Finding a top appointment-setting company to partner up with is a long process.
You have to build a list of potential appointment setters, book meetings with them to understand their offering/pricing, and compile a list of all the fact-finding research you’ve done.
Our clients at Salesbread tell us that this process alone can take up to two to three weeks, just to narrow down the top 2 lead generation agencies.
So, to save you time, we have done the homework for you and have listed out the top 10 appointment-setting companies in our opinion; Along with all the buying attributes you would probably need to make a sound buying decision.
(Interested in learning more about our services? Book a free 15-minute strategy session with the founder of Salesbread. We are a boutique lead generation agency that specializes in ultra-personalized LinkedIn and cold email outreach. In the past 24 months, we generated close to 7000 qualified sales leads for our clients. We would love to do the same for you.)
1. Salesbread
Website: https://salesbread.com/
About:
Salesbread is a boutique b2b lead generation agency that helps founders and sales teams find qualified sales leads through LinkedIn and cold email outreach.
We do this by building in-depth prospecting lists based on your current buyer’s data and sending ultra-personalized LinkedIn and cold email messages.
These personalized sales funnels help our clients reach their ideal customers. Not only do we find quality leads, but they also help prospects feel excited about your product.
Here’s why you might like working with our agency
- We offer a 1-hour kick-off call where we get into the nitty-gritty of who to target. Read about our strategy below.
- You work directly with the founder of Salesbread and won’t be passed off to a less experienced account manager
- Each message is tailored and personalized for each prospect – No AI-written messages
- There are no locked-in contracts
- You can expect 1 qualified lead per day – All you have to do is close the deal
- Once our partnership has ended, we will share our entire strategy with you from start to finish, so that, if you like, you can bring the process in-house.
This is our appointment-setting process
Our strategy is simple.
Find prospects who need what you’re selling, and who have the budget and the buying power.
And we do this by:
Building a list of your ideal customers based on your current buyer’s data
We have a look at WHO has been buying your product/service over the last 6 months. We then analyze this data by using 34 different filters. This helps us find patterns between your buyers.
For example:
- Are they located in a specific area? San Francisco? North America? Canada?
- Do they use a specific SAAS or CRM tool?
- How big is the company? Are they all more or less the same size? Greater than 500 employees or less than 10?
- What industry are they in? Health and wellness? Tech? Marketing services?
- Have they recently been funded?
- Who is the decision maker?
Here’s a video explaining the process
It takes a week to get this list perfect.
Next, we refine this list even further and find the right people to reach out to through LinkedIn/cold email
We will then find the right people at these companies by using LinkedIn Sales Navigator. So, for example, if the data we analyzed showed us that the head of marketing was making all the buying decisions, we will then find all the heads of marketing at your ideal companies and connect with them.
We first filter this list by your second-degree network and by recently posted.
The reason for this is that if someone is in your second-degree network, they will more likely respond to your message because you already share a mutual connection.
And when we filter by recently posted, it ensures that we are reaching out to prospects who are active on the platform.
Next, we send ultra-personalized connection request messages
We have a personalization expert whose sole job is to research each prospect and write ultra-personalized messages specifically for that person.
They will look at each prospect’s LinkedIn profile and find something specific to mention in the messaging.
You can learn more about our personalization method in the video below:
Here are some examples of our messaging:
1. Hey {{Name}}, since we’re both working in {{commercial real estate}} here in {{San Diego}}, I’d like to invite you to share my network here on LI.
2. {{Name}}, I’m looking to connect with like-minded professionals who are on the {{revenue-generating}} side of things. Let’s connect?
3. Hi {{Name}}, I’m looking to expand my network with fellow business owners in the {{HR Tech}} industry. Looking forward to learning more about what you do and see if there’s any way we can support each other.
4. Hi (Name) LinkedIn showed me your profile multiple times now, so I checked what you do. I really like your {{sales posts}} and would like to connect with you here.
5. Hey (Name) I hope your week is off to a great start, since we both work in the {{HR/Employee Experience}} field together, are you open to connecting?(My background is in employee retention, happy to share insights anytime.)
