Repeat Rate
Repeat rate is the share of your clients who hire you again, out of everyone you’ve done a job for. A high repeat rate means you’re spending less on winning brand-new clients, because the work you already did is bringing itself back.
What it means
It’s a simple ratio — clients who came back, divided by total clients — but it’s one of the few numbers that directly reflects whether your follow-up habits are actually working, not just whether the work itself was good. Good work that’s never followed up on doesn’t automatically turn into repeat business; someone usually has to actually ask, or at least stay visibly in touch.
A thank-you, a seasonal check-in, or a simple “still doing okay, need anything?” months later are the small, boring habits that move this number. None of them require the client to have been unhappy with anything — most repeat business is just about staying the obvious choice when the next need comes up.
Out of 40 clients you did work for last year, 14 booked you again for a different job. That’s a 35% repeat rate — a number worth tracking year over year to see if your follow-up habits are actually working.
Assuming good work automatically creates repeat business, with no follow-up at all — most clients don’t proactively think of you again just because the last job went well; the next call often goes to whoever they remember, not whoever did better work.
See also
Where this shows up
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- guide What to do after the job — the follow-up that wins the next one One fixed routine covers the thank-you, the review ask, and the referral ask below.
- tool Client follow-up planner Put in the date a job finished and get the six follow-ups that win the next one — thank-you, review ask, one nudge, referral, check-in, win-back — as real dates you can copy or drop straight into your calendar.
- tool Job profit check Type in the price you charged, your direct costs, and the hours the job actually took — on site, travel, quoting and admin — and see the real hourly rate it paid against your own target.