Key Takeaways
- Cold calling and email both work, but in different ways: recent studies show average B2B cold email reply rates around 3-6%, while average cold calling success hovers near 2-5% depending on data quality and skill, the real wins come when you combine both in a coordinated cadence.
- Stop asking "cold calling vs. email?" and start asking "when should I call and when should I email?", high-performing teams pair short, relevant emails with targeted dials and see significantly higher meeting rates than single-channel programs.
- Roughly 73-77% of B2B buyers say email is their preferred outreach channel, yet 80% of sales still require 5+ follow-ups across multiple touches, proving you can't rely on one email blast and expect pipeline magic.
- Use email to warm up accounts (short, problem-based messages, 3-7 touch sequences), then use cold calls to engage senior decision-makers and accelerate live conversations once there's awareness and intent.
- Precision beats volume: targeted B2B campaigns with tight ICPs, verified data, and personalization routinely hit 10-20% reply on email and 10%+ meeting rates on calls, while generic mass outreach struggles to get 1-2% engagement.
- Measure channels by cost per meeting and conversion to opportunity, not vanity metrics; in many B2B environments, calls may have lower volume but higher meeting and opportunity rates per contact than email.
- Bottom line: the best B2B teams treat cold calling and email as a unified outbound system, with clean data, smart cadences, and clear ownership, or they outsource to specialists like SalesHive who already have that engine built.
Cold calling vs. email: the debate misses the point
B2B teams love to argue “cold calling is dead” or “email is just noise,” but that framing is exactly why outbound feels unpredictable. Cold calling and cold email both still work, and they work best when you stop treating them like competing channels. The real question isn’t which one “wins,” but how to sequence them so each touch makes the next touch more likely to convert.
Email gives you scalable reach and a low-friction way to introduce value, while phone creates speed and clarity once a prospect has context. When these channels operate in silos, you get disjointed messaging, inconsistent follow-up, and reporting that rewards vanity metrics instead of pipeline. When they operate as one outbound system, you get repeatable meeting flow.
At SalesHive, we’ve seen this pattern across industries and deal sizes: teams that align targeting, messaging, and timing across email and calling build a much more predictable outbound engine. Whether you’re running outbound in-house, hiring SDRs, or evaluating a sales development agency, the same principle applies. Coordination beats volume.
Buyer behavior sets the rules (and it favors email first)
Most buyers want control over the first interaction. Multiple buyer surveys show roughly 73–77% of B2B buyers prefer email for vendor outreach, which makes email the natural “opening move” in many outbound sequences. If your first touch is a cold call to someone who strongly prefers email, you’re starting the relationship with friction instead of relevance.
That said, “preferred” doesn’t mean “most effective at closing.” A large share of real buying decisions still happens in conversation, especially when the product is complex, the ACV is meaningful, or multiple stakeholders are involved. It’s also why cold calling services remain a core lever for many outbound sales teams: phone can compress weeks of back-and-forth into a single live discussion.
The practical takeaway is timing: use email to earn attention, then use the phone to earn commitment. When we build an outbound playbook, we define what email is responsible for (awareness and intent signals) and what calling is responsible for (qualification and meeting conversion). That clarity is the difference between a “spray-and-pray” program and a professional outbound sales agency motion.
Benchmarks: what “good” looks like for email and calling
Cold email performance is often underwhelming unless the targeting and deliverability are dialed in. A common benchmark for reply rate sits around 5.8% (with many teams landing in the 3–6% band), which explains why outreach can feel like it requires “lots of volume” to create consistent meetings. Some datasets also estimate it takes about 306 cold emails to generate one B2B lead on average, which is a brutal tax if your list quality is poor.
Cold calling benchmarks look similar at first glance, with average success rates reported around 2–4.8% depending on how “success” is defined and how good the data is. The hidden variable is persistence: it can take 6–8 call attempts to reach a prospect, yet many teams stop after one or two tries. That gap alone explains why many internal cold calling teams underperform.
