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Appointment setting and lead generation
Appointment setting means finding potential customers, checking whether they are a good fit, and arranging a conversation with a sales team. You can look for a job with an employer or offer lead-generation services to businesses; income and payment terms depend on the arrangement.
Open the interactive guide (checklist, video, read-aloud) →In plain words
- You find possible customers for a business.
- You check whether they may need its service.
- You arrange a meeting with the sales team.
- You can apply for a job or work for clients.
- Agree what counts as a meeting before you begin.
- You may earn nothing if no meeting qualifies.
Who it suits
It may suit people who enjoy talking with new people, listening carefully, keeping organised records and handling rejection. It can be a job or contract role, or freelance work for businesses.
Businesses pay for help finding potential customers and arranging useful sales conversations. Good targeting and clear records can save a sales team time, but payment depends on your agreement and results.
Step by step
- Choose a job or freelance work. For a job, search for appointment-setting, telesales and sales-development roles. For freelance work, choose the kinds of businesses you could help reach and check what they expect you to provide. About 30-60 minutes.
- Choose a market and customer. Pick a market you understand, such as professional services or technology. Write down who the likely customer is, what problem the business solves and why that customer might want to talk. About 1-2 hours.
- Check exactly how you will be paid. Before accepting work, ask how payment is calculated and when it is earned. Check whether the prospect must meet agreed criteria, attend the meeting or buy something before you are paid, and get the terms in writing. About 30-60 minutes.
- Agree what counts as a qualified appointment. Write down the criteria with the client before contacting anyone. Include the right type of contact, a genuine need and the agreed next step, so you can check prospects consistently. About 30-60 minutes.
- Build a client-approved prospect list. Use sources the client approves and check each person or business against the agreed criteria. Leave out poor-fit prospects and keep a record of where the information came from. About 1-3 hours to start.
- Prepare and practise your opening. Write a short opening that says who you are, why you are calling and what the prospect may gain from a conversation. Practise useful qualifying questions and listening for the answer rather than reading every line mechanically. About 30-60 minutes.
- Contact prospects and record the outcome. Use the contact method and approach agreed with the client. Record the conversation, outcome and follow-up in the client’s CRM or another approved system, and follow the applicable marketing and data-protection rules. About 15-30 minutes per work block.
- Arrange the meeting and brief the client. When someone is a suitable prospect, agree a time and send clear meeting details to the prospect and client. Tell the client about the prospect’s needs, timing and agreed next step. About 10-20 minutes per appointment.
- Review results or prepare your application. Review which conversations led to suitable meetings and adjust your target list or approach. If applying for an advertised role, prepare an up-to-date CV and a brief cover letter where requested. Westford Trust About 30-60 minutes weekly, or 1-2 hours for an application.
Your first 15 minutes
Choose one business sector, write a short description of the customer you would target, and contact three suitable employers or businesses to ask about their appointment criteria and payment terms.
The money
Decide whether you charge by the hour, by an agreed qualified appointment, or through a mix, and spell out when payment is earned. Estimate your time, admin and costs, then agree the criteria and payment date in writing; do not rely on advertised rates as a promise of typical earnings.
Example only: If you earn £25 for each of 4 appointments in a week, that is £100. If you spend £10 on costs, £100 − £10 = £90 before tax. In euros, 4 appointments at €25 each bring in €100; after €10 costs, €100 − €10 = €90 before tax. These figures are made-up examples, not a typical rate.
The rules
You can set appointments in the UK and Ireland. You must follow the rules for the contact methods and personal data you use. Check the rules where you live and for your client before you contact prospects.
UK and Northern Ireland
- Tax and records. The trading allowance covers your first £1,000 of trading income each year. This is your gross income before expenses. If you earn more than £1,000, tell HMRC. If you need to register for Self Assessment, do so by 5 October after the tax year ends. GOV.UK Tax Help for Hustles GOV.UK
- VAT. You must register for VAT if your taxable turnover is over £90,000. If you are close to the threshold, check the current rules with HMRC. Business.gov.uk
- Live marketing calls. These rules cover B2B calls, including calls to companies and to individual subscribers such as sole traders. Before most live marketing calls, check numbers against both the Telephone Preference Service and Corporate Telephone Preference Service, and your own do-not-call list. Do not call a number on a list or someone who has objected, unless they have specifically asked you to make marketing calls to them. Say who is calling. Let your number or another contact number show on their phone. Give your contact details or a Freephone number if they ask. ICO
- Automated calls and fees. You need the recipient’s consent to make automated marketing calls. Whether you need to pay the ICO data protection fee depends on how you process data. The ICO’s examples include marketing another person’s business, goods or services. Use its self-assessment guidance to check whether you need to pay. ICO ICO
- Sector rules and ads. You need consent to make marketing calls about claims-management services. Extra rules apply to marketing calls about pension schemes, so check the rules if your client works in that sector. Where advertising guidance requires it, label online posts promoting your own service as advertising. Check your data-protection duties with the ICO. There’s no specific appointment-setter licence. If you’re unsure, check with the ICO. ICO ASA
Ireland
- Tax and self-assessment. If you work under PAYE, register for self-assessment using Form 11 if your taxable non-PAYE income is over €5,000 or your gross non-PAYE income is over €30,000. Below those limits, declare your income on Form 12 through myAccount. If you are self-employed, you pay income tax, PRSI (Class S) and USC through self-assessment. Your preliminary tax is due by 31 October. Revenue Citizens Information
- VAT and business name. The VAT registration threshold for services is €42,500. If you trade under a name other than your own, register that business name with the CRO. The online fee is €20. Revenue CRO
- Marketing and data. The GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 apply to most data processing. Extra rules apply to electronic direct marketing, including marketing by phone, text and email. As a general rule, you need affirmative consent for electronic direct marketing. People can withdraw their consent. The existing-customer exception applies only if you meet all its conditions. People can object to direct marketing at any time. You must make this right clear and bring it to their attention separately. Data Protection Commission Data Protection Commission
- Business calls and messages. Before you send marketing email or text messages to an individual, get their clear consent. You can send marketing email or text messages to a business until it asks you to stop. Sending more after that request is an offence. You must not make marketing calls to mobile phones unless the subscriber or user has consented, or general consent is recorded for that number in the National Directory Database. Data Protection Commission
- Registration and advertising. You do not need a general registration or licence for electronic marketing. Where required, label online adverts for your service as ads. Check with the Data Protection Commission about your contact methods and use of data. Data Protection Commission CCPC
Checked against official sources: 22 October 2026. Not yet reviewed by a qualified tax or legal adviser. General guidance, not legal advice. Check the official link beside each point before you start.
Common mistakes
- Accepting commission-only work without understanding when payment is earned.
- Starting calls before agreeing what counts as a qualified appointment.
- Using prospect lists or contact methods the client has not approved.
- Keeping incomplete records or forgetting promised follow-ups.
- Treating advertised earnings as guaranteed or typical.
AI-made demonstration: this module has a 20-second street-chat video in the interactive guide. The presenter and the people in it are computer-generated, not real people.