6. Listening to your podcast now & subscribed! Wanted to connect and say thank you for sharing your insights – I’m using them to help land a lead gen job. Cheers,{{Signature}}
7. {{Name}}, we’re looking for a {{law firm}} like yours to collaborate on an upcoming book. Would like to interview you based on your {{10}} years experience with {{AI law}}. Have 15 minutes to talk next week?
8. Hi {{Name}} I’m on a personal mission to connect with thought leaders in the {{B2B lead gen}} industry. I’m still relatively new to the field, but glad I found your {{podcast}}. Let’s connect?
9. Hoping to connect with a fellow {{hr director}}. If you’re looking to do some networking, I’m happy to introduce you to other HR professionals I know here on LI.
10. Hi (Name), saw your last {{corporate retreat}} in {{Chicago}}. Had a few {{travel management}} questions for you. Open to connecting and sharing a few insights?
Then we follow up consistently and ask for a booked sales call
We make sure that we follow up between 3 and 4 times and ask the prospect for a booked meeting. The important thing to remember when asking for a booked call, is to keep your “ask” simple.
Here are some examples:
- Are you available for a chat?
- How is your availability for a 10 min call this week?
- I’d love to share more on why you may need [PRODUCT] and how it can help [BENEFIT]. How’s {{=day}} next week look for a 15-minute call?
- Are you free for a call this Friday to discuss [MAIN BENEFIT]?
- Are you available for a quick call in the next days to see if [MY PRODUCT] aligns with your goals?
- When are you free to connect this week? You can use this link to book directly on my calendar.
- Can we target {{=bday+2}} afternoon to discuss [BENEFIT/PROBLEM]?
- What’s the best way to schedule 5 minutes to talk?
- Would you have some time next {{=day}} to discuss?
- If you find the spec interesting, should we set up a confidential chat?
Primary Channel:
- LinkedIn outreach
- Email outreach
- SMS
Location:
Florida, USA
Pricing:
$1500 – $5000
Reviews
Pros:
- Done-for-you lead generation that guarantees more qualified prospects
- One-on-one sales consulting that offers a bulletproof outbound strategy to fix your low open rates and messages. Close more deals faster.
- Dedicated web scraper PhD standing by to help build lists when needed
- No account manager – Work directly with the founder of the company.
Cons:
- We don’t do cold callingl. LinkedIn and Email outreach
- SalesBread pricing is a bit higher than average in comparison to other outbound lead generation services in America.
Rating:
- 5 stars
2. SalesRoad
About:
SalesRoads helps companies grow by providing appointment settings and SDR services. They have been in the business for 13 years and focus on finding the perfect target market for qualified prospects.
Their process
They start off with a two-hour deep dive into your business and market. They then build your company a playbook. The kick-off call dictates what goes into your sales playbook and this includes sales approaches, email templates, targeting criteria, and more.
Next, they do a CRM setup and deliver leads.
They mention how your prospect list will be uploaded into their outbound calling platform. They will also set up any possible integration with your internal CRM.
They then leverage your feedback on your demand generation playbook to perfect their approach and strategy before starting SDR training.
In the 3rd week, they will launch your campaign following an extensive 5-day training program, where they will offer you an invite to engage in a live role-play session alongside your SDR(s) before embarking on live calls.
Finally, on day 16 your SDR will begin calling prospects
Primary Channel:
- Appointment-setting services via call teams
- SQL – development lead generation
Location:
Florida United States
Pricing:
$5000 + for minimum project size
Reviews
Pros
SalesRoads is ideal for major corporate companies as they have the resources for large and aggressive campaigns.
They focus mainly on voice services, so if you are interested in call center services for rather large outbound lead generation, then they might be for you.
Cons
According to Clutch, SalesRoads seems to be rather costly. For a small business, using this b2b appointment setting service might initially be too pricey.
SalesRoads could be a good choice for large corporations or mid-market-sized businesses. Their primary focus is telemarketing and business consultation services. They don’t have a large variety of options for lead generation strategies.
