Telemarketing & Cold Calling
How Many Cold Call Attempts Before You Give Up? Six
TL;DR
Across 3.5 million cold calls, pickup rates fall from 27% on the first attempt to under 9% by the sixth. Six attempts is the point of diminishing returns: cap every record at six, leave one voicemail on the last attempt, then replace it with fresh data.
Last year we made 3.5 million cold calls. Then we ran an analysis across those attempts to settle a question every outbound team argues about: how many times should you call someone before you give up?
The method was simple. At every attempt, we measured the percentage of people who picked up, given they had not picked up the time before. What share answered on the first dial? Of the ones who did not, what share answered on the second? And on down the sequence.
The short version: six attempts, then leave a single voicemail and move on to fresh data. Here is the evidence.
What is the pickup rate at each cold call attempt?
Pickup rates fall at every attempt. Someone who has not answered by now is less likely to answer next time, and the drop is steep. In our data the first dial picks up at 27%, and by the sixth attempt it is under 9%.
| Attempt | Dials at this attempt | Pickups | Pickup rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 47,515 | 12,846 | 27.0% |
| 2 | 22,259 | 4,834 | 21.7% |
| 3 | 12,109 | 2,069 | 17.1% |
| 4 | 7,103 | 1,015 | 14.3% |
| 5 | 4,279 | 496 | 11.6% |
| 6 | 2,520 | 224 | 8.9% |
| 7 | 1,004 | 99 | 9.9% |
| 8 | 596 | 40 | 6.7% |
| 9 | 321 | 26 | 8.1% |
| 10 | 66 | 4 | 6.1% |
Pickup rate is pickups at that attempt as a percentage of records dialled at that attempt, counting only records that had not picked up on a previous attempt. The curve is the point, not the raw counts: the further down the sequence you go, the less a record is worth dialling again.
Why do we stop at six attempts?
Because after six attempts you are into diminishing returns and the maths stops working. Pickup rates drift into single digits and the absolute number of answers gets tiny. Every dial into attempt seven, eight or nine is a dial you are not making into a fresh record with a 27% chance of answering.
As an outbound agency we want reps in as many human conversations per hour as the market allows, and grinding a dead record works against that. So in the Sentrama platform the maximum is six attempts before we prompt for more data. The dialler removes the record from the list automatically once it hits six, so reps never lose an hour to records that will not answer.
What getting more data means depends on how you work with us. On the platform it means generating more leads. On the managed service, where our team books your meetings, we top up the list before it goes stale, because past six attempts an SDR's time is better spent on fresher data.
When should you leave a voicemail on a cold call?
Leave a voicemail on your final attempt, and only then. For us that is the sixth. A voicemail invites the prospect to come back to you without you having to chase them again, and saving it for the last attempt is what stops it costing you.
There is a deliverability reason too. We rotate each record across two to three numbers, no more. Leave a voicemail after every call and an uninterested prospect may mark your number as spam, which damages that number's reputation for every other record on your list. One voicemail, on the last attempt, gets you the callback without the spam risk.
The operating rules in one place
- Cap every record at six dial attempts.
- Rotate across two to three numbers, no more.
- Leave exactly one voicemail, on attempt six.
- Then retire the record and replace it with fresh data.
Get those four right and your reps spend their hours where the pickup rate is 27%, not 6%. Protect the hour, and the conversations follow.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How many times should you call a prospect before giving up?
- Six. Our analysis of 3.5 million cold calls shows pickup rates fall from 27% on the first attempt to under 9% by the sixth, with diminishing returns beyond that. After six attempts, replacing the record with fresh data generates more conversations per hour of dialling than dialling the same number again.
- What percentage of cold calls are answered on the first attempt?
- In our data, 27% of records picked up on the first attempt, the highest rate of any attempt in the sequence. Every subsequent attempt has a lower pickup rate than the one before it, dropping to under 9% by the sixth dial.
- When is the best time to leave a voicemail on a cold call?
- On your final attempt, which for us is the sixth. A single voicemail on the last attempt invites the prospect to call back without you re-dialling them. Leaving a voicemail on every attempt increases the chance they mark your number as spam, which hurts every other record on the list.
- Should you use the same phone number for every cold call attempt?
- No, but do not overdo it either. We rotate across two to three numbers maximum per record. That is enough that one screened or flagged number does not kill the sequence, without so many numbers that the pattern looks like a spam operation to the carriers.
If this resonates, see what Sentrama can do for your pipeline.
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