Installer guide · 12 min read
By Roman Steer-Love, co-founder of TNW Marketing · published 3 November 2026 · every company checked on its own website on 3 Nov 2026
Short answer: UK lead generation companies fall into five kinds: telemarketing and appointment setting agencies (Beanstalk Marketing, Toucan Telemarketing), outbound agencies combining calling, email and LinkedIn (Smartlead Marketing), digital agencies that bring enquiries to your own website (Catalyst, and Gripped for SaaS and tech), pay per lead suppliers (Lead Pronto) and data providers. They charge by the hour, by a monthly retainer, as a share of ad spend, per lead, per booked appointment or per attended appointment. Choose the kind first, by who you sell to, then compare companies on cost per deal won and on what you pay for when a lead goes nowhere.
| Kind | What they do | Usually suits |
|---|---|---|
| Telemarketing and appointment setting agencies | Callers phone a target list, qualify the business and book meetings with decision makers. | B2B companies with a clear target market and deals worth a sales meeting. |
| Outbound agencies (email, LinkedIn, account-based marketing) | Build lists, run email and LinkedIn sequences, often combined with calling, and hand over replies or meetings. | B2B companies selling to named roles in defined sectors. |
| Digital and inbound agencies (SEO, PPC, content, paid social) | Bring enquiries to your own website and landing pages; you handle the enquiries. | Companies that want leads in their own name and can wait for search to build. |
| Pay per lead suppliers | Run their own adverts and websites and sell each enquiry to you at a fixed price. | Consumer-facing trades and services with a fast phone team. |
| Data providers | Sell contact data and tools; the outreach is yours. | Teams with their own callers or sales development reps. |
Many agencies mix these, so read what a company actually delivers, not its label. A "lead generation agency" can mean anything from a team of callers to a pay per click manager.
| Model | What you pay for | Who carries a lead that goes nowhere |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly or day rate | Callers' or consultants' time | You |
| Monthly retainer | Agency time and campaign management, whatever the results | You |
| Percentage of ad spend | Managing your ads; the ad spend itself is paid on top | You |
| Pay per lead | Each enquiry that meets the agreed definition | You carry the work of reaching and booking each lead |
| Pay per booked appointment | Each meeting put in your diary | You, if the person does not turn up |
| Pay per attended appointment | Each meeting that actually takes place | The supplier |
The detail of each model, and who carries a quiet month, is in pay per lead vs retainer vs pay per appointment. What a pay per lead contract should define, with published UK prices per lead, is in our guide to pay per lead in the UK.
Each row comes from the company's own website, read on 3 Nov 2026. "Not published" means its site does not give a price. They are grouped by kind, not ranked.
| Company | Kind | Works with | How it charges (published) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beanstalk Marketing | Telemarketing and appointment setting | B2B companies across sectors | Not published (bespoke proposal) |
| Smartlead Marketing | Telemarketing and outbound | B2B companies | Not published |
| Toucan Telemarketing | Telemarketing and appointment setting | B2B companies | Not published |
| Catalyst | Digital and inbound | B2B small and medium-sized businesses | Not published |
| Gripped | Digital demand generation (retainer) | B2B SaaS, AI and tech companies only | Retainers typically £5,000 to £15,000 a month (most clients £8,000 to £12,000), rolling monthly with three months' notice; ad spend paid separately |
| Lead Pronto | Pay per lead supplier | Businesses in 40+ UK sectors, mostly consumer-facing | Pay per lead from £15, depending on sector (commercial solar from £150); appointments from £130; brand campaigns at 25% of ad spend; no retainer or contract on pay per lead |
| TNW Marketing (publisher of this page) | Appointment setting, pay per attended appointment | UK commercial solar installers only | £250 to £1,000+VAT per attended appointment; no retainer |
Based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, and running since 2009. Bespoke B2B telemarketing campaigns that combine calling, email marketing and prospect data, aimed at confirmed video or face-to-face meetings. Also offers telesales and outsourced sales development reps.
Charges: Not published (bespoke proposal). Source
B2B telemarketing and lead generation that combines calling with email, account-based marketing, appointment setting, content and social. It says leads are researched and vetted against your criteria before they reach you.
