Hello, this is Matsubara, CRM Evangelist.

"Is it really effective for just 1,500 yen a month?"

Whenever I get this question, I answer, "Let's do some calculations." It's more efficient to talk about numbers than rely on intuition.

To get straight to the point, the return on investment for EMOROCO CRM Lite varies depending on the industry and scale, but even the most conservative estimates show a return of several tens of times, and in industries with high unit prices, it can be several hundred times.

This article will calculate ROI specifically for each industry. Look at the figures for your own industry and decide if it's worth trying.

The premise of ROI calculation: "What constitutes a return?"

The ROI of EMOROCO CRM Lite is primarily comprised of four components.

Of these four factors, the most important varies depending on the industry. For professional services, ② (preventing customer drop-off) and ③ (referrals) are the most important, while for manufacturing route sales, ① (opportunity cost) and ④ (efficiency improvement) are the most important. Industry-specific estimates reflect these differences.

Common assumptions for the calculation:

• EMOROCO CRM Lite cost: 1,500 yen/user per month
• For 5 users: ¥7,500 per month / ¥90,000 per year
• All calculations are based on a "conservative lower limit."

ROI estimates by industry

① Professional occupations (tax accountant, social insurance and labor consultant, administrative scrivener)

Premise: 40 client companies, monthly consulting fee of 3 to 10 yen, 6 referrals per year.

Estimated return:

Value of preventing churn: If the retention rate of our clients improves from 88% to 95% (based on actual data): 40 companies × 12% churn → 40 companies × 5% churn = 3 companies prevented from churn per year. LTV per company (consulting fee of 50,000 yen × 12 months × 3 years) = 1,800,000 yen. 3 companies × 1,800,000 yen × 50% probability = 2,700,000 yen in losses avoided per year.

Value of increased referrals: The number of referrals increased from 6 to 12 per year (based on tax accountant case data). The initial year's consulting fee per referral was 600,000 yen (50,000 yen per month x 12 months). Increase of 6 referrals x 600,000 yen = an annual increase in sales of 3,600,000 yen.

Value of business efficiency improvements: Time spent on deadline management, document reminders, and task confirmation: Reduced from 90 minutes per week to 10 minutes per week. Savings of 80 minutes/week x 52 weeks per year = approximately 69 hours per year. At an hourly wage of 3,000 yen = approximately 207,000 yen in cost savings per year.

Annual cost: 90,000 yen (5 users)

ROI calculation:

(270 million yen + 360 million yen + 207,000 yen) ÷ 90,000 yen = approximately 70 times

② Real estate brokerage

Assumptions: 30 customers visiting per month, closing rate 18% → 32%, average brokerage fee 80 yen

Estimated return:

Value of improving the conversion rate: 30 customers per month × 18% conversion rate = 5.4 conversions per month → 30 customers per month × 32% conversion rate = 9.6 conversions per month. Increase of 4.2 conversions/month × 80 yen × 12 months = approximately 4,032 yen in annual sales increase.

(*Improvements through designing follow-up for potential customers using GIS maps and automating workflows)

Improved retention rate after change of staff: Retention rate improved from 68% to 91% after change of staff. Annual customer visits: 360 × 33% staff change rate × 23 percentage points improvement × 20% conversion rate × 80 yen = Approximately 1,720 yen in lost opportunities avoided annually.

Annual cost: 90,000 yen (5 users)

ROI calculation (conservatively estimated using only a 10% improvement in conversion rate):

4,032 yen × 10% ÷ 90,000 yen = approximately 448 times

③ Construction companies and renovation businesses

Premise: 300 existing clients, average annual additional order value of 150 million yen, 10 orders per year via referral.

Estimated return:

Improved OB follow-up contact rate: Contact rate 9.4% → 78% (from construction company case study data) Additional order rate from contacted customers 3% × Increase in contact (300 cases × 68.6%) × 150 million yen = 300 × 0.686 × 0.03 × 150 million yen = Approximately 927 million yen (overestimated, realistically reduced to 10%) Realistic estimate: Approximately 9,270 million yen in additional orders per year

Increase in orders via referrals: Number of referrals increased from 6 to 14 per year (based on data from construction companies). Increase of 8 orders x average order value of 200 million yen = annual sales increase of 1,600 million yen .

