Booking rate

The percentage of marketing qualified leads who book a meeting with your sales team.

Booking rate

Booking rate

definition

Booking rate measures how effectively you convert activated leads into scheduled sales conversations. It is calculated by dividing booked meetings by marketing qualified leads, then multiplying by 100.

A booking rate of 40% means that for every 100 marketing qualified leads, 40 book a meeting with sales.

This metric sits at the handoff point between marketing and sales. Marketing has done its job by generating qualified leads. Now those leads need to take the next step and schedule a conversation.

Booking rate depends on your follow-up speed, your outreach quality, and how easy you make it to schedule. A lead who requests a demo but waits three days for a response will often book with a competitor instead. A confusing booking process with too many steps loses leads.

Track booking rate by lead source. Some channels produce leads who are ready to talk. Others produce leads who need more nurturing before they book.

Introduction

Booking rate is where leads become opportunities. A marketing qualified lead has shown intent and fit. Now you need to convert that interest into a scheduled conversation where you can qualify them further and start the sales process.

This metric reveals how well your follow-up process works. Fast, relevant follow-up books meetings. Slow, generic follow-up loses them.

Why it matters

Booking rate directly impacts pipeline. If you generate 100 qualified leads but only book 20 meetings, you have an 80% leakage rate at this stage. That is 80 potential opportunities lost before sales even gets to speak with them.

This metric also exposes process problems. If booking rate is low, the issue might be follow-up speed, outreach quality, or booking friction. Each has a different solution.

Improving booking rate compounds with improvements upstream. If you increase both lead capture rate and booking rate by 10% each, you get 21% more meetings from the same traffic.

How to apply it

Calculate booking rate:

Booking rate = (Booked meetings / Marketing qualified leads) × 100

Track this weekly. Break it down by:

  • Lead source (which channels book best?)
  • Lead score tier (do higher-scored leads book more?)
  • Follow-up method (email vs phone vs both?)

To improve booking rate:

  • Respond to demo requests within 5 minutes
  • Personalise your outreach based on lead behaviour
  • Remove friction from booking (use a scheduling tool like Calendly or HubSpot meetings)
  • Add multiple touchpoints (email, phone, LinkedIn)
  • Create urgency with limited availability

Test your booking sequence. Try different subject lines, call timings, and message angles.

Example 1: Speed to lead

A SaaS company responds to demo requests within 24 hours on average. Booking rate is 25%. They implement automated alerts and same-day follow-up. Booking rate increases to 45%.

Example 2: Booking friction

A consultancy requires leads to email back and forth to find a meeting time. Booking rate is 30%. They add a Calendly link in their follow-up emails. Booking rate increases to 50% because leads can self-schedule.

Example 3: Multi-channel follow-up

A B2B company follows up only by email. Booking rate is 35%. They add a phone call on day one and a LinkedIn connection request on day two. Booking rate increases to 48%.

Keep learning

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Optimised booking flow

Optimised booking flow

Getting someone interested is only half the battle. A proper booking flow with confirmations, reminders, and no-show handling converts more interest into actual conversations.

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