Pay per appointment lead generation is one of the most high-paying lead-gen models.
What is it exactly? And how does it really differ from pay per lead, pay per call, and other lead generation models that we recently recommended to you?
That’s exactly what we’ll cover in this detailed guide. You’ll learn:
- What is pay per appointment lead generation?
- How much can you earn with pay per appointment?
- How to get started with PPA?
- And of course, the core idea of each pay per model.
But before you invest your time in that, here’s something I need you to understand:
You see, the left side of the online sales process is more about marketing. And the right side is more about sales.
Although both of these are related, they are NOT the same. Both in terms of value and execution.
Sales is undeniably a more straightforward and direct route to revenue generation as compared to marketing. So, if a business already has established sales processes, it doesn’t make much sense to spend resources on building systems for generating traffic and media buying from the ground up.
These businesses need to focus more on securing sales opportunities. And pay per appointment is just that.
It’s a model wherein the prospects request an appointment by themselves. Leading to direct sales!
But again, how exactly? Let’s find out…
What is pay per appointment lead generation?
By definition, pay per appointment is a lead-gen business model wherein a lead expresses interest and agrees to an appointment.
Lead buyers will pay a lead generation company to pass this lead on to them, so they can have a face-to-face meeting with them. It could be over Zoom or in person depending on the business type and industry.
The business risk for buyers in this lead generation model is usually low. That’s because the potential lead has expressed a strong interest in your product/service. So much so, they’ve agreed to spend a few minutes of their precious time listening to the offer.
There’s a very high chance these leads will convert. In a face-to-face meeting with them, lead buyers only have to present their solution. Tell them how your offer is better than the others and why they really need to use it.
💰 Tip: Offer them a discount (a really good one – say 50% or so) and put a very short time limit to it.
This lead generation model is also commonly known as appointment setting in the B2B & B2C space – as a type of performance marketing.
Several lead generation companies offer appointment-setting services. They’ll charge in either of the two ways:
- Monthly fee
- Per-appointment charges
In the monthly fee model, a minimum range of leads is set. So, the paying party knows what to expect at the end of the month and the lead-gen professional knows what to deliver for the price. But often, this pricing model ends up focusing on the count of leads and not the quality of leads.
This means a loss for the paying party and short-term business for the appointment setter.
There are, of course, exceptions. Lead generators may be able to generate solid leads on monthly models as well. But seasoned lead generation professionals are rare, and good ones will usually ask for their rightful share in each appointment fixed.
Given that, pay per appointment is more about quality rather than quantity.
So, business owners can conveniently choose not to pay if the generated appointments do not bring any sales. And lead generation professionals can use the step-by-step guide below to make this high-paying yet challenging lead-gen technique more reliable and profitable for their business.
Is Pay Per Appointment the same as Pay Per Call?
No! Pay per appointment is not the same as pay per call. There are three major differences between both:
- Pay Per Call involves a voice call. A voice call is not as effective as a video call or an in-person meeting. It’s scientifically proven. Check out this post on how nonverbal communication persuades.
- Pay Per Call is a model that most lead-gen companies use for potential customers that are further up the funnel (away from making a purchase). The phone call is only a step to convincing them further and then following up with emails and messages – until they purchase or decline.
- Pay Per Call involves a lot of guesswork. You never know whether the person on the other end is the real decision-maker or if they’re really following what you’re saying.
And to understand the tech setup differences between Pay Per Call and Pay Per Appointment, browse the table below!
How much can you charge for pay-per-appointment leads?
You can charge anywhere between $50 – $500 per appointment depending on the quality of leads, the reputation of your lead-gen business, and the cost of the client’s product/service. If they’re making six figures per sale, go ahead and charge a few thousand for each solid appointment you fix for them.