Rating:
3. By Appointment Only
About
BAO has offered top-of-the-funnel support since 1997. They help established industries to start-ups and high-tech leaders gain more leads and booked appointments. They mainly focus on cold calling services and have set up 550 000 + appointments to date.
Their process
BOA will work with you to define a list of accounts and personas that you want to target. They will then train their sales reps on your campaign messaging. Then their ISRs partner with your salespeople to secure meetings with executives in your key accounts.
They measure the quality of your campaign with their BAO ROI Tracker (our post-meeting survey tool) to optimize outreach and boost campaigns.
Your reps meet with key decision-makers and focus on building relationships, creating pipelines, and closing deals
Primary Channel
- Cold calling
Pricing
$5000+
Reviews
Pros
- Many years of experience
- They work with big and small companies
- They offer guaranteed results
Cons
- You will need to contact them to find out more about their pricing
- There aren’t many reviews about their company on the internet
Ratings
Undisclosed
4. Intelemark
About:
Intelemark focuses on appointment setting through demand generation, cold calling, and authentic connection strategy.
They design customized B2B demand generation, lead generation, and appointment-setting campaigns to connect your business with the right people.
The results are in the quantity and quality of the connections they build for you.
They commit themselves to understanding your brand. Intelemark will align its B2B appointment-setting strategies and sales support efforts to provide measurable brand optimization for your campaigns.
Their process
First, you will hop on a strategic consultation with them. Here, they will gain insights into your business, prospects, target audience, goals, and objectives.
Their team will then employ consultative conversations by addressing pain points and showcasing your value proposition.
Intelemark will utilize the data provided by you to target the right companies and deliver appointments.
Their skilled appointment setters will engage professionally with your prospects. By utilizing active listening and relationship-building techniques, they will establish trust and credibility, increasing the likelihood of securing appointments.
Once a qualified appointment is secured, they will ensure all details are documented.
Primary Channel:
Telemarketing and sales outsourcing
Location:
Arizona, United States
Pricing:
$29 – $49 per hour
Reviews
Pros
If you would like to work with an outbound lead generation company that has been in business for a really long time, Intelemark is a good option. They were established in 1999 and have years of experience behind them.
Cons
Intelemark’s primary focus is appointment setting through cold calling. They, unfortunately, don’t have a variety of services to offer, and they seem to really specialize in the healthcare industry, as opposed to other sectors.
Rating:
4.8 stars
5. Ledium
About
Ledium uses human-powered and strategy-backed lead generation to reach your ideal customer. They deliver a predictive sales funnel solution that is supported by stats.
They provide voice services, b2b appointment settings, and conversion optimization.
Ledium knows that it’s risky to hire a sales team. This is why they maximize revenue by providing a founder-led sales team that focuses on an outbound strategy, data, content, technology, and prospecting.
Their appointment-setting campaigns are designed to be personalized to each prospect.
Their process
Unfortunately, they don’t go into detail about their marketing strategy on their website, but you can hop on a consult to find out more.
Primary Channels:
- Call center
- LinkedIn social selling
- SMS, video, GIF, direct mail
Location:
North Washington, USA
Price:
- $1000 + per minimum campaign
- $25 + per hour
They don’t mention their exact pricing, so you would have to contact them directly.
Reviews
Pros
Ledium offers weekly leads and summaries to their clients and has a US-based sales team. They are also competitively priced, which many clients are impressed with.
Cons
Ledium specializes in voice call centers. If you are looking for other forms of lead generation, then choose a different company. They also have many clients. Therefore, there were some delays with new clients. (Info as per reviews)
Rating:
4.9 stars
6. EBQuickstart
About:
EBQ provides sales, strategies, and outbound services to software, hardware, and cloud tech organizations. They have experienced teams in every department, from CRM consulting and SI to email marketing and voice services.
They were founded in 2006 in Texas. EBQuickstart consists of several sales and marketing teams that act as external branches for companies and help them fix any issues in their sales development strategies, or design new campaigns for them.
