What is a realistic cost per qualified B2B meeting?
Typically €100 to €200 through email or LinkedIn outreach, €200 to €400 through paid ads and up to €700 at events, once tools and time are counted.
Cost per meeting is the fairest way to compare channels, because they all aim at the same thing: a conversation with a potential client. Our guide to calculating customer acquisition cost puts organic channels at €30 to €80 per qualified meeting, email outreach at €100 to €150, LinkedIn outreach at €120 to €200, PPC at €200 to €400 and events at €400 to €700 per relevant conversation.
These ranges only hold if you count everything: tools, data, ad spend and your own hours. A founder who spends six hours a week on outreach, values that time at €50 an hour and books two meetings a week is paying €150 per meeting in time alone, before any software. Most people are surprised the first time they run that calculation.
The pricing model changes the real figure too. Ads and outreach tools charge whether or not a meeting happens. On Meetcatcher the inviting side pays only when the call actually takes place, and a declined invitation or a no-show costs nothing, which makes the cost of each meeting predictable.
From cost per meeting to cost per client
- 1Add up one monthInclude ad spend, tool subscriptions, data and hours at a realistic hourly rate.
- 2Divide by qualified meetingsCount only meetings with someone who has the problem and could buy. Booked but missed calls do not count.
- 3Apply your close rateDivide by your meeting-to-client rate. At €150 per meeting and a 20% close rate, one client costs €750.
- 4Compare with benchmarksCheck the result against a typical B2B customer acquisition cost and make sure you included all the costs that belong in CAC.
Close rates differ by channel as well. Our breakdown of the true cost of a new customer puts personal meetings and demo calls at a 15 to 40% close rate, well above anonymous channels. A cheaper meeting is only a better deal if it is with the right person.