Notice that it’s actually the quality of the lead that determines your pricing more than anything else – find out which type of quality lead sells more ⬇️
Quick Reference: Pay Per Models
| Paid Marketing Methodology | Explanation | Technical Setup | Potential Cost | Risk Level for Business |
| Pay per Impression | A business pays for each impression made by an add. Impressions are defined as the number of times an ad is shown to a user. | Ad Platform Integration, Landing Pages | Low | High |
| Pay per Click | A business pays for each click made on an ad. Clicks are defined as the number of times a user clicks on an ad. | Ad Platform Integration, Landing Pages | Low to Medium | Medium |
| Pay per Lead | A business pays for each lead generated by a campaign. Leads are defined as potential customers who have expressed interest in a business’s products or services. | Ad Platform Integration, Landing Pages, CRM Integration | Low to Medium | Low |
| Pay per Call | A business pays for each call made to a tracking phone number generated by a campaign. Calls are defined as interactions between a potential customer and a business over the phone. | Ad Platform Integration, Landing Pages, CRM Integration, Call Tracking | Low to Medium | Low |
| Pay per Appointment | A business pays for each appointment scheduled with a potential customer generated by a campaign. Appointments are defined as face-to-face meetings between a potential customer and a business. | Ad Platform Integration, Landing Pages, Scheduling Software, CRM Integration | Low to Medium | Low |
| Pay per Customer | A business pays for each customer acquired generated by a campaign. Customers are defined as individuals who have purchased a business’s products or services. | Ad Platform Integration, Landing Pages, CRM Integration | Low to Medium | Low |
| Pay per Sale (Commission) | A business pays a commission for each sale made generated by a campaign. Sales are defined as completed transactions between a customer and a business. | Ad Platform Integration, Landing Pages, Payment Processing, CRM Integration | Low | Low |
| Backend Revenue Share for a Period | A business pays a percentage of its revenue generated by a customer acquired through a campaign over a specified period. | Ad Platform Integration, Landing Pages, CRM Integration | Low to Medium | Low |
| Backend Revenue Share in Perpetuity | A business pays a percentage of its revenue generated by a customer acquired through a campaign for the lifetime of the customer. | Ad Platform Integration, Landing Pages, CRM Integration | Low to Medium | Low |
Pay Per Appointment VS Pay Per Lead
Pay Per Lead is more popular, but Pay Per Appointment is more profitable.
So…which of the two is for you?
Well, that depends. You know, it’s marketing after all 🥲
First, let’s get one thing very clear.
Both of these business models classify under paid marketing since business owners are purchasing sales in one form or another.
But generally, pay per lead is considered to be the parent business model. And pay per appointment is its subtype.
That’s because a lead is defined as
A potential customer who shows an interest in a product/service by taking an action.
This action is pre-decided between lead-gen professionals and business owners. And it’s unique for each business, depending on their desired output, industry, and budget.
It can be any one of the following:
- Filling out a form
- Filling out a quiz
- Downloading a resource
- Interacting with certain posts
- Connecting with the team
- Clicking on a Schedule a Call or Book an Appointment or Add to Cart or Purchase button
If the desired action is clicking on Book an Appointment button or anything related to the same, we have a lead who’s interested in a face-to-face meeting. They are interested in the product or service enough to spend their time and resources on it.
They’re seriously considering purchasing.
So, you see what’s happened here? We have Pay Per Appointment lead generation in action.
This is why it’s a subtype – meaning Pay Per Lead and Pay Per Appointment are not very different from one another.
PPA is just a more enhanced and stronger version of PPL with better chances of success.
Despite the sameness in both these models, there’s a reason why pay per appointment is stronger. It’s got:
- Greater earning potential
- Lower business risk
In pay per lead, by norms, contact information qualifies a prospect as a lead. At best, you can additionally collect details that can help you sell to them (such as their interests and pain points). You do not get their permission to contact them in person for sales purposes.
Hence, there’s a higher business risk. PPL leads may or may not convert despite your intensive marketing efforts (and hey, this is why we suggest starting your PPL campaigns by setting up stronger criteria for qualifying a lead).
Meanwhile, a lead from the Pay Per Appointment model brings you useful information about the lead + the lead’s consent allowing you to directly sell products or services to them in person.
So, if pay per lead brings you hot leads, pay per appointment brings you hotter leads. Getting the idea?
