot this instantly and trust is destroyed. Fix: Use actual customer data, not aspirational numbers.

3. Black-box calculator. "Trust us, the math works" is not a business case. Prospects need to see and validate every assumption. Fix: Document every input with its source. Make the calculator transparent.

4. One-size output. A CFO cares about 3-year NPV. A VP Sales cares about pipeline increase. A CTO cares about implementation time. Fix: Create persona-specific summary tabs or views.

5. No source on assumptions. "Industry average" without naming the source is no better than "we guessed." Fix: Name the source: "Gartner 2026 Report," "Internal customer data (50+ deployments)," "Bureau of Labor Statistics."

6. Ignoring implementation cost. "The software is $50K/year, therefore ROI is [benefits ÷ $50K]." Wrong. Implementation, training, migration, and opportunity cost of the transition period are real costs. Fix: Include all costs in Year 1. Model 3 years to amortize one-time costs.

Execution Artifacts

• references/framework-notes.md — named frameworks, citation anchors, and operating assumptions
• templates/output-template.md — copy-paste deliverable structure for the user
• scripts/check-output.py — local checklist validator for required sections This skill includes lightweight artifacts the agent can load on demand: Use the artifacts when the user asks for an implementation-ready deliverable, a repeatable workflow, or a quality check rather than generic advice.

Related Skills

• deal-desk — Deal structuring using ROI outputs to justify price
• pricing-strategy — Pricing informed by willingness-to-pay and quantified value
• saas-metrics-calculator — SaaS-specific CAC, LTV, payback metrics
• sales-enablement — Pitch decks that use ROI data
• demo-scripts — Demo architecture that demonstrates value drivers