How pay-per-show IFA appointments work

The flow in 60 seconds

Two sides, one booking. The prospect never gets passed around, and you never chase a cold enquiry.

Where do the prospects come from?

From our own paid social and search adverts, aimed at people planning their retirement. We write the adverts, run the campaigns and own the data from the first click to the booking. Every consumer advert is approved by an FCA-authorised firm under section 21 of FSMA before it runs.

There are things we don't do, and your compliance team will want to hear them:

The full sourcing and financial promotions detail, with the FCA references, is on our lead quality page.

What does the qualifier ask?

Facts and intent, nothing that looks like advice. The prospect answers one question per screen before they can see a calendar:

• Pension value band (£250k–£500k, £500k–£1m or £1m–£3m in defined contribution pots), plus an approximate total if they know it
• Pension types and number of pots
• Age, retirement stage and employment
• Whether they've already taken money from their pensions
• What they want help with (up to three: income, combining pots, tax-free cash, drawdown vs annuity, IHT, charges review, early retirement)
• Other investable assets, home and property, and whether they have a current adviser
• That they understand advice is paid for
• Timescale, whether a partner is joining, meeting type and postcode district
• Mobile (confirmed by one-time code), email, and a request to be booked with one FCA-authorised independent firm only, which is named with its FRN when it claims the booking, before the call

Some answers end the booking there and then, with a polite pointer to MoneyHelper or Pension Wise: pensions under £250k, living outside the UK, wanting free guidance only, or wanting to transfer a final salary pension.

What we deliberately don't ask:

The FCA lists introducers completing fact-finds or risk questionnaires as a red flag for advisers. The advice process stays with you. The field-by-field version, including which answers are self-declared and which we check, is in the qualification section of our lead quality page.

How do you claim an appointment?

When you join, you set filters: minimum pot band (£250k, £500k or £1m), meeting types, regions or a radius, advice areas (the appointment types), whether you'll see people who hold a DB pension, and how many appointments you can take a week. You can pause whenever your diary is full.

When a prospect who fits books a slot you have capacity for, you get an alert with an anonymised summary: pot band, age, retirement stage, what they want help with, meeting type, area and time. It looks like this:

Illustrative appointment card. Details are examples of what the qualifier captures, not a real client.

Claim it and one credit is reserved. The prospect asks us to book them with one FCA-authorised independent firm. We share their answers with that one firm only, and we tell them the firm's name and FRN as soon as it claims the booking, before the call. At that point:

• The full brief and contact details open up for you
• The prospect gets a confirmation naming your firm, your adviser and your FRN, with a link to your FCA register entry
• You get the calendar invite for the booked time
• You confirm they're not already a client or live prospect of your firm

Each appointment is exclusive. Once claimed, no other firm can see it, and it is never resold.

What's in the pre-meeting brief?

The brief is the product. It's everything the prospect told us, laid out so you can walk into the call prepared rather than spend the first twenty minutes on basics. We label every field by how far you can trust it: most answers are the client's own (self-declared), a few we check, and the booking request is a timestamped record.

Illustrative and redacted. Every field is one the qualifier collects; the tags show which answers the client gave us and which we checked. Nothing here is an actual client.

Treat the pension value as a starting point. The band is self-declared and you reconfirm it on the call. If it turns out under £250k, or under a higher minimum you set, the show is credited. How to use the brief in the meeting itself is in our first meeting guide.

How do reminders and rescheduling work?

No-shows are the thing advisers hate most about bought leads, so most of the work goes into getting people to the call:

• Straight after you claim: a confirmation to the prospect with your firm, adviser, FRN, register link, a calendar file and a short "what to have ready" list (latest pension statements, a State Pension forecast, a note of other savings).
• 24 hours before: an email and text asking them to confirm they'll be there.
• 2 hours before: a text reminder. The timings follow what works in our guide to reducing no-shows.
• At the start time: a message with the video link, or saying you'll call from your number.

These are service messages about a booking the prospect made. They contain no marketing. Every message has reschedule and cancel links. A reschedule stays with you, at a time from your availability, on the same credit. If they miss the call, they get a link to pick a new time with you.

What happens after the call?

You mark the outcome: showed, no-show, disqualified (with a reason) or rescheduled. A no-show goes back to your balance as a credit. A disqualification needs flagging within 72 hours; we check it and decide within 2 business days.

The prospect also gets a two-question feedback email: did the call happen, and how was it. We use it to settle disputes fairly, and we share the answers with you as Consumer Duty outcome evidence.

What counts as a show is written down in full on our pricing page. In short: they turned up within 15 minutes, you talked about their retirement for at least 10 minutes, and they confirmed pensions of £250,000 or more (at or above the minimum band you set) and that they want paid advice. Not becoming a client, or wanting time to think, still counts as a show.

What do you pay?

Want to see what that means per new client? The cost-per-client calculator works it out from your own conversion rate and fees. Or see which kinds of appointment are on offer, from pension consolidation to retirement income.

FAQ

Is this lead generation or appointment setting?

Appointment setting, paid per show. A lead is a name and a number you have to chase. An InvestmentsBooked appointment is a time the prospect picked, in your diary, with their answers attached. You pay £500 only when they turn up and pass the show test.

Do I have to phone the prospect to book them in?

No. They choose the time when they book. They asked to be booked with one FCA-authorised independent firm, and they're told your firm's name and FRN as soon as you claim the booking, before the call. You call or join the video at the booked time. You can send a short introduction email beforehand if you like.

How many appointments will I get?

It depends on your region, pot bands, meeting types and weekly capacity, so we don't quote a number on this page. We tell you what to expect for your criteria on the onboarding call, and you can pause at any time. We supply appointments that match your filters well within the 6 months. If we ever can't before your credits expire, we refund the unused credits.

Can I take face-to-face meetings?

Yes. Video and phone are the default because they work UK-wide. For face-to-face, you set a region or a radius around your office and only prospects inside it who chose face to face are offered to you.

Do you send defined benefit transfer cases?

Not by default. Defined benefit transfer seekers are excluded by default. A separate DB transfer stream is available only to firms whose pension transfer permission we have verified, by arrangement. People who hold a DB pension and aren't transferring are fine, and the brief says so. Why we exclude DB transfers.

What happens if the prospect wants to reschedule?

The appointment moves with you. They pick a new time from your availability, you keep the booking, and no second credit is used. If they cancel and don't rebook with you within 7 days, the credit comes back.