With that said, here’s a quick & clear comparison to help you visualize the two as individual but related business models:
| Pay Per Lead | Pay Per Appointment | |
| Deliverables | Contact information of the lead, details about the prospect that can help you sell your product/service to them | Contact information of the lead, a fixed appointment with the lead |
| Best Suited For | B2C businesses, moderately priced products & services | B2B businesses, high-ticket products & services |
| Not Recommend For | eCommerce & local businesses | Cheap B2C products and services |
| Amount of Marketing Effort Required Before Capturing the Lead | Tremendous (if you’re not using LeadsHook) | Moderate |
| Amount of Marketing Effort Required After Getting the Lead | High | Minimal |
| Earning Potential | Medium – high | High |
The Best Niches for Pay Per Appointment Lead Generation
The best niches for Pay Per Appointment lead generation are the ones that require high-touch.
💡In business, high touch refers to a high level of person-to-person interaction between the seller and the customer.
Usually, these are service-based businesses. Hence, the best niches for Pay Per Appointment lead generation are as follows:
- Home Improvement: HVAC, roofing, remodeling, cleaning, etc.
- Solar Panel: Installation and maintenance
- Healthcare & Pharma: Dental services, cosmetic surgery, chiropractic, dermatology, pain management, maintenance of medical devices, etc.
- Real Estate: Construction, property selling & reselling, rentals, corporate relocations, etc.
- Surveillance & security services: Installation and maintenance
- Education: Colleges, universities, trade schools, etc.
- Finance & Insurance: Mortgage, stock trading, debt reduction, credit card management, student loans, car purchase, etc.
In all of the industries mentioned above, the customer usually requires a push or reassurance from the seller to proceed with the purchase. Setting up an appointment with them does the job perfectly.
But apart from these, appointment setting also works really well for B2B markets selling high-ticket products.
Consider commercial distillers for example. On average, cheap distilling machines cost $3000, while expensive ones cost as high as $125,000 or more.
So, if you’re helping manufacturers of these machines sell their products by setting up an appointment, you can charge 1% – 3% of the total product cost as your fair share. This means you get:
- $30 – $90 per appointment in case of a $3000 product
- $1250 – $3750 per appointment in case of a $125,000 product
Note that you can set a fixed fee for setting an appointment + a commission if the appointment leads to a sale.
| 💡 Good to Know
A fixed fee is the amount business owners agree to pay to the lead generator irrespective of whether the appointment leads to a sale or not. This amount is usually lower than commissions. Explains why confident lead generators don’t shy away from commissions 😉 |
Currently, we’re doing the maths for commission-based earnings for pay per appointment lead generation. The fixed fee is a separate & definite gain.
Say you fix 10 appointments per week, you’ll make:
- $300 – $900 per week
- $12,500 – $37,500 per week
Now, these are bare minimum estimates. Seasoned appointment generators book 3-4 appointments every day and charge at least 10% of the total product/service cost.
Evidently, there is lots of money in pay per appointment lead generation given you do it right.
And….how to do it right?
Exercise the guide given in the last section of this post!
We’ve weaved the ways of lead generation experts within those guidelines. So, keep on reading and be careful not to miss a single detail.
Choosing the Right Pay Per Appointment Program
Hold on – there’s one more important thing you need to know before we dive into the guide.
Two types of leads who schedule an appointment:
MQL
MQL – or a Marketing Qualified Lead – is someone who shows interest in your product or service owing to your marketing efforts.
These people have interacted with your marketing material. But they did not show any intentions of making a purchase yet. They are higher up the funnel and need more effort to convert (as compared to SQLs).
SQL
SQL – or a Sales Qualified Lead – is someone who interacts directly with the sales team such as by requesting an appointment or asking for a quote. Their actions clearly depict that they are considering purchasing from you.
These are the best types of leads for B2B appointment setting pay per appointment. That’s because they are deeper into the funnel and hence, higher quality. It’s easier to convert these as compared to MQLs.
Bonus Leads: Direct Business Deals
After SQLs, there’s another approach to seeking leads that we recommend, i.e., direct business deals. This means you can partner with the service-based businesses we mentioned above.
You can partner with them for two things:
- Generate leads
- Buy leads
Either you can generate leads for them and set up appointments with qualified ones.
Or if they have a system of generating leads on their own, you can partner with them to buy leads that do not fit their ICP. Usually, you’ll get these at cheap rates.
Then, sell them to other businesses in your network who might find these leads useful.
How to start a pay per appointment business?
