How to Land an Appointment Setting Job

If you have people skills, a knack for sales, and don’t mind being on the phone for hours, you might want to consider applying for appointment setting jobs.

Appointment setters can work from home or in-office, full-time or part-time. They are usually hired by companies in the sales and real estate industries.

Read on to learn more about how to get appointment setting jobs: what the job involves, what you need to get started, and where to look for these jobs.

What is an Appointment Setter?

Essentially, an appointment setter calls or emails prospective clients and scheduling appointments for them to speak with a salesperson.

Appointment setters normally use a list of leads that the company has already collected by other means.

Depending on the company and industry, appointment setters could be assigned to make cold calls (call people who may or may not be interested in your company’s product or services).

As you can imagine, this can be quite unpredictable since some people wouldn’t take unexpected calls kindly.

Appointment setters are quota-driven, usually assigned to contact up to 100 people a day.

They’re also responsible for record-keeping and updating the status of leads.

For instance, did a lead set up an appointment or request a callback? Did a lead request never to be called again? Did a lead end up being a customer? These are details you will need to record.

What Qualifications and Tools Will You Need for Appointment Setting Jobs?

Most companies require appointment setters to have completed high school, while a few prefer those who have a year or two of college.

Employers usually search for appointment setters who demonstrate the following skills and characteristics:

• Sales and Communication Skills — You must be armed with the ability to listen and communicate (either written or orally) to leads. You should also be mindful of verbal and written cues that can help you identify what potential customers need and what they’re looking for.
• Organization Skills — You’ll need to keep track of all the calls and emails you make per day. You’ll typically be provided a CRM software for recordkeeping or trained to use a spreadsheet. Either way, you’ll need to be comfortable with logging and tracking all of the leads on your list. You’ll also have to maintain an accurate calendar of all the appointments you’re able to set.
• Phone Skills — The job mostly involves being on the phone, so you must be comfortable making outbound calls daily. Having call center experience, even if you mostly handled inbound calls, is a great advantage for you.
• Advanced Computer Skills — Aside from data entry, you’ll also be using an outbound dialer, CRM software, Microsoft Office applications, Google Drive/Docs, spreadsheets, and other similar tools.
• Multitasking Skills — To make your workflow more efficient, you’re going to have to be able to research, take down notes, and log your calls, all while talking to leads on the phone. It takes a bit of practice.
• Self-motivation — Although you’ll be a part of a team, you will have to handle all leads assigned to you on your own. This is particularly important with homebased appointment setting jobs because no one will be supervising you.

Aside from these skills and characteristics, you’ll need some equipment and software to be a remote appointment setter.

• Dependable computer or laptop — You don’t have to have the most expensive one, but it does have to have a wired LAN port (preferred by most companies) and it has to be able to handle the software you’ll need to install.
• High-quality headphones — Not only will you need crystal clear audio and a good microphone that can cancel ambient noises, but you’ll also have to consider how comfortable they are because you’ll have to wear them for hours at a time.
• Dialer — Different companies may use different dialer programs. Autodialers are programmed to call a list of contacts in sequence automatically (hence the name), while manual dialers depend on you to input the phone number of each lead.
• Landline — Even though virtual phone numbers are popular now, some companies may require you to have an actual phone to dial from.

How Much Can You Earn as an Appointment Setter?

The going hourly rate for appointment setters ranges from around $10 to $19, with the usual rate at $14.46 per hour, which is around $36,000 annually (Source).

It isn’t very large, but companies normally give out commissions for leads that turn into actual appointments and even bonuses if you go beyond your daily quota.

Paid training and employee benefits are possible, but not all companies offer them, so make sure to clarify income details before signing the dotted lines.

Like other work-from-home jobs, if you’re an online appointment setter, you will join 1099 contract employees, who file and pay for their taxes voluntarily.

8 Companies Offering Appointment Setting Jobs Online

I’ve rounded up 8 companies actively hiring appointment setters.

Take a look at your options and weigh the pros and cons to find the right job for you.

1. FlexJobs

I recommend starting your job search at FlexJobs, as this job site is home to remote job opportunities posted by employers that have been vetted. You can rest assured that you’re applying to legitimate companies.

Plus, FlexJobs provides support, guidance, and tools for you to land the job you want.

2. Blue Zebra

Blue Zebra has been hiring work-from-home appointment setters for many years, which is why they’re the most popular company on this list.

They’re also legitimate, having hired and paid hundreds of people since 2001.

Blue Zebra appointment setters are experts at cold calling.

Since cold calling involves trying to contact people who haven’t shown interest in your company’s product or services, you’d have to have thick skin to pull it off every day. There’s always a good chance people you call will get angry, shout or even cuss at you for calling them.

Blue Zebra requires its appointment setters to work from 4 to 8 hours a day, five days a week.

That means that the minimum amount of hours that you can work in a given week is 20 and the maximum is 40.

