Cost per booked meeting

Cost per booked meeting is a lead generation program's total cost over a period divided by the qualified meetings it put on the sales team's calendar. Cost per held meeting divides by the ones that actually happened.

It's the number that lets two programs be compared. Most agencies avoid reporting it, because cost per lead looks flattering next to it.

Cost per lead depends entirely on what a lead is. A form fill costs $30. A booked meeting with a qualified company costs a few hundred to a few thousand depending on the market. Those aren't comparable, and an agency reporting the first while the client expected the second is the most common source of disappointment in this business.

For Meta ads especially, cost per booked meeting is the only number worth managing to. A campaign optimized for cost per lead finds the people most likely to fill out a form. A campaign optimized for booked meetings finds the people most likely to take one.

An example

A program costs $2,999 a month. In month three it books 11 meetings with companies that fit the qualification line, and 9 are held. Cost per booked meeting is $273. Cost per held meeting is $333. If the average deal is $30,000 and one in five held meetings closes, that's $1,665 in cost per closed deal. That's the number the CFO wanted.

What to compare it against

Your deal size and your close rate from a held meeting. If cost per held meeting times the inverse of your close rate is a small fraction of your average contract, the program works. If it isn't, no reply rate will save it.

Related terms

Sales accepted lead (SAL) · Appointment setting · Lead generation · Lead form (Meta)

If you want this run for you, see our Meta and Facebook ads agency, or outbound agency.