Definition
What is Appointment Setting?
The short answer
Appointment setting is an outbound service focused on booking qualified sales meetings between a company and prospects who fit its ideal customer profile. It coordinates email, phone and social outreach with the single goal of a confirmed meeting on the sales team's calendar.
Key figure
69%
Why it matters
Qualified sales conversations booked directly onto your team's calendars, through coordinated email, LinkedIn and calling.
Put it to work
Where appointment setting matters on a program.
Research
What the research says
69%
69% of B2B buyers prefer to validate AI generated insights with a sales rep.
Gartner survey, presented at the Gartner CSO & Sales Leader Conference, May 2026. 645 B2B buyers, surveyed August to September 2025.
67%
67% of B2B buyers say they prefer a rep free buying experience, and 45% used AI during a recent purchase.
Gartner Sales Survey, Mar 2026. 646 B2B buyers, surveyed August to September 2025.
60/40
The B2B buying journey shifted from a 70/30 to a 60/40 split between independent research and seller engagement, and buyers still averaged 16 interactions per person with the winning vendor.
6sense, 2025 B2B Buyer Experience Report, Nov 2025. More than 4,000 buyers across North America, EMEA and APAC.
Related terms
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