The bigger story is variance. Tight ICPs, verified contact data, and messaging that actually matches the prospect’s world can push results dramatically above average, including email reply rates 3–5x higher than typical benchmarks. In other words: average numbers aren’t a verdict on the channel, they’re a verdict on the execution.
| Metric | Cold Email (Typical) | Cold Calling (Typical) |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer preference for first contact | 73–77% prefer email | Often better after awareness exists |
| Performance baseline | ~5.8% reply rate | ~2–4.8% success rate |
| Effort required to see results | 306 emails per lead (avg) | 6–8 attempts to connect (often) |
Build a multi-channel cadence that creates momentum
If you want more B2B wins, design your outreach like a system, not a set of isolated activities. A strong starting point is a 2–3 week cadence with 6–8 total touches, where email does the early positioning and calls convert engaged targets into meetings. This prevents the classic mistake of “one email blast” or “one awkward dial” followed by silence.
Follow-up is not optional; it’s where most revenue lives. Data commonly cited across sales research indicates roughly 80% of sales happen after at least five follow-ups, which means teams that stop at touch one or two are voluntarily abandoning the majority of their pipeline potential. The goal of a cadence is to make follow-up feel intentional and helpful, not repetitive and desperate.
We recommend documenting clear rules inside your outbound playbook: when to lead with email, when to prioritize dials, and what signals change a prospect’s path. For example, if a prospect clicks a case study, that can trigger a same-day call; if they ignore early touches, you continue the sequence without “randomly” switching messages. This is how modern SDR agencies and high-performing SDR teams stay consistent at scale.
| Cadence Component | Recommended Range | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Total touches | 6–8 touches over 2–3 weeks | Consistent exposure without spamming |
| Email touches | 3–5 emails | Awareness, proof, and a clear ask |
| Call touches | 2–3 call attempts (minimum) | Convert intent into a meeting via conversation |
The best outbound teams don’t choose between email and phone—they orchestrate both so every touch makes the next one easier.
Best practices that make both channels stronger
Start with precision: a tighter ICP and cleaner data will outperform any clever copy. Before scaling, segment by role, industry, and “reason to care,” then verify contact fields so your emails land and your dials reach the right person. This is the unglamorous work that separates a reliable cold email agency or cold calling agency from generic high-volume vendors.
On email, keep it short, problem-based, and specific. When teams chase long narratives and overstuffed feature lists, prospects scan, sigh, and archive; when teams lead with one relevant problem and one simple ask, reply rates climb. Top-quartile programs can earn reply rates 3–5x above average by matching message-to-segment and iterating quickly.
On calls, treat the opener like a permission-based conversation, not a performance. The channel still creates real meetings—some research suggests up to 82% of buyers have agreed to a meeting that started with a cold call—when the rep is relevant, concise, and prepared. Coach calls and emails together so SDRs learn one unified message strategy instead of two disconnected skill sets.
Common mistakes that quietly kill outbound performance
The most common failure is single-channel thinking. Email-only programs often mistake “sent volume” for progress, while call-only programs burn goodwill by interrupting prospects without any context. In both cases, the underlying issue is the same: you’re forcing a channel to do a job it’s not best suited for.
The second failure is giving up too early. If it takes 6–8 attempts to connect with a prospect and around 80% of sales require multiple follow-ups, then stopping after one or two touches isn’t “being respectful”—it’s being inconsistent. A professional outbound sales agency approach is persistent, but always relevant, rotating angles instead of repeating the same pitch.
The third failure is bad measurement. Teams obsess over opens, dials, and activity targets, then wonder why pipeline is flat; those are inputs, not outcomes. If you’re investing in sales outsourcing or building an outsourced sales team, insist on reporting that ties activity to meetings, opportunities, and cost per meeting by channel and by cadence.
Optimize like a revenue team: attribution, testing, and cost per meeting
To fairly judge cold calling vs. email, you need sequence-level measurement. Track first-touch channel, last-touch channel, and meaningful engagement events, then evaluate outcomes by cadence: meetings booked, opportunities created, and revenue influenced. This avoids the trap of “crowning” one channel when the reality is that combined touches did the work.