Charges: Not published. Source
Based in Congleton. A B2B telemarketing team that calls data lists, and your existing contacts, to set up meetings with decision makers, updating the contact data as it goes.
Charges: Not published. Source
A London B2B lead generation agency using SEO, PPC, AI search visibility, content and email nurture. It says paid channels can bring leads within weeks while SEO and content typically take 2 to 3 months, and that guaranteed lead numbers often put quantity before quality.
Charges: Not published. Source
A London B2B marketing agency working only with SaaS, AI and tech companies since 2017: demand generation, account-based marketing, paid media, SEO and AI search. It says early signals appear in 30 to 60 days and pipeline impact takes 3 to 6 months.
Charges: Retainers typically £5,000 to £15,000 a month (most clients £8,000 to £12,000), rolling monthly with three months' notice; ad spend paid separately. Source
Runs its own ads (Google, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and others) and SEO, and delivers each enquiry in real time at a fixed price per lead. Also books appointments and runs campaigns under your own brand.
Charges: Pay per lead from £15, depending on sector (commercial solar from £150); appointments from £130; brand campaigns at 25% of ad spend; no retainer or contract on pay per lead. Source
Books pre-qualified commercial solar site meetings with business owners, each exclusive to one installer. We do not work outside commercial solar, so for any other sector use one of the companies above.
Charges: £250 to £1,000+VAT per attended appointment; no retainer. Source
Start with who you sell to. Selling to named decision makers at businesses points to telemarketing, appointment setting or outbound. Selling to households points to pay per lead or your own digital campaigns. Then ask every shortlisted company the same six questions:
Compare the answers on cost per deal won: what you spend, divided by the deals it brings, plus your own team's time. If you are weighing an agency against hiring callers yourself, see in-house vs outsourced lead generation for the costs of an in-house appointment setter. Calling rules for any agency calling on your behalf are in B2B cold calling rules in the UK.
If you install commercial solar, TNW Marketing is a B2B lead generation agency built for you alone: we book pre-qualified site meetings with business owners, each exclusive to one installer. Pricing: £250 to £1,000+VAT per attended appointment, set by system size and qualification. No retainer, no monthly fee. You only pay for appointments that are actually attended, and any that aren't viable we replace. For other solar lead suppliers, see our solar leads UK comparison, and for outsourced calling, our appointment setting for solar installers.
See available projectsIt finds potential customers for you and hands them over as enquiries, qualified leads or booked meetings. The main types are telemarketing and appointment setting agencies, outbound email and LinkedIn agencies, digital agencies that bring enquiries to your website, pay per lead suppliers that sell enquiries from their own adverts, and data providers.
It depends on the model. From companies' own websites (read 3 Nov 2026): Gripped's B2B retainers typically run £5,000 to £15,000 a month plus ad spend; Lead Pronto's pay per lead prices start from £15 a lead, with commercial solar from £150 and appointments from £130; TNW Marketing charges £250 to £1,000+VAT per attended commercial solar appointment. Many agencies do not publish prices, including the three telemarketing and outbound agencies on this page.
There is no single best one: the right company depends on who you sell to and how you want to pay. B2B companies selling to named decision makers usually start with telemarketing, appointment setting or outbound; consumer trades often buy pay per lead; companies building their own brand use digital agencies. Compare companies on cost per deal won, not cost per lead.
Pay per lead moves the cost of failed advertising to the supplier, but your team still has to turn each lead into a meeting. A retainer pays for time whatever the results. Paying per attended appointment goes further: the supplier carries the no-show risk too. Our guide to pay per lead vs retainer sets the models side by side.
Calling and paid adverts can produce leads within weeks. Catalyst says SEO and content typically take 2 to 3 months to gain traction; Gripped says pipeline impact takes 3 to 6 months (both on their own websites). Test with a short campaign and judge it on meetings held and deals won.
No. TNW Marketing only books commercial solar site appointments for UK solar installers, at £250 to £1,000+VAT per attended appointment, with no retainer. You only pay for appointments that are actually attended, and any that aren't viable we replace.