For EBQuickstart, revenue growth for their clients is the utmost priority, and they do so through a variety of services.
Their process:
Unfortunately, they don’t go into detail about their outbound sales process on their website. For more details, contact them.
Primary Channel:
- Voice services
- CRM consulting
Location:
Texas, United States
Price:
$5000+ per minimum campaign
Reviews
Pros
This is an excellent company if you are in the computer security and network business. They specialize in lead generation for cloud-based tech companies. They also have teams in every outbound marketing section, which allows for a one-stop shop.
Cons
If your company is not in the hard drive, cloud-based tech field, find a company specializing in your niche. EBQ is also pricey, with their minimum campaigns starting at $5000.
Rating:
4.8 stars
7. Outbound View
About:
Outbound View is a B2B appointment-setting company that has a proven track record. Specifically helping companies find HR buyers. They mention that they are 100% focused on HR.
They help organizations design, develop, and implement outbound sales strategies. They believe the most successful sales organizations have the right talent, in the correct positions, and a culture that enforces the right skills and behaviors.
Their process
Unfortunately, they also don’t go into detail about their sales process, but to find out more visit their website.
Primary Channel:
Sales outsourcing, call center services
Location:
Tennessee
Pricing:
$1000+
$29 – $40 per hour
Reviews
Pros
They are well-priced compared to other competitors and could work well for new startups. They also mainly focus on call center services and have been in the business since 2016.
Cons
Call center services are their primary form of lead generation. They also seem to be 100% focused on HR. So, if you have other buyers in mind, they might not be the right agency for you.
Rating:
4.9 stars
8. Belkins
About:
Belkins is an international company that focuses on a unique methodology to set appointments with targeted clients.
They believe in fostering personal and professional development, enabling their clients to prosper.
Belkins was established in 2017 and in 2023 they were listed on the Inc. Magazine Mid-Atlantic list, a regional ranking of the 142 fastest-growing private companies in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.
Their process
They first do a market fit validation, by testing your hypothesis and validating your ideas. In order to test your new product or service potential, they will agree upon a channel, value prop, and messaging with you.
They will then launch several campaigns to identify potential sales opportunities and schedule appointments.
Their team will then analyze the responses of your prospects and provide feedback to define whether your offering resonates with the potential customers.
Primary Channel:
- Voice services
- Content marketing
- Email Marketing
Location:
Denver United States
Pricing
$5000+
$25 + per hour
Reviews
Pros
They have a 25% share in assisting companies in information technology.
Therefore, if this is your niche, Belkins could work well for you.
They also have a 5-star rating from various clients.
Cons
They focus mainly on clients in the information tech field. Therefore, if you are in a different field, such as medicine, you might prefer to use a company that specializes in your niche.
Rating:
4.9 stars
9. Callbox
About:
Callbox provides a full range of lead generation services, including appointment setting and data-related solutions. They use multichannel methods when reaching out to potential customers.
They have been in the business of outsourced sales for over 20 years and have delivered over 1.3 million qualified leads for their clients. They also offer multilingual services, with support in over 15 languages.
Their process
Their approach isn’t just focused on generating leads, but it also involves lead nurturing, follow-ups, and more to help their clients effectively convert leads into sales.
They use 7 marketing channels, which includes:
- Phone
- Email,
- Social media
- Website
- Live chat
- Events
- And messaging (SMS and WhatsApp)
To reach out to potential customers. They also use a combination of in-house data, research, and third-party data providers to provide sales data that is accurate. This allows them to target the right decision-makers and set appointments.
Primary Channel:
Call center services, sales outsourcing
Location:
World wide
Pricing:
They don’t mention their pricing on their website, but there are various packages to choose from.
Reviews
Pros
Callbox offers a multichannel approach, which means if you would like a broader approach to lead gen, they could be the right company for you.
Cons
Their industry focus is mainly information technology and marketing agencies. They also don’t have a listed minimum price range on Clutch. Therefore, you would need to contact them.