Next, rebuild your dashboards around business metrics. Calls may produce fewer total touches than email, but they can convert at a higher rate once you connect, especially with senior decision-makers. When you compare channels using cost per meeting and conversion to opportunity, the best allocation decisions become obvious—whether you’re running in-house, using b2b sales outsourcing, or working with b2b cold calling services.
Finally, test methodically. A/B test subject lines, hooks, and CTAs in email, and test openers, positioning, and objections on calls—but keep the core value proposition consistent across both. At SalesHive, we use an AI-assisted approach to personalization and experimentation so our SDRs spend less time doing manual research and more time executing high-quality conversations.
How to choose your next move in 2026 (and beyond)
In most markets, email remains the best default first touch because buyers prefer it and it scales quickly. But if your deal requires real discovery, your ACV supports human effort, or you’re focused on a short list of strategic accounts, phone deserves an earlier role. The winning posture is flexible: start with the buyer’s preference, then earn the right to call by being relevant.
If you want to improve results fast, don’t start by rewriting templates—start by tightening your ICP and data, then ship a disciplined multi-channel cadence. That single change fixes deliverability, improves connect rates, and makes coaching easier because you can review performance within a consistent system. If your team is bandwidth-constrained, partnering with a sales agency or sales development agency can accelerate the test-and-learn cycle without months of ramp time.
The future isn’t “AI replaces SDRs,” it’s AI-assisted SDRs executing a smarter process. Tools can speed research and personalization, but meetings still get booked through relevance, timing, and confident execution—especially on the phone. Whether you hire SDRs internally or work with SalesHive as your cold email agency and cold calling agency partner, the blueprint stays the same: one message, one cadence, two channels, and relentless measurement against revenue outcomes.
Sources
- Sopro
- MediaPost
- SellersCommerce
- Belkins (Cold Email Response Rates)
- SalesHandy (Cold Email Statistics)
- Belkins (Cold Email Outreach Statistics)
- TheDigitalBloom (Reply Rate Benchmarks)
- Cognism (Cold Calling Statistics)
- MeetRecord (Cold Calling Tips & Benchmarks)
- Revli (Cold Calling Statistics)
- Intelemark (Follow-Up Statistics)
- AgentiveAIQ (Follow-Up Analysis)
- Salesmate (Cold Calling Effectiveness)
- Forbes Advisor (Email Marketing Statistics)
📊 Key Statistics
Action Items
Define clear roles for email and phone in your outbound playbook
Document when to lead with email, when to prioritize dials, and how signals (opens, clicks, form fills) change a contact's path. Make sure every SDR understands the 'why' behind each step in the cadence.
Build a 6–8 touch multi-channel cadence for your core ICP
Map out a sequence that blends 3-5 emails and 2-3 calls over 2-3 weeks, plus optional LinkedIn touches. Include specific messaging themes for each step so you're not repeating the same pitch every time.
Tighten your ICP and clean your data before scaling
Audit your current lists, remove bad fits, and enrich key fields (industry, company size, tech stack, recent events). Use this to create 2-3 high-priority segments and build tailored messaging for each, instead of one generic campaign.
Rebuild reporting around cost per meeting and opportunity by channel
Set up dashboards showing meetings booked, opportunities created, and revenue influenced by email-only, call-only, and mixed-touch cadences. Use this to decide where to invest more budget and where to cut back volume.
Coach SDRs on call openers and email personalization simultaneously
Run regular call review sessions side-by-side with email teardown workshops. Focus on relevance, brevity, and a clear ask in both mediums so reps start thinking about messaging holistically, not as separate skills.
Consider outsourcing to a specialist for faster test-and-learn
If you don't have in-house bandwidth to build and iterate a modern outbound engine, partner with an agency like SalesHive that brings proven scripts, cadences, AI personalization, and SDRs ready to execute from day one.
Partner with SalesHive
On the email side, SalesHive’s eMod engine automatically researches prospects and turns templates into personalized, context-rich emails at scale. That means no more generic blasts; every message looks like your rep spent real time on the account. Pair that with domain warming, deliverability management, and AI-driven A/B testing of subject lines, CTAs, and hooks, and you get reply and meeting rates that consistently beat industry benchmarks.