To sum up, the entire idea, pay per appointment lead generation basically adopts the outbound prospecting strategy.
Meaning, your process will look something like this:
Step 1: Find a potential customer
Step 2: Pitch your product until they are ready to talk (without getting on their nerves 😬)
Step 3: Once they’re ready to talk, set an appointment.
Step 4: Give a final shot to pitching, and successfully close a sale.
As an appointment generator, your job starts at step one and ends at step three. Step four is usually handled by the client’s inside sales team.
Of course, these three steps further break down into a detailed actionable plan – which we’ve shared below.
But notice that companies will hire you to outsource only a part of their sales cycle (because it’s cost-effective). So, as an appointment setter, you need not fret about the entire deal. Just laser-focus your efforts on targeting.
Good targeting will usually result in a successful sale. But similar to targeting, there are in-depth, skill-demanding strategies and techniques for closing a sale too. Hence, we strongly advise you to let go of that worry for the time being.
Your job right now is to find the perfect lead, nurture them if need be, and hook them enough to fix an appointment.
Here’s how to get started with that:
1. Define the Ideal Customer Profile
To find the perfect lead, set up an ICP or ideal customer profile. It’s basically an imaginary profile of your perfect customer.
In the B2B space, your customer is another company that will buy your service/product. Hence, your ICP should contain the following details about your this company:
- Firmographic data: Location, company size, annual revenue, budget, company age, and repute
- Pain points: Major pain points impacting short-term and long-term goals + how many of these are you solving?
- Buying process: Their research process, the reason for purchase, key decision maker, their preference for referrals, and the biggest obstacles in the purchase process
For B2C sales, a similar set of characteristics should be compiled on an individual level (i.e., one customer profile for each segment).
However, sales experts recommend outbound prospecting & PPA lead generation for B2B only. That’s because the sales cycle for companies is much shorter compared to B2C.
It could cost you a lot to convert the end consumer through PPA. So, it’s best to opt for inbound sales for B2C.
Now, how do you find the specifics for ICP?
- Browse existing customers and shortlist those making the most of your product/service. Interview them and find out how you are helping them with their challenges. Extract ICP details from the most successful customer profiles.
- If you don’t have a user base right now, it’s a good idea to research your competitors and their customer base. Extract and brainstorm details for your ideal customer profile.
💡 As an appointment setter, is it your job to create the ideal customer profile?
No. Business owners or buyers of leads must provide you with an ICP. Because at the end of the day, it’s their business and only they know what they wish to truly achieve. You cannot set their goals for them.
You can, however, help them craft an ICP by providing specific questions that could lead to a sales conversation for their product/service. Assist them in figuring out what type of offer or products they must present.
Note that ICP is NOT the same as the target audience or potential customer (buyer persona).
ICP is a subset of both and it is fictional. You create it based on collected data. And it gives a head start for finding new relevant leads.
You might not be able to find a company with the exact same attributes as that of your ICP. But when you start looking for clients with a profile as close to your ICP as possible, you’ll find highly relevant matches.
2. Set up your funnel
You know who to approach.
It’s time to figure out how to approach.
Now, listen. Even if you have the contact details of a potential customer who perfectly fits your ideal customer profile, do not just ring them up and pitch your business.
Never send an email or any form of an offer to your prospect WITHOUT personalizing it for them.
First, do your research. Educate yourself about the current problems faced by this particular company or current happenings. Figure out how you fit in and pitch accordingly.
But here’s the problem – even if you send a super personalized cold email, there’s a very low chance your perfect candidate will respond in the first go.
This is where a sales funnelcomes in handy.
Build a journey for them and push them further. Here’s a detailed video on the subject that we recommend watching:
But to sum it all up; you need to build a three-phase journey for the customer. As your sales funnel.
These three phases are
- Top of the funnel: This is where you attract the prospect with marketing efforts like landing pages or ads. You get a lead.
- Middle of the funnel: This is where your prospect exhibits an interest in your business and the lead qualifies. For example, they attempt a quiz on your website, sign up for your email list, or request an appointment.
- Bottom of the funnel: This is where the prospect finally makes a purchase and perhaps, refers you to others. In PPA, this phase is your client’s to handle.