Rating:
4.5 stars
10. Cience
About:
CIENCE Technologies offers human-driven, machine-powered lead generation services for B2B companies. They also provide appointment-setting services with a personal touch.
Their process
They will find and reach out to new leads for you. They mention on their site that “they live to prospect.”
They start sales conversations daily, and no leads make it onto your sales team’s calendar without your approval.
Their goal is to build a consistent approach resulting in a repeatable formula with their trained specialists. This means that they offer you the ability to manage new business forecasts across accomplished Tasks, Activities, and Operations.
Primary Channel:
- Voice Services
- CRM consulting
- Cold calling
- Ads
Location:
Denver United States
Pricing:
$5000 +
$25 per hour
Reviews
Pros
If you need appointment setters who also specialize in voice services, CIENCE could offer you a comprehensive multi-channel lead generation service.
They are also more affordable than most other appointment-setting services in their niche.
Cons
They specialize mainly in voice services; therefore, if you are looking for a more specific form of B2B marketing such as LinkedIn outreach, they might not be the best option.
Rating:
First ask yourself: Are you ready to hire an appointment setter? Consider the following…
Know your break-even point
Before you outsource a company, you should know your closing rate. This will help you to know how many calls you should be making to break even for the service.
It’s also important to know your profit per deal. What is your cost per appointment (either pay per appointment or divide by a monthly rate by meetings generated or expected.)
Simple math will help figure out if this is an easy, no-brainer decision or a risky investment.
Define your target audience
This is the number one problem with outsourcing appointment setting. The last thing you want is many appointments with the wrong type of client.
You want to make sure that you target the right people who have the budget for what you are selling or offering.
Do not hire an appointment-setting company unless you know exactly who you want to target.
Ideally, your appointment setter will help you to create a list of accounts, job titles, and prospects that match. You need to approve all of these before setting up appointments.
Decide which form of lead generation works best for your business.
Ask the appointment setting agency which form of lead generation they mainly use. Whether it’s cold calling, cold emailing or even LinkedIn outreach.
If an agency uses cold calling, the following information might help you decide if you should choose them, or go with a cold calling alternative.
There are many stats out there that prove cold calling hasn’t died, but rather it has evolved. Here are some interesting stats from Rain Group :
- 82% of buyers accept meetings with sellers who reach out to them.
- 69% of buyers have accepted phone calls from new providers in the past 12 months
- Making phone calls to existing clients is still the number one way to see a conversion
- 27% of salespeople say that making calls to new clients is very effective.
But remember, appointment setters are not just telemarketers…
If telemarketing is still not for you, opt for companies that use other forms of appointment setting, such as LinkedIn outreach and email messaging.
The stats show that these two forms of b2b lead generation are more effective than telemarketing.
Why is this?
One primary reason is that potential clients have the option of opening the email and reading it or deleting it.
This form of prospecting is successful if the outbound marketing team writes emails that capture prospective clients’ interest.
How do they do this?
Well, personalization is the answer.
A b2b appointment-setting service that uses personalized messages has greater success with decision-makers than just sending out hundreds of randomized email templates.
Here are some of the most recent stats on email marketing:
- Email marketing is still more effective than social media by 58%
- 99% of people check their emails every single day, and some more than once
- 61% of email users prefer to be contacted by brands via email
- If an email is read initially on someone’s phone and then read again on their desktop, there is a 65% higher click rate.
Here are some of the most recent stats on Linkedin outreach:
- There are some 760 million users on LinkedIn
- The InMail response rate on LinkedIn is three higher than regular email
- 87% of professionals on LinkedIn are more open to receiving new job opportunities. This means that 9 out of 10 users are open to hearing your pitch.
- 21% of prospects are more likely to respond to your InMail if they are in the same group as you.
What to look for when choosing an appointment-setting company
Before you decide to hire an appointment-setting company, please keep these points in mind.
There are many companies out there, and you can read many reviews online and even narrow it down to which appointment-setting companies are best in your specific industry.
