Pay Per Appointment: Is It Really Worth It?

Using external experts to find highly qualified leads for your business can save companies time and money. But, just as within any product or service industry, not all lead generation services are created equal. When seeking outbound call services, it’s imperative that businesses be conscientious about choosing the appropriate service and payment model for their needs.

When outsourcing lead generation, businesses have different service and payment models to choose from. Some companies offer lead generation services on a monthly fee basis, others require lump-sum initiation costs, and others require payment only when an appointment is booked. 

With the above information, it’s clear to see that pay-per-appointment (PPA) is exactly as it sounds: when a company uses PPA as a method of appointment setting, they pay only for each appointment booked.

Companies offering pay per appointment (PPA commit to generating a specific number of leads for an up-front cost. After they’re paid, they deliver the leads or appointments to the client as promised.

Sounds simple, right? Well, anyone with a lick of experience in the sales industry should be intimately aware that if something sounds too good to be true, it is. PPA is no exception to this rule, especially for those looking to get any value from your company’s sales budget.

Inexpensive PPA deals can be alluring. After all, what sales team doesn’t want a steady stream of qualified leads dropped on their doorstep with minimal research or financial commitment? Everyone, right? However, what you’ll likely end up with from one of these budget programs is:

• Use of overseas callers that are pushy.
• Agents are more concerned with the number of appointments set than their quality.
• Underwhelming success rates.

On the other side of the spectrum, other PPA deals in Canada and the USA are much more expensive (upwards of $2000 per appointment) and usually require the client to pay a substantial, non-refundable set-up or assessment fee. This payment is often in addition to a monthly fee. 

These companies may also charge for using their proprietary database or for cleaning a client’s database. On top of that, they charge per appointment booked – even if the meeting has not been adequately qualified or does not come to fruition.

At Lead Generators International, we believe it’s important to have different types of leads in your sales pipeline that will maximize current and future opportunities. Unfortunately, PPA isn’t designed to locate and nurture prospects with potential decision makers; it focuses only on today’s appointment.

Also, PPA companies tend to minimize their costs by requiring clients to fit their mould, providing minimal (or no) reporting, and limiting their communications.

Proper brand management is critical in today’s increasingly digital world. For example, 93% of consumers in 2017 used online reviews to make purchasing decisions. When partnering with a firm that will closely interact with your potential clients, it’s imperative that they represent your brand appropriately.

Not all telemarketing companies put their clients’ branding interests front of mind. This behaviour can even damage a company’s reputation. Examples of PPA techniques that could make more of a mess than a meaningful difference include:

• Misrepresentation of the product to secure appointments.
• Uninformed live transfer leads.
• Harassing behaviour from callers towards a client.

A benefit of lead generation services, that goes beyond gaining quality leads and meaningful sales appointments, is the amount of valuable market research acquired in the process. A client-finding firm that wants to see your sales team succeed will actively research current market trends relevant to your business.

For example, at our B2B lead generating firm, we cater exclusively to businesses seeking increased sales from other companies. We execute the necessary market research required to set our clients up for success. Over time, our market research has been able to identify and isolate relevant and qualified buyers for our clients. 

It’s easy enough to identify and critique a poor lead-generating model. However, it doesn’t recognize a successful way to increase leads for a B2B sales team. Unfortunately, that’s not such an easy answer. But, that’s where our team of lead-finding professionals comes in handy.

At Lead Generation International, we are lead-finding strategists. We build plans that are unique to each client. Each one is designed to increase profitability and channel more tremendous success for our clients. We also have the history to prove it.

Since 1992, we have been specialists in B2B cold-calling and in generating highly qualified leads and appointments with buyers. We have a proven track record, an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, a Results Guarantee, and a Code of Performance that underpins all our work. Contact us today to explore how we can help you boost your business.