Buying appointment setting
Buying B2B leads vs paying per qualified call or meeting
When you buy leads, you're paying for the chance to start a conversation. When you pay per qualified call or meeting, you're paying for a conversation that took place, with someone who met criteria you agreed. The difference is who does the work in between, and that's what should decide which suits you.
A lead is an earlier step, so each one is priced lower and leaves more work with you. A held call or meeting has that work built in, so each one is priced higher and leaves less. Neither is better in every case. This guide sets out what you actually get with each, the work that's left, and how to compare them on your own numbers.
What "a lead" can mean
"Leads" covers very different things. Ask exactly which one you're being offered.
| What you buy | What you get | What's still your job | The main risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact data | Names and details of businesses and people matching your filters | Checking fit, research, outreach, follow-ups, replies, booking | Out-of-date or poorly matched data |
| Enquiry leads | Someone who filled in a form or answered an ad about a service like yours | Getting hold of them quickly, qualifying, booking | They also asked your competitors, or never meant to buy |
| Intent or "marketing qualified" leads | Businesses showing signs of interest, like downloads or searches | Working out whether the interest is real, then everything above | A signal isn't the same as a need |
| Qualified held calls or meetings | A conversation that took place with someone who met agreed criteria | Running the conversation and following up | Criteria that are vague, so quality is argued about |
The work between a lead and a conversation
Turning a name into a sales conversation involves steps that are easy to underestimate:
- Checking the business fits and the person is the right one
- Researching why they might want to talk now
- Getting in touch, several times, through more than one channel
- Handling replies, questions and "not now"
- Booking a time, confirming it and sending details
- Rebooking the ones who don't turn up
With bought leads, those steps are yours. With pay per qualified call or meeting, the provider does them and you pay only when a qualifying conversation happens. That's the real trade: price per unit against your team's time and skill.
Where qualification happens
With leads, quality is mostly set by the filters you choose, and real qualification happens after you've paid, when someone on your team talks to them.
With pay per qualified call or meeting, qualification is agreed before any outreach: the kind of business, the person's role, a real reason to talk, and their agreement to a conversation. Our qualified meeting checklist shows how to write those criteria so there's little to argue about later.
No-shows and cancellations
A lead can't "not show", but an unanswered lead costs you the same. With booked calls or meetings, no-shows are part of the deal, so agree in writing how they're treated: not billed, rebooked where possible, and what happens if you're the one who cancels. The pay-per-held-meeting guide covers the details.
Compare the cost on your own numbers
Comparing a price per lead with a price per call or meeting directly is misleading, because they buy different things. Compare the cost of getting to one qualified conversation instead. Fill this in with your own figures. We haven't put in any numbers, because rates vary widely and only your own records tell you how leads convert for you.
| Input | Your figure |
|---|---|
| A. Price per lead | ______ |
| B. Leads needed for one qualified conversation (from your own records) | ______ |
| C. Your team's hours per lead (research, outreach, follow-ups, booking) | ______ |
| D. What an hour of that person's time costs you | ______ |
| E. Tools and data subscriptions, per qualified conversation | ______ |
| Cost per qualified conversation from leads: (A × B) + (B × C × D) + E | ______ |
| Price per qualified held call or meeting, from the provider | ______ |
If you don't know B, that's the first number to find out. A short trial of either model will tell you more than anyone's averages.
Also count what doesn't show up in the sum: what else that person could be doing, and whether they'll keep up the outreach when the business gets busy.
When buying leads can make sense
- You have people with time and skill for prospecting, and a process that already works.
- Your sales are high volume with short decision times, so speed matters more than depth.
- You need market data for other things, like mapping a territory.
- You want full control of every message and every step.
When paying per qualified call or meeting can make sense
- Nobody on your team has steady time for prospecting.
- You'd rather your best salesperson spends their time in conversations, not chasing them.
- You want cost tied to conversations that actually happen.
- You're testing a new market or segment and don't want to build a team for it first.
When neither will help yet
If you can't take on new clients, your offer is hard to explain, or nobody can follow up within a day or two, more leads or more booked calls won't fix it. Our readiness checklist helps you spot the gap first.
Questions to ask either kind of provider
If you're buying leads
- Where does the data come from, and how recently was it checked?
- How was it collected, and is it all right to contact these people where they are? Get advice if you're unsure.
- Is each lead sold only to you, or to others as well?
- What happens to leads that are wrong or out of date?
If you're paying per call or meeting
- What exactly counts as qualified and as held, and is it in the agreement?
- How are no-shows, late cancellations and reschedules handled?
- Do you get a brief before each one, and can you flag a poor fit before it happens?
- Who approves the messages sent in your name?
Where GoodYarn fits
GoodYarn is the second model: we research, reach out, handle replies and book qualifying calls or meetings, and you pay one agreed price for each one that takes place. There's no retainer and no lock-in. If you already have a team with time to work leads well, buying leads may suit you better, and that's worth knowing before you choose.