ABA category median
~ $75Across paid + organic blends. Pure organic skews lower, pure paid skews 2–3× higher in competitive metros.
Source · Higglo client cohort, n=18Free tool · for ABA & behavioral health
Find out what an enrolled client actually costs you.
Five inputs - your spend, your funnel, optionally your revenue per client. We back into cost-per-inquiry, cost-per-intake, and cost-per-enrollment, then plot each against the ABA category median so you know whether the lever is spend, channel, or intake.
The calculator
Spend in. Real cost-per-client out.
No vanity metrics. The output is three unit-economic numbers, each compared to a category median pulled from 30+ ABA practices, plus an honest rating of where you sit.
Inputs · monthly01 / 02
Everything attributable to acquisition - paid, agency, software, content.
$
Calls, form fills, emails - every inbound contact.
#
Families who actually booked an intake.
#
Families who started services.
#
Optional - enables a break-even read.
$
Unit economics02 / 02
Awaiting calculation
Five inputs in, your real cost-per-client out.
We back into cost-per-inquiry, cost-per-intake, and cost-per-enrollment, then plot each against ABA category medians. Add revenue-per-client to get a break-even read.
- Three unit-economic metrics with category comparisons.
- Break-even client count if revenue is provided.
- An honest rating: excellent, good, fair, or needs work.
What the math actually says
Four rules for reading ROI in ABA.
R.01
Cost-per-enrollment is the only number that matters.
Cost-per-click, cost-per-lead, even cost-per-intake - they all hide funnel leaks. Enrolled clients are what pays the staff.
R.02
If CPE is high, the answer is almost never more spend.
Diagnose: which step (inquiry → intake or intake → enrollment) is leaking? Adding budget without fixing the leak amplifies the loss.
R.03
Track for three months before judging a channel.
ABA inquiries have long consideration cycles - 4–8 weeks is normal. Single-month CPE numbers will mislead you about which channel works.
R.04
Above $900 CPE is a structural problem.
It's almost never a creative or copy issue at that level. Look at intake response time, insurance verification speed, and waitlist signaling.
Benchmarks · ABA category
What healthy unit economics look like.
Median scheduled intake
~ $200Implies a healthy 35–40% inquiry-to-intake conversion. Above $300 typically signals a speed-to-lead problem.
Source · 2025 cohort studyWhat a healthy CPE looks like
~ $600The end-to-end number. Below $400 is excellent; above $900 is a structural problem worth pausing spend over.
Source · Higglo book of business, n=34Keep going
Related tools.
Pressure-test the read
Bring your CPE to a 20-minute call.
If your number is high, we'll tell you whether the fix lives in channel mix, intake response time, or insurance ops - and which one to attack first. We've turned down retainers when the constraint was operational, not marketing.