• How Much Does Blue Zebra Pay? The company hires you as an independent contractor, so your pay will not be deducted by taxes. You have to file and pay for your taxes on your own. Newly-hired appointment setters earn $15 per hour, but can quickly get a 10% to 14% increase after the first 2 months if they produce quality results. Other bonuses and incentives are given on top of the hourly pay, such as a Client Renewal Bonus paid after 200 hours of work. Payments are sent weekly via direct deposit.
• PROS: High-paying, consistent work available, on-time payments
• CONS: Unpaid meeting times, purchase of an ACT software needed for the work ($200 for new)

3. Paragon Planners

Paragon Planners operates mainly in the financial wholesaling and financial advisor industry. The company hires Regional Schedulers by state.

Today, their doors are open to those from the states of AZ, CA, CO, FL, MI, MO, NC, OH, OR, SC, and TX.

Because of highly-sensitive financial information, all qualified planners will undergo background checks before starting work.

Training will then involve 6 to 10 hours per week until a 3- to 6-week training period has been completed. Those who have finished training and shown promise could request additional client assignments and work hours of up to 32 hours per week.

Regional planners work from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm Monday to Friday in all time zones.

• How Much Does Paragon Planners Pay? The company pays its regional planners from $13 to $15 per hour, depending on experience.
• PROS: Professional managers, on-time payments, flexible work hours, may be eligible for insurance depending on the number of hours worked
• CONS: Medium to low pay; no Macs or Macbooks allowed

4. SalesRoad

SalesRoads is one of North America’s leading B2B Appointment Setting and Demand Generation Companies.

Sales Roads has a great management team that encourages individual growth, which is important in work-from-home jobs because the go-to contact person connects the appointment setter to the company.

• How Much Does SalesRoad Pay Appointment Setters? You can earn $13 to $16 per hour, depending on experience. After a few months, you’ll get to enjoy paid time off.
• PROS: Flexible work hours, work from home, higher pay than others
• CONS: Work can be very busy

5. ManageYourLeads.com

ManageYourLeads.com boasts of over 7 million qualified leads generated to thousands of clients since it was founded in 1989.

This lead generation company actively looks for qualified appointment setters to add to their team.

Located in Hartford, CT, the company specializes in the B2B appointment setting arena.

As an appointment setter, you should be familiar in selling “complex” B2B products and/or services, including “non commodity” items.

• PROS: The company wouldn’t be around for over 3 decades if they’re not trustworthy and legitimate.
• CONS: There is very little information about salary, employment details, and so on

6. TeleReach

TeleReach Corporate is a national telephone-marketing firm engaged exclusively in outbound business-to-business calls.

The company has been providing business development, appointment setting, lead generation, and information-gathering company since 1996.

If you’re an experienced appointment setter who is up for a challenge, TeleReach can be the ideal company for you. They require up to 100 daily calls, so it’s no easy feat.

• How Much Does TeleReach Corporate Pay Appointment Setters? As an appointment setter for TeleReach Corporate, you only get paid for each successful appointment set. It is commission-based with daily, weekly, and monthly performance-based bonuses.
• PROS: Flexible work hours, work from home, $3,000 employee referral program, and Flex Appointments worth up to $520+ per year
• CONS: Commission-based

7. Automatic Appointments

Automatic Appointments offers solutions to businesses who need experienced sales teams to do telephone sales and cold calling.

They’re currently looking for Sales Assistant Appointment Setters to work 10 to 50 hours a week from home as independent contractors paid hourly.

• How Much Does Automatic Appointments Pay?? The posted salary is around $300 to $1200 per week, but since the number of hours can vary, the hourly rate is a bit vague.
• PROS: Weekly on-time payments, flexible work hours
• CONS: Hourly rate vague

8. RemoteAppointmentSetter.com

This site is actually a directory of remote callers that financial, life insurance, real estate, or any other company that needs them can purchase so they can select callers to offer appointment setting jobs.

Post your profile for free to be included in the directory for a chance to be contacted by these companies that need appointment setters.

• PROS: Employers will contact you and you get to choose which jobs to take
• CONS: No guarantees of jobs; you need to negotiate your pay

Appointment Setter Job Outlook

According to BLS, there will be a 5% decline in the demand for appointment setting jobs due to automation advancements through 2026.

However, this doesn’t include home-based appointment setters, since companies tend to go about technological changes gradually. As companies automate this particular task, there will be a spike in outsourcing the work to home-based freelancers.

You can take advantage of this period, especially if you’re looking for a short-term job.

Apply For Appointment Setting Jobs Today!

I hope this guide helps you decide if an appointment setting job is right for you and which companies to apply to.

However, if you don’t like talking to people for hours but would like a job you can do from home, check out our list of online transcription jobs, online proofreading jobs, or this huge list of non-phone jobs you can do from home.