This will help you to make the right decision, but let’s dig a little deeper and consider what will help you hire the best outbound lead generation service for your business.
Ensure that they have helped someone in the same industry as you and have a good track record.
Look for an appointment-setting company that has helped clients in the same industry as you. Check out their track record and review case studies.
Sometimes in different sectors, appointment setters use different methods to set appointments. It’s not an apples-to-apples comparison; you might need to dig a little deeper.
Check if there is a minimum contract length
Hiring a company that has a minimum contract length should raise a red flag. An appointment-setting company should get your results immediately. If the company is good, they should have no problem using performance only to keep you as their customer.
Appointment setting is not like SEO or content marketing, where it takes time to see results. A professional and experienced appointment-setting company contacts people right from the get-go, so you should see immediate results.
Signing a contract for a few months might put your company in a difficult position if the agency doesn’t bring in any booked calls.
Ask them about their lead generation process
If an appointment setting company tells you that theirs is a secret, run.
There should be complete transparency when hiring an appointment-setting agency. You should be able to see and know what is happening.
You should know the volume of messages they are sending per day. If they are sending hundreds of messages per day, then this could be detrimental to your company. Personalization is key!
Not spamming hundreds of prospects. So, find out their strategy and keep track of everything.
How to find the right sales appointment-setting company?
The best option would be to compare some of the best appointment-setting companies in America and keep in mind all the points that we mentioned above.
Look at their reviews, compare prices, and even call each service to see what they offer
Another idea would be to ask them what their success rate is and their average conversion rate.
You could also ask how they go about lead nurturing and if this produces quality leads
What are the benefits of hiring a professional appointment setting service?
Many companies might not have the resources to create their own appointment-setting team inhouse. Outsourcing the service would be easier for many businesses, especially startups who would like their brand to be noticed as soon as possible.
Appointment-setting services are an important part of lead generation, as the right company should be able to show a personalized interest in all your potential customers, which in turn leads to qualified leads, and this, in turn, leads to sales.
Here are three reasons why you should make use of appointment-setting services:
Appointment-setting services allow for efficiency.
By hiring professional appointment setters, you are not only allowing your potential leads the opportunity to make an appointment with your sales team; but you are also showing your clients that you have a well-managed system going in your business.
Appointment setters are the link between your lead generation team and your sales team. When this system is well in place, it works together like a well-oiled machine, ensuring more sales, and moving qualified prospects down the sales pipeline.
First impressions last, so make it good.
Some business owners don’t mind calling potential leads, but others don’t enjoy the process at all. Therefore, hiring appointment setters allows your business to look professional and gain your new clients’ trust.
When this aspect of your business is done right, it can leave a lasting impression on your prospects.
Reach your sales targets faster
Appointment-setting services can also help you reach your sales targets. They have the expertise to ask the right questions to qualify your leads. When you have the right target audience, all you need to do is allow your sales team to close the deal.
FAQs
What is appointment setting?
Appointment setting is a process in which sales teams bring new prospects to companies.
They will schedule appointments for you by setting a date in your calendar with your ideal buyers. All you have to do is close the deal.
What do appointment setters do?
You most probably have a general understanding of what appointment-setting services do, but interestingly it’s not just about cold calling.
It can also include email messaging and making use of social media platforms such as LinkedIn.
Appointment setters can also be telemarketers who call qualified leads and set up appointments with sales representatives.
They will also need to know your services and products exceptionally well in order to answer any questions that a potential customer might have.
How much do appointment setters cost?
It depends… You might pay for a monthly service or pay per lead. This could be anything from $50 – $5000.
Would you like 1 booked appointment per day?
Then, hop on a free 15-minute consultation call with the founder of Salesbread.
Or compare the various service providers above.
There are many points to consider before selecting a company that will take your business to the next level.
Remember an appointment-setting service that views your company as an individual, promises personalization, and transparency is key to generating high-quality leads and a professional business relationship that lasts.
If you would like to set up a free 15-minute consultation, call with Salesread, hit the button below.