Up next
Time

What's a Healthy CAC?

If you've never put a number on what a client costs to win, this is where to start.

Client acquisition cost is the number no one measures but everyone should. Most firm leaders can quote utilization and margin, then go quiet when you ask what it costs to win a client. We'll work through how to measure it, what healthy looks like, and the leadership question underneath it: who you hire, and what an AI-forward exec team needs to be.

Mark Orttung 09

Projectworks CEO Mark Orttung has built his career growing and selling both consulting firms and technology companies.

Dominique Rennell

Projectworks CCO Dominique Rennell advises global consulting firms on how to scale their growth and operations effectively.

What you'll get from this episode:

  • What CAC is and how to calculate it for a consulting firm
  • The signs of a healthy CAC versus one eating your growth
  • Who to hire to build an AI-forward exec team
  • A simple way to start measuring CAC before your next board meeting
Up next
Time

What's a Healthy CAC?

If you've never put a number on what a client costs to win, this is where to start.

Client acquisition cost is the number no one measures but everyone should. Most firm leaders can quote utilization and margin, then go quiet when you ask what it costs to win a client. We'll work through how to measure it, what healthy looks like, and the leadership question underneath it: who you hire, and what an AI-forward exec team needs to be.

Your Z-Suite for this session:

Mark Orttung 09

Projectworks CEO Mark Orttung has built his career growing and selling both consulting firms and technology companies.

Dominique Rennell

Projectworks CCO Dominique Rennell advises global consulting firms on how to scale their growth and operations effectively.

What you'll get from this episode:

  • What CAC is and how to calculate it for a consulting firm
  • The signs of a healthy CAC versus one eating your growth
  • Who to hire to build an AI-forward exec team
  • A simple way to start measuring CAC before your next board meeting

Join Mark and Dominique for this live discussion:

Keep reading

Listen to moments from similar podcasts

Building the AI-era consulting firm
Podcast

Every firm is being told AI changes everything. Few can tell you what it's actually worth to them. We benchmark over 700 consulting firms, and our data puts revenue per employee near $160K today. Over the next couple of years, we expect the leading firms to double it, by turning the tools and data they already run on into an intelligent ecosystem that drives action across the firm. Season 3 opens on the question that defines the rest of it: what does healthy growth and profitability actually look like in the AI era?

July 9, 2026
Podcast
Podcast

Mark Orttung (Projectworks CEO) and Dominique Rennell (Projectworks CCO) are joined by Christophe Delaire, the CEO of Marshall Day Acoustics, to discuss what good differentiation looks like at different stages. Marshall Day Acoustics is a one-of-a-kind acoustics consultancy with a global team of experts working everywhere from concert halls to wind farms.

By
Ria Parish
June 11, 2026
Podcast
Double your growth rate
Podcast

New Projectworks data from over 700 firms points to one operational habit separating the fastest growers from the rest. (Spoiler alert: It's resource optimization.)

By
Ria Parish
May 27, 2026
Podcast