What exactly counts as a 'qualified meeting' under our contract?

What happens if you miss the meeting target in a given month?

Will you use my domain or yours for sending?

huge implications for deliverability

Can I see anonymised reporting from a current client in my industry?

What's the minimum commitment and notice period?

How many sales meetings can Supernova AI book per week?

We book between 5 and 20 sales-ready appointments every week with businesses in your target market. The exact volume depends on your plan (Starter, Growth, or Scale) and the ICP we target.

What industries does Supernova AI work with?

We work with B2B companies across more than 300 industries, including IT services and MSPs, SaaS, recruitment, marketing agencies, accounting, financial services, construction, and commercial cleaning. We operate across both the UK and USA.

Do I need to handle the outreach myself?

No. Supernova AI is a fully done-for-you service. We handle the targeting, copywriting, sending, and meeting booking. You only show up to the meeting and close the deal.

What counts as a qualified meeting?

A qualified meeting is a scheduled call with a decision-maker at a company that matches your ideal customer profile, has shown intent to learn more about your service, and has explicitly agreed to attend the meeting.

How quickly can I start receiving meetings?

Most clients see their first booked meetings within 2-3 weeks of campaign launch, following our standard onboarding and ICP definition process.

How much does outsourced B2B appointment setting actually cost?

3cpsmike
3 days ago
3 min read

If you've ever asked an appointment setting agency for a quote, you'll know the answer usually arrives wrapped in vague language: "it depends on your industry," "we customise to your needs," "book a call to learn more." That's not helpful when you're trying to decide whether outsourced lead generation makes financial sense for your business. So here's a transparent breakdown of what B2B appointment setting actually costs in 2026 — and how to think about whether it's worth it.

The three pricing models you'll see

1. Pay per meeting booked

Some agencies charge a flat fee per qualified meeting they put on your calendar. This typically ranges from £150 to £500 per meeting in the UK, and $200 to $700 in the USA. The upside is alignment — you only pay for results. The downside is that agencies on this model can be tempted to lower their bar for what counts as "qualified" to hit their numbers.

2. Monthly retainer with a meeting target

This is the most common model and the one we use at Supernova AI. You pay a monthly retainer that includes outreach setup, copywriting, sending, and meeting booking. The agency commits to a target meeting volume — typically 5 to 30 qualified meetings per month, depending on tier. Retainers in this space generally run from £1,500 to £8,000 per month.

3. Per-seat or per-SDR pricing

Some providers price like a staffing agency — you're effectively renting an offshore SDR for around £2,500 to £4,000 per month per seat. This works if you want hands-on collaboration but tends to be less predictable in output.

What's actually included

A serious appointment setting service should include all of the following in its base price:

ICP (ideal customer profile) definition and refinement
Lead list building from verified data sources
Email copywriting and A/B testing
Domain warm-up and inbox infrastructure
Daily sending and reply handling
Booking the meeting directly into your calendar
Weekly or fortnightly performance reporting

Things to watch for in a quote: any agency that charges separately for "data costs" or "sending infrastructure" on top of the retainer is often padding the bill. Those are table stakes.

The hidden costs of doing it in-house

Most teams compare outsourced appointment setting against "doing it ourselves." The fair comparison isn't agency retainer vs. zero — it's agency retainer vs. the fully-loaded cost of an in-house SDR. That cost typically includes:

Salary: £30,000–£45,000 in the UK, $55,000–$80,000 in the USA
Employer taxes, benefits, and pension: roughly 20–30% on top
Tools (Apollo, Outreach, Smartlead, Clay): £400–£1,200 per seat per month
Management time from a sales leader
3–6 months of ramp time before they're productive
Replacement cost when they leave (the average SDR tenure is around 14 months)

Add that up and an in-house SDR typically costs £55,000–£85,000 fully loaded in year one in the UK, or $90,000–$130,000 in the USA. That's before they've booked their first meeting.

ROI math: when does it pay off?

The simplest way to think about ROI is: agency cost ÷ average deal value × close rate = number of meetings needed to break even. If your average deal is worth £15,000 in lifetime value, your close rate from booked meetings is 20%, and the agency costs £3,000 per month, you need to close one deal per month to break even and a second to profit. Most B2B services businesses with strong fundamentals comfortably clear that bar.

What to ask before signing anything

What exactly counts as a 'qualified meeting' under our contract?
What happens if you miss the meeting target in a given month?
What's your typical no-show rate? (industry average is 25–35%)
Will you use my domain or yours for sending? (huge implications for deliverability)
Can I see anonymised reporting from a current client in my industry?
What's the minimum commitment and notice period?

At Supernova AI, we book 5–20 qualified sales meetings per week for B2B companies across the UK and USA. If you want a transparent quote tailored to your business, book a 30-minute strategy call and we'll show you the exact math for your category.