Every outbound provider reports meetings. Few define them. The definition decides whether the number means anything, and it decides what the client's sales team finds in its calendar on Monday morning.
Four conditions, all of them
First, the account fits: it belongs to the target-account set agreed in the mandate, with a documented reason for inclusion. An interesting company outside that set is a signal for the report, not a meeting.
Second, the person decides or shapes the decision: a named decision-maker, or someone with a defined role in evaluating the offer. A conversation with an assistant, a gatekeeper or a volunteer with no mandate does not count.
Third, the person has said why they want to talk. A reply that states a reason, however briefly, is different from a slot accepted out of politeness or curiosity. The reason is recorded and handed over with the meeting.
Fourth, the meeting has taken place. A booked slot is an intention. A no-show is rescheduled, not counted. Only an attended conversation is a meeting.
What is deliberately left out
Requests to send information, meetings booked against an incentive, conversations with people who cannot influence the purchase, and accounts that were never in scope. All of these are reported, because they are market feedback. None of them is a meeting.
Why the stricter definition pays
Fewer meetings appear on paper. More of them convert. The sales team learns to trust the calendar instead of screening it, and the time between first conversation and proposal shortens because the person on the other side already knows why they are there. Where a mandate includes a fee per meeting, the definition also protects the client: it is charged only for meetings that meet all four conditions.
How it shows in the report
Each meeting is listed with the account, the person and their role, the stated reason, the contact history and the agreed next step. A reader can check every line against the definition. That is the point of writing it down.