Cold calling can be a productive sales technique for small and medium businesses if optimized effectively. As a consultant dedicated to assisting entrepreneurs grow their companies, I‘ve compiled the most insightful data on maximizing cold calling success.
Whether you‘re making the calls yourself or have a small sales team, these statistics will help set realistic expectations while uncovering approaches to boost results.
Key Stats and Trends
Before we dive into the nitty-gritty analysis, here are 5 key data points to know that reflect current cold calling benchmarks:
- 2%: Average cold call success rate for closing business [1]
- 70%: Percentage of prospects who accept cold calls [2]
- 8: Average number of call attempts needed to reach a buyer [3]
- 42%: Higher growth for companies leveraging cold calling [4]
- 94%: Percentage of unknown callers going to voicemail [5]
Now let‘s explore what‘s behind these figures, why they matter for your small business, and most importantly, how you can improve outcomes.
Optimizing Conversion Rates
Arguably the most important metric is the cold calling conversion rate, or the percentage of conversations that ultimately convert into sales. This number starts depressingly low but can improve dramatically with refinement.
- As noted above, the average conversion rate hovers at 2% [1]
- However, SMBs implementing best practices see conversion percentages in the 10-15% range [6]
What are some of those best practices? The subsequent stats on call length, objections, follow-ups and more reveal actionable tactics to move the needle. But first, let‘s set volume expectations.
Call Volume and Duration
With conversions being a numbers game, call volume matters. Yet longer calls also correlate with higher engagement.
- The average number of daily cold calls is around 33 [7], but top performers will make over 100 calls daily in some industries [8]
- Technology buyers have the highest cold call preference at 54% [9], hence the extremely high call volumes in SaaS sales
- Successful cold calls last 5 min 50 sec on average, over 2 minutes longer than unsuccessful ones [10]
- When selling to the C-suite, calls should be short and concise (~3-5 minutes), while calls to managers can run longer (~5-10 minutes) [11]
So aim higher on your call counts, but keep your calls focused under 6 minutes as much as possible.
Best Days, Times and Voicemail Tips
With calls capped at 5-6 minute maximums, you can squeeze more into your week by calling at opportune times.
- Wednesday between 10 AM and 2 PM is considered the "prime time" for connecting with more decision makers [12]
- The worst time to call is 1 PM surprisingly, so avoid early afternoons [10]
- A whopping 90% of voicemails go unreturned [13], so leave compelling value-focused messages under 30 seconds
Crafting an Effective Script
Even with perfect timing, you must nail your script to spark interest quickly.
- Asking "How have you been?" at the start of a call boosts success rate by 660% [14]
- Clearly explaining "why you are calling" sees 2.1x more booked meetings [14]
- Using too many "I" statements vs "we" statements leads to nearly 50% fewer deals closed [10]
Overcoming Objections
Despite a well-crafted script, objections still arise. But the statistics show proactive approaches for turning common obstacles into progress.
According to research, the top objections and effective responses include [15]:
- "I‘m not interested" – Ask directly what issues they face and if they‘d entertain a future call
- "I‘m too busy" – Offer alternative dates/times for a quick follow-up call
- "We already work with your competitors" – Inquire what they like and don‘t to position yourself better
The key is keeping the conversation open rather than accepting a hard "no." Speaking of follow-up…
Follow-Up Frequency
Like overcoming objections, persistence pays off in cold calling.
- It takes an average of 8 call attempts to reach a prospect initially [3]
- An effective follow-up sequence is 20 touches over 6 months with calls, emails and LinkedIn outreach [16]
With multiple touches, it‘s critical to monitor results to see what medium and messaging works.
Continued Potential and Final Tips
Despite claims that cold calling is dying, the stats on continuing adoption show the technique still drives substantial revenue.
- Around 70% of executives still accept cold calls [2]
- And organizations leveraging cold calling see 42% higher growth rates [4]
Now a few final quick tips:
- Personalize your script with relevant details on prospects‘ pain points, desired outcomes, etc.
- Track your metrics for call volume, duration, conversions, objections and more to optimize weekly/monthly
- Refine (don‘t abandon) techniques that get positive responses rather than sticking to a static script
Sources
The following source links were referenced throughout this analysis:
[1] Marketing for Success[2] SalesInsights Lab
[3] FinancesOnline
[4] "Sales Engagement"
[5] Zippia
[6] Secure Agent Leads
[7] Forbes
[8] My Own Experience
[9] Zippia
[10] FitSmallBusiness
[11] KiwiSearch
[12] CallHippo
[13] Smith.ai via HubSpot
[14] Klenty Blog
[15] Gong.io
[16] Raining Customers
Next Steps
Still have questions on building an effective cold calling strategy? Reach out to discuss your sales process and goals to determine benchmarks and areas of opportunity. With the right statistics guiding refinements, hitting your targets gets that much easier. Let‘s connect!
