Should I charge clients per booking, per appointment or as a share of their revenue?

Performance-based pricing works when you control the result. It is very hard to build a business that depends on another company being successful.

If you charge per booking or take a revenue share and the client has to close the deal, you depend on the client being a good closer. Many business owners (roofers, plumbers, attorneys, nail salons) are excellent at their craft but are not salespeople. Months later they say your leads are bad and cancel or refuse to pay, even with a monthly fee in place. So assume the business is a poor closer and set the deal up for success from the start.

If you or the AI do the closing, for example the AI books the appointment, qualifies the lead or closes online, performance pricing works well because you control the outcome. Pay per appointment is fine as long as the client closes. Database reactivation also suits performance pricing, because it only involves reaching past customers and results are usually predictable and consistent.

Make your offer the outcome itself, not just a step toward it, and propose the full solution from the start. Be cautious with low-value, low-margin businesses that do not place a high value on their time.

A setup fee does not fit a purely performance-based offer. Ongoing work such as managing social media or Facebook ads is monthly, so consider a monthly fee plus a performance component, or a monthly fee that includes a number of leads with a charge for each one above that.

Performance pricing is most useful when there is no or low trust, such as with a skeptical prospect. If you already have your foot in the door with another service, for example an AI receptionist, it is usually simpler to add the new service, such as database reactivation, as a flat monthly add-on at your normal price, and include a monthly review where you tweak the campaign to get the most from the client's list.