How paying per attended site appointment works, how it compares with pay per lead and retainers, and what counts as an attended meeting.
Solar installer leads for sale in the UK: 15 providers compared on lead type, price, contract and no-show terms, and pay per appointment from £250.
What Lead Pronto offers, from its own website, and ten alternative UK solar lead suppliers compared on lead type, exclusivity, price, contract and no-shows.
What each costs and why, who carries the no-show risk, how to check a supplier's exclusivity claim, and when shared leads can make sense.
What an in-house appointment setter really costs, line by line, against buying booked appointments, with a cost-per-meeting calculator.
What counts as a lead, published UK prices per lead, returns and exclusivity, and when paying per attended appointment makes more sense.
Cost, risk, contract terms and lead quality side by side, and when a retainer can still make sense.
Full-service agencies, lead suppliers and pay per attended appointment lead generation compared, the channels that win commercial work, and what to ask before you sign.
Renewable energy marketing services compared, inbound vs outbound, retainer vs pay per attended appointment, and why commercial solar is the one thing TNW does.
What appointment setting is, how agencies charge, in-house vs outsourced setters, UK rules on B2B calls and email, and what to ask before you sign.
Where UK solar PV tenders are published, which public sector frameworks have solar lots, what buyers ask for and how bids are scored.
How a rooftop or private wire PPA works, the parties and contract terms, which customers qualify, what funders ask for, and the alternatives.
What has closed (PSDS) and what is open now: Great British Energy solar for schools and the NHS, Salix loans in Scotland and Wales, and how installers win the work.
Hire purchase, leasing and PPAs compared, and when the FCA rules on credit broking apply: individuals, the £25,000 business exemption and introducer ARs.
Why businesses and SPVs can't use it, how mixed-use farms, holiday lets and landlords can, and what a business customer can use instead.
Engineering, procurement and construction vs design and build, the FIDIC, NEC and JCT contract forms, typical EPC terms and subcontracting to an EPC.
The VAT rate on commercial jobs, when the construction reverse charge applies, invoice wording, and CIS registration, deductions and returns, from HMRC.
For roofers and solar installers: overclad or re-roof first, asbestos and structural checks, RC62 fire classification, the Part L upgrade, sequencing and tax.
Official UK solar statistics: capacity and installations by size band and region, growth trends, 2030 targets and business energy prices, all with sources.
Year-by-year DESNZ tables since 2010: capacity and installations by size band, the commercial bands month by month, generation and share of electricity, with a CSV.
Win commercial solar site surveys from LinkedIn: who to target, Sales Navigator vs free, example messages, LinkedIn's limits and the UK data rules.
Cold email for commercial solar: who to email, UK rules (PECR, UK GDPR), deliverability set-up, example emails and follow-ups, and what it really takes.
Book commercial solar site surveys by phone: call lists, TPS/CTPS screening, switchboard, opening, qualifying and objection scripts, and the UK rules.
What an outsourced solar calling campaign does, how telemarketing agencies charge, who is liable under PECR, the brief to write and the questions to ask.
PECR, TPS and CTPS screening, the 28-day rule, bought-in data, named contacts and UK GDPR, agencies and ICO fines, with a compliance checklist.
Build a target list before you call: Companies House SIC codes, the EPC and DEC registers, Land Registry ownership data and SECR energy reports.
Video interviews with installers using TNW: site meetings booked, system sizes, deals closed and what changed for their business.
Work out how many site surveys and leads you need to hit your monthly installation target, from your own booking and close rates.
What each signed job really costs you, profit after lead spend, and the most you can pay per lead or booked appointment, with a side-by-side comparison.
The channels UK commercial installers use to book site surveys, what "qualified" really means and the numbers to track.
How solar leads are priced: per lead, per booked or attended appointment, retainer or revenue share, and shared vs exclusive.
Cost per lead vs cost per booked meeting, what drives the price, and how to work out what you can afford to pay.
Call new leads within minutes, a first-week follow-up plan, confirming the survey twice and the five reasons booked surveys don't happen.
A five-point checklist and the first-call questions that stop surveyors driving to sites that will never sign.