Last Updated: 23 March 2022

40 important outbound call statistics you MUST know

Many seem to think that inbound calls are inherently superior. But is that really the case? Let's examine this list of outbound call statistics to see if that is really the case.

Faye Chong

Digital Marketing Executive

Reading time: 5 minutes

Many businesses have used “bad outbound call statistics” to justify ditching outbound calls completely to focus on inbound methods. Not so fast.

You must remember that there is never a one-size-fits-all solution.

Inbound methods are better than outbound in some situations, and the reverse is true for others. There are even three types of outbound calls, with each working best for different groups of people.

Bearing that in mind, it’s not fair to assume that outbound calls are inherently inferior simply because some statistics article says so. At the end of the day, it’s how you interpret it and the method of obtaining those numbers that really matter.

Perhaps those statistics that imply the superiority of inbound methods looked at situations where inbound methods work better?

Let us show you the other side of the coin. Let’s look at some powerful outbound call stats that can be in helping you drive results.

Outbound lead generation statistics 📈

1. 75% of executives are willing to make an appointment or attend an event based on a cold call or cold email alone. (DiscoverOrg)

2. 62% of marketers say that their organization’s outbound marketing efforts are effective. (Hubspot)

3. 32% of marketers find that outbound marketing is effective in generating more leads. This is on par with inbound marketing. (Instapage)

4. Businesses rank outbound marketing at an average of 7.3 out of 10 in terms of importance. (Instapage)

Outbound call statistics ☎️

As we’ve mentioned earlier, there are 3 different types of outbound calls. Let’s first take a look at the bigger picture before narrowing in on each individual outbound call method.

5. 70% of salespeople still connect with prospects and generate meetings over the phone. (RAIN Group)

6. 41.2% of sales professionals believe that their phone is their most effective tool for the job. (Sales Insights Lab)

7. 57% of C-level prospects prefer to be contacted via phone. (Crunchbase)

8. The average sales rep makes 52 calls per day. (The Bridge Group)

9. Over 30% of the leads are never followed back after being rejected the first time (CallHippo) because,

10. 44% of salespeople give up after one follow-up call. (Spotio) But,

11. 80% of deals are closed after the 5th follow-up. (Brevet)

12. By being more persistent, sales reps can increase the conversion rate by up to 70%. (CallHippo)

Cold call statistics ❄️

Cold calling is the most commonly known outbound call method. Although most of the information you find online condemns the use of it, cold calling isn’t as cold as it is.

13. Businesses that don’t cold call experience 42% less growth than those who do. (Crunchbase)

14. 69% of prospects have accepted cold calls from businesses. (Crunchbase)

15. 49% of buyers prefer cold calls as the first point of contact. (RAIN Group)

16. 82% of buyers accept meetings with sales reps who proactively reach out. (RAIN Group)

17. 60% of IT decision-makers want cold calls. (DiscoverOrg)

18. The best talk-to-listen ratio for a successful cold call is 46%:54%. (Gong.io)

19. A successful cold call lasts an average of 5:50, compared to 3:14 for unsuccessful calls. (Gong.io)

20. Successful cold calls have a longer average monologue duration of 37 seconds, compared to only 25 seconds for unsuccessful calls. (Gong.io)

21. Cold calls are 70% more successful on Wednesdays, (CallHippo) and

22. the best time to make cold calls are between 4PM to 5PM. The second best time slot is between 11AM to 12PM, although there is a 71% difference in the number of conversations. (CallHippo)

23. Sales reps make an average of 45 cold calls per day, and the number of daily quality conversations is 5.1 calls. (The Bridge Group)

Warm call statistics 🌞

Warm calls are generally more well-received by prospects because businesses build a connection with them before calling.

They do so through social selling and referrals.

Social selling refers to using social media to find and connect with prospects, while referrals are simply acts of promoting your business to others.

24. You are 4.2X more likely to get an appointment if you make a personal connection with the prospect. (Adohm)

25. 78% of salespeople use social selling to outsell their peers. (LinkedIn)

26. 31% of B2B sales professionals said that social selling allowed them to build deeper relationships with their customers. (CSO Insights)

27. Sales reps who use social selling are 51% more likely to meet or exceed their quota. (LinkedIn)

28. Social sellers have a larger volume of new customers (65%) and better customer conversion (46%) as compared to non-social sellers. (SalesforLife)

29. 63.4% of sales reps engaged in social selling report an increase in their company’s revenue, compared to 41.2% of non-social sellers. (SalesforLife)

30. Salespeople who actively seek out and leverage referrals earn 4 to 5 times more than those who don’t. (Brevet)

31. 92% of buyers trust referrals from people they know. (Spotio)

32. 73% of executives prefer to work with a sales rep referred by someone they know. (Hubspot)

33. 84% of B2B decision-makers start the buying process with a referral. (Hubspot)

34. 91% of customers say they’d give referrals, but only 11% of salespeople ask for referrals. (Brevet) Don’t waste precious opportunities, just ask!

35. Referred leads convert 30% better than leads generated from other marketing channels. (Hubspot)

Hot call statistics 🔥

Hot calls are calls made to prospects who are highly interested in your product and are ready to have direct contact with your business.

These prospects usually need less convincing before making a purchase. However, here are some things you should take note of to increase your chances of converting them into a sales qualified lead.

36. The best time to call a lead is the first 50 minutes after they have shown interest in your product. This is particularly useful if you’re monitoring website visitors. (CallHippo)

37. 62% of prospects want to hear from a sales rep when they are actively looking for a solution to solve a problem, (RAIN Group) and,

38. 54% of prospects want to hear from a sales rep when they have decided to buy and are selecting a company. (RAIN Group)

39. Factors that influence a buyer’s ultimate purchase decision:

Focus on the value they can deliver: 96%
Educate prospects about new ideas and perspectives: 92%
Provide valuable insight related to the prospect’s industry or market: 92%
Collaborate with the prospect: 93%

(RAIN Group)

40. Only 30% of companies respond with a phone call when they get a hot prospect from their web content. (Don’t be that 30%! 😤) (LRM)

What do these statistics mean?

Now that we’ve looked at the full list of 40 outbound call statistics, what can we take away?

Well, TL;DR:

Outbound lead generation strategies are NOT dead.
Unlike what many believe, your prospects are actually still receptive to outbound calls.
Social selling and referrals are a good way to warm up to your prospects.
Focus on how you can deliver value to your prospects.

Yes, we know, it’s 2022. The ‘age of the inbound’. But as you can see from these outbound call statistics, inbound calls aren’t the only ways you can succeed.

This is why many businesses continue to use outbound call software in their lead generation efforts.

One such example is Novocall, a holistic automated call management tool with outbound call features. If you would like to learn more about our software, get started with us today!

Faye

Faye is a digital marketing executive at Novocall. When she’s not busy writing articles for Novocall’s blog, she spends her time baking and playing with her dogs.

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