💰Tip: Recognize buying signals & incorporate them in your sales funnel to shorten your prospect’s route to you.
3. Generate traffic
In the last step, we learned sales funnels look different for each business. However, they all begin at the same place: generating traffic.
There are many marketing channels that you can use to drive traffic to your website. It all depends on where your target audience is searching for you.
Here’s a list of popular marketing channels that work for most businesses:
- Search Engines (Google & Bing particularly)
- Search Engine Marketing (Ads)
- Social Media
- Paid Social Media Advertising
- LinkedIn Advertising (Best for B2B)
- Email Marketing
- Content Marketing
- PR & Earned Media
- Webinars
- Programmatic Marketing
When it comes to pay per appointment lead generation, search engines are your best bet. Why so?
Browse our guides to learn how powerful search engines can be for lead generation:
Study these carefully. We’ve shared actionable plans that can help you initiate traffic generation and strategize your pay per appointment telemarketing efforts for both short-term and long-term returns.
4. Capture leads
Now, this is the step that determines your profits. If you nail this, you win the entire game.
Capture leads by collecting the mostrelevantdata about your prospects. You can do this by:
- Embedding a quiz on your sales page.
- Offering a lead magnet on your sales page/email/post
Or you can combine both. Put them through a short, fun quiz that collects details about their pain point, interests, and the solution they’re seeking. And in the end, reward them with a valuable resource.
So far, quizzes have seen a 55% opt-in rate. This means quizzes are 25 times more effective than regular forms or pop-ups.
With that said, as an appointment setter, you want to collect details that help you assess them against your ICP. Also, collect their contact details.
If they are close to your ICP, nurture the lead until they request an appointment. All your marketing messages should be aimed toward setting an appointment.
| 💡 Good to Know
For an average lead, it takes at least 8 sales messages to set up an initial meeting. |
Additionally, you can directly set up an appointment after they attempt the quiz. Just naturally offer them a chance to chat with the core team.
There are a million different ways to do that. But for now, think about something like this:
Sample Offer for Real Estate Leads
Suggested: How a LeadsHook Quiz Generated 250,000 Leads in a year?
5. Use pay per appointment software and services
It’s time to set up a smooth workflow!
We recommend using dedicated tools to streamline the entire process of your pay per appointment lead generation business.
The most basic toolkit should include these:
- Lead generation tool: These tools will help collect data about prospects directly or bring your prospect to a point where you can collect data about them. For example, you can use Instagram ads to bring prospects to your landing page. It all depends on what your sales funnel looks like.
- CRM tool: Once you have the lead data, you’ll need a CRM tool to store this data and help you manage it.
- Scheduling software: This tool allows prospects to directly book appointments from the landing page or any other point where they developed an interest in your business. It’s best to opt for scheduling software that integrates with your CRM tool for swift management.
For your own business operations, you’ll require a payment processing tool. So, you can receive timely payment for the quality leads generated.
Remember, the smarter your process, the higher your ROI will be.
Supercharge Your PPA Strategy With This One Tool
By now, you know everything you need to for setting up your pay per appointment biz.
Except for one secret weapon, i.e., LeadsHook.
What’s LeadsHook? And how can it help you with pay per appointment lead generation?
Precisely, LeadsHook is an all-in-one solution for lead generators of all sorts. It can help you:
- Define your ICP
- Set up a high-performing sales funnel
- Generate Traffic
- Capture quality leads
It collapses the first four distinct steps of your journey into one. So, all you’ve to do is focus on the fifth step, i.e., dealing with clients and processing payments.
The tool basically creates highly personalized quizzes and the team behind LeadsHook specializes in setting up targeted funnels.
This means you don’t have to waste time and resources in trial and error. You need not shoot blanks to find your perfect sales funnel or perfect lead generation strategy.
Whether you need a specific marketing service for lead generation or want to set up a robust system to generate leads consistently – you can count on LeadsHook with both.
Sounds like a luxury? It very much is.
And so, we offer you a 14-day FREE trial. All features of the software are included.
Keep the leads you generate during this trial period along with all the valuable data you find.
And if you choose to permanently incorporate this tool in your toolkit like most other lead gen experts, you’ll find us right by your side. Every single step of the way. 🙂
