Booking rate
Why it matters
This leak is easy to miss because neither team owns it. In the example, 80 qualified conversations were lost before any rep could use their skill. Closing ability cannot make up for a conversation that never happened.
A low booking rate usually points to process rather than lack of interest. Slow replies, a long exchange of emails to find a time, or a booking page that asks too many questions all cause it.
How to apply it
- Track booking rate weekly, by lead source and by rep.
- Reply to inbound interest within minutes where possible. Speed of reply is usually the biggest lever.
- Put a self-scheduling link in the first reply, so nobody has to suggest times.
- Follow up on more than one channel, since email alone lets distracted leads go cold.
- Split by lead score to see whether better leads book more often.
What it is
Booking rate is the share of qualified leads who get a meeting with a salesperson on the calendar. The formula is meetings booked divided by qualified leads. If 100 qualified leads come in and 20 book a meeting, the booking rate is 20 per cent.
It measures the gap after a lead qualifies and before a salesperson speaks to them. Marketing has finished its job and sales has not started, so neither team naturally owns it. Count only leads who were offered a meeting, and decide in writing whether a meeting counts when it is booked or when it takes place.
Common mistakes
- Counting a booking as a success. Meetings that nobody attends do not move the pipeline, so track the share of booked meetings that actually happen too.
- Mixing unqualified leads into the base, which makes the rate look worse than the process is.