On the calling side, SalesHive’s trained SDRs handle the grind: high-quality cold calling, live qualification, and appointment setting with your target ICP. They leverage the same data and messaging used in email campaigns, so every call feels like a natural continuation of the conversation, not a disconnected script. With no annual contracts, risk-free onboarding, and month-to-month flexibility, SalesHive can plug in as your full outbound engine or as an extension of your existing team, turning cold lists into a steady stream of qualified meetings.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Is cold calling still worth it in 2025, or should we just focus on email?
Cold calling is absolutely still worth it if your product merits a conversation and your ACV justifies live human effort. While average cold call success rates hover around 2-5%, studies show that over 80% of buyers have agreed to meetings that started with a call, and many high-growth companies still rate phone as a top channel. The key is to stop using cold calling in isolation and instead plug it into a multi-touch sequence where email, social, and phone all work together.
Which channel typically books more B2B meetings: cold calling or email?
Across most B2B programs, email usually books more raw meetings simply because you can reach more people faster and buyers overwhelmingly prefer email as a first touch. That said, cold calls often generate a higher percentage of qualified meetings per connect, especially with senior decision-makers. The most effective teams use email to generate awareness and interest at scale, then reserve calling for high-fit accounts and engaged contacts (opens, clicks, site visits) where a conversation is more likely to convert.
How many emails and calls should we plan before giving up on a prospect?
Plan on at least 6-8 touches across 2-3 weeks for truly cold prospects, mixing 3-5 emails and 2-3 calls, with optional social touches layered in. Multiple data sets show that only about 2% of sales happen on first contact, while 80% require 5+ follow-ups. If there's no response after a structured sequence, park the lead in a nurture track and revisit later rather than hammering them indefinitely.
What's a good cold email reply rate and call connect rate for B2B outbound?
For cold email, most 2024-2025 benchmarks put average reply rates around 3-6%, with 5% often cited as a solid baseline. If you're below 2%, you likely have targeting or deliverability issues. Top-performing, highly targeted campaigns can hit 15-25% reply rates. For cold calling, a 2-5% success rate (defined as meaningful conversations or meetings) is common, while well-run, data-driven programs can push 8-10% or higher. The bigger question is what percentage of those replies and conversations turn into real opportunities.
How should we decide whether to start with an email or a phone call?
Use buyer preference and deal context. For most B2B segments, email should be the default first touch because it's preferred, scalable, and less disruptive. Start with a short, relevant email that tees up a potential conversation. Use phone first when you're pursuing a small, strategic account list, dealing with high-value renewals or expansions, or your ICP skews toward personas known to prefer live conversation (certain C-level roles, traditional industries, etc.).
Can AI replace SDRs for cold outbound, especially on email?
AI can dramatically speed up research, personalization, and testing, but it's not a full replacement for SDRs, especially on the phone. Tools like SalesHive's eMod can auto-personalize email at scale and test thousands of message variations, which boosts reply and meeting rates. But humans are still essential for nuanced discovery calls, objection handling, and tailoring messaging in real time. The winning model is AI-assisted SDRs, not AI instead of SDRs.
How do we fairly attribute revenue between cold calling and email in a multi-channel cadence?
Move away from single-touch attribution and track the full journey. At a minimum, log first-touch channel, last-touch channel, and key engagement events in your CRM. Then build reports at the sequence level: how many meetings and opportunities came from a given cadence where email and phone were both used? You can still note that, for example, email was first touch and the call converted to meeting, but strategy decisions should be made at the playbook level, not by trying to crown one channel the sole hero.
What should we prioritize first: better email copy or better calling scripts?
Prioritize your ICP and data quality first, because no copy or script can fix a bad list. Once that's solid, focus on whichever channel currently represents the biggest leak in your funnel. If you're getting opens and clicks but very few replies, fix email messaging and CTAs. If you're connecting on calls but not converting to meetings, fix call openers, discovery, and next-step framing. Long-term, you'll want both channels dialed in, but start where the impact will be felt fastest.
