Cold calling cadence: how many attempts, which channels and when to stop

What is a cold calling cadence?

A cold calling cadence is a fixed sequence of contact attempts, such as calls, voicemails, emails and texts, spread over a set number of days, with a rule for when the sequence ends. Some teams call it a sequence or a touch plan.

A cadence has five parts, and each one is worth deciding on purpose:

• Attempts: how many times you try, counting every call, voicemail, email and text.
• Spacing: how many days pass between attempts, and whether the gap grows over time.
• Channel mix: which attempt uses which channel, and what each message says.
• Timing: what time of day each call goes out, in the prospect's local time.
• Exit rule: what ends the cadence, whether that's a reply, a booked meeting, an opt-out or the last attempt.
• Writing it down matters most on a team. When every rep runs the same cadence, you can compare results across reps, fix the step that isn't working, and make sure no prospect gets called twice in one morning by two different people.

How many call attempts should you make, and over how many days?

For a cold B2B prospect, a workable starting point is six to eight calls, with two voicemails and three or four emails, spread over about three weeks, then a pause of a few months. Consumer lists usually call for fewer attempts over a shorter period, and warm inbound leads for more attempts packed into the first few days.

Few prospects say no on the first attempt. Most say nothing: the call rings out and the email sits unread. Stopping after one or two tries treats silence as an answer when it often just means bad timing. Calling every day for a month goes the other way, and wears out the list, your numbers' reputation and your company's name.

A few principles hold whatever numbers you pick:

• Front-load it. Put more attempts in the first week, while the reason for calling is fresh, then space them out.
• Grow the gaps. One or two days between early attempts, three to five days later on.
• Count every touch. A voicemail and an email on the same day are two touches, and the prospect notices both.
• Vary the time of day. Calling at the same hour every time reaches the same busy moment every time.
• Set a ceiling and keep to it. A cadence with no last step quietly turns into calling forever.
• Know the legal ceiling too. Some states cap how many times you can call the same person in a day, and a do-not-call request ends the cadence on the spot.
• Then let your own data set the final numbers. Log the attempt on which each conversation happened. After a few hundred prospects you'll see where conversations stop coming, and that's where your cadence should end.

How should you mix calls, voicemails, texts and emails?

Let calls carry the cadence and use the other channels to support them: voicemails make your name familiar, emails carry the detail, and texts, where the rules allow, give the prospect a quick way to reply.

Each channel does a different job:

• Calls: the only channel that can turn into a conversation on the spot. Most attempts should be calls.
• Voicemails: short, with your name, company, one reason and your number, said twice. Leave one on the first attempt and one or two later, not on every call. Five near-identical voicemails add little the first two didn't.
• Emails: where the detail, links and a specific ask live. Send the first one the same day as the first call and mention the call in it, so the two read as one approach.
• Texts: short and plain, with your name and company. In the US, automated texts generally need prior express consent under the TCPA, and marketing texts need written consent; in Canada, CASL requires consent for commercial texts. Many cold B2B cadences leave texts out until the prospect has replied or given a mobile number for that purpose.
• Make each step add something: a relevant example, a question, a specific time to talk. A cadence that repeats one message seven times is one message, sent seven times.
• Automate the repetitive part. In TopReach, when a call isn't answered, it can drop a voicemail, then send a text or an email on the days you choose, and it tracks every touch, so nobody gets the same message twice. Reps make the calls; the follow-up runs on the schedule you set.
• Mind the consent rules for automation. A dropped voicemail is a prerecorded message, so the TCPA's consent rules for prerecorded calls can apply, especially on cell phones. Settle with counsel which lists can get automated voicemails and texts.

When is the best time to make cold calls?

There's no single best time that holds across industries and roles, so the practical answer is to spread attempts across the day in the prospect's local time and let your own results show which hours work for your list.

Advice about the one best hour to call is common, but answer patterns depend on who you're calling: a list of contractors behaves nothing like a list of finance directors. What experienced teams do is simpler:

• Call in their time zone. Plan the day around the prospect's local time, not yours, and keep a time zone field on every contact.
• Rotate the slot. If the first call went out mid-morning, make the next one early afternoon and the one after late in the day.
• Think about the role. Many reps try business owners and managers early or late in the working day, around their meetings, and try consumers in the early evening, within legal hours. Treat these as habits to test, not rules.
• Respect the person's day. A call in the middle of a consumer's dinner or a business owner's busiest hour reaches them at their least patient.
• Track it. Log the hour of every conversation. After a few weeks you'll know your list's good hours better than any general advice can tell you.
• Sort lists by time. In TopReach, dynamic lists that fill themselves from rules can do the sorting, such as a list of prospects in one time zone who haven't been reached yet, ready for the hours when calling them makes sense.

What hours are you allowed to call, and what other rules shape a cadence?

In the US, the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) and the FCC's TCPA rules both bar telemarketing calls to consumers before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. in the called person's local time, and that window is the outer limit for any consumer cadence. Several other rules shape how many attempts you make and which channels you use. This is general information, not legal advice; check with your counsel.

• Calling hours: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the called person's location, under both the TSR and the TCPA rules. Some states set narrower hours or restrict weekend and holiday calls, and Canada's CRTC telemarketing rules set their own hours, which are shorter on weekends. A cell phone's area code may not match where the person lives, so use the address you