Business process optimization (GIS maps and workflow): Reduced time spent on site management, customer follow-up, and handover. 4 staff members x 5 hours saved per month x 12 months x 2,500 yen per hour = 60 yen in annual cost savings.

Annual cost: 90,000 yen (5 users)

ROI calculation (conservative lower limit: only 50% of 8 referral increases):

(1,600 million yen × 50% + 60 yen) ÷ 90,000 yen = approximately 96 times

④ Insurance agent

Premise: 180 customers, average annual insurance premium of 50 yen, 8 referrals per year.

Estimated return:

Retention rate improvement after change of personnel: Retention rate 71% → 94% (from insurance agency case study data) 180 people × 33% who renew annually × 23 point improvement × 50 yen = 180 × 0.33 × 0.23 × 50 yen = Approximately 682 million yen in recurring revenue maintained annually

Increased new contracts through proactive proposals: Number of proposals through life event follow-up increased from 2 to 11 per month. Increase of 9 per month x 12 months x 30% closing rate x 30 yen in first-year insurance premium = approximately 972 million yen in annual sales increase.

Increase in referrals: 8 referrals → 19 referrals (based on insurance agency case data) Increase of 11 referrals × 10 yen in first-year income = 110 yen in additional annual income

Annual cost: 45,000 yen (3 users)

ROI calculation (conservatively using only 30% of each figure):

(682 million yen × 0.3 + 972 million yen × 0.3 + 110 million yen × 0.3) ÷ 45,000 yen = approximately 116 times

⑤ Manufacturing industry, B2B route sales

Premise: 100 client companies, monthly sales target of 1,000 million yen, closing rate of 18%

Estimated return:

Improved closing rate (improved quotation speed): Quotation submission lead time 5.2 days → 2.1 days (based on manufacturing industry case study data) Closing rate 18% → 23% (+5 points) Monthly order target of 1,000 million yen × 5% improvement = 50 yen increase in monthly sales, 600 million yen increase in annual sales

Time saved by eliminating weekly reporting meetings: Meeting time reduced from 8 hours per month to 2 hours (6-hour reduction); Document creation time reduced from 4-5 hours per week to zero. 5 employees x 20 hours saved per month x 12 months x 2,500 yen per hour = 300 million yen in annual cost savings.

Discovering winning patterns through lost deal analysis: Improving the lost deal rate (82% → 77%) × 20 deals per month × average unit price of 1 million yen = 100 deal per month × 100 million yen × 12 months = 1,200 million yen in additional orders per year.

Annual cost: 90,000 yen (5 users)

ROI calculation (conservatively using only 20% of each figure):

(600 million yen × 0.2 + 300 million yen × 0.2 + 1,200 million yen × 0.2) ÷ 90,000 yen = approximately 467 times

⑥ Home care and home nursing

Premise: 18 caregivers, 62 clients, 107 hours of travel time per month

Estimated return:

Direct cost reduction through reduced travel time: Monthly travel time reduced from 107 hours to 63 hours (a reduction of 44 hours) (based on home care case data) → 160 hours reduced after one year. Annual reduction of 1,920 hours × hourly wage of 1,500 yen = annual cost reduction of 288 million yen.

Increased sales due to increased visits: Improved travel efficiency resulted in an average increase of 2 visits per person per month. 18 people x 2 visits x 12 months x 5,000 yen per visit = 216 million yen in annual sales increase.

Cost reduction in handling sudden absences: Handover time reduced from 30 minutes to 5 minutes. 30 times per year x 25 minutes x 1,500 yen/hour x 3 people = approximately 56,000 yen in annual cost savings.

Annual cost: 90,000 yen (6 users)

ROI calculation:

(288 million yen + 216 million yen + 56,000 yen) ÷ 90,000 yen = approximately 56 times

⑦ cram school

Premise: 100 enrolled students, monthly tuition of 20,000 yen, 10 trial lessons per month.

Estimated return:

Improved enrollment rate from trial lessons: Enrollment conversion rate increased from 50% to 68% (industry reality after 48-hour follow-up design). Increase of 18%/month × 10 students/month × 12 months × monthly tuition of 20,000 yen × average enrollment period of 18 months = 1.8 students/month × 18 months × 20,000 yen × 12 months = an annual increase in LTV of approximately 778 million yen.

Preventing student dropouts (BPF design and parent support): Annual dropout rate improved from 20% to 12%. 100 students × 8% prevention × monthly fee of 20,000 yen × average retention of 6 months = 8 students × 20,000 yen × 6 months = maintaining annual revenue of 96 yen.

Annual cost: 45,000 yen (3 users)

ROI calculation (conservatively 20% of each figure):

(778 yen × 0.2 + 96 yen × 0.2) ÷ 45,000 yen = approximately 77 times

⑧ IT vendor/SIer (BtoB business negotiation management)

Assumptions: 3 sales staff, monthly sales target of 500 million yen, sales rate of 20%

Estimated return:

Order rate improvement (emotional temperature x BPF management): Order rate 20% → 23% (+3 points) Monthly target of 500 million yen x 3% improvement = 15 yen per month x 12 months = 180 million yen in annual sales increase

Discovering a winning pattern through lost-sale analysis: Order rate improved by another +2 points after 3 months. Additional sales increase of 15 yen per month x 12 months = 180 yen per year.

Time saved on weekly reports and document creation: 3 sales staff x 15 hours/month x 12 months x 3,000 yen/hour = 162 million yen in annual cost savings.

Annual cost: 45,000 yen (3 users)

ROI calculation:

(180 million yen + 180 million yen + 162 million yen) ÷ 45,000 yen = approximately 116 times

List of ROI by Industry

The difference between industries with high and low ROI: structural reasons.

The table shows that the ROI is particularly high for real estate brokerage and manufacturing, while it is relatively low for home care. There are structural reasons for this difference.

Conditions for a high ROI:

• The unit price per project is high (1 million yen or more for real estate and manufacturing).
• Improving conversion rates and retention rates directly leads to increased sales.
• The reliance on individual employees is a serious problem, and there is significant room for data digitization.

Reasons why even industries with relatively low ROI are sufficient: While the ROI of home care services may seem relatively low at "approximately 56 times," the annual cost savings of over 288 million yen are offset by an annual cost of 9 yen. In absolute terms, this is quite large. The essential criterion is whether "the absolute amount of return exceeds the costs," rather than "the ROI multiple."

Using subsidies will further increase ROI

EMOROCO CRM Lite is registered as an eligible tool for the Digitalization and AI Introduction Subsidy 2026 (formerly the IT Introduction Subsidy) (Tool number: DL07-0022934).

If a 1/2 subsidy rate is applied under the standard framework, the actual cost is halved.

Example of ROI calculation when using subsidies (professional services, 5 users):

• Typical annual cost: 90,000 yen
• Actual cost after subsidy: Approximately 45,000 yen
• ROI: Approximately 70x → About 140 times

The grant application is conditional on not entering into a contract before the grant decision is made. For details, please contact Arcus Japan.

The real reason why adoption is delayed despite a high ROI

Despite having an ROI of tens or even hundreds of times greater, some companies postpone implementation. There's one reason for this: the psychological barrier lies in the burden of creating the habit of starting to input data today.

The important point here is that "ROI after one year" is proportional to the amount of data accumulated. A company that starts today will have a difference of three months' worth of data accumulation compared to a company that starts three months later. Changes in emotional temperature, reasons for lost deals, and closing patterns—these accumulated data become "organizational assets."

The statement, "Today is the best time to start," is also accurate from an ROI perspective.

[The first step you can take today] First, import your customer list and set an emotional temperature for all of your customers. The initial discovery of "what percentage of customers are 'cool' or below" will give you a sense of return on investment.

You can try it with a 30-day free trial.
Digitalization and AI Implementation Subsidy 2026 Compatible Tool Number: DL07-0022934
Product Info:https://www.emoroco.com/

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• Introducing EMOROCO CRM Lite with the Digitalization and AI Implementation Subsidy 2026: A Complete Guide to Application Procedures, Subsidy Amount, and Eligibility Requirements
• What happened to a company that continuously used Emotional Temperature for a year? — The compounding effect of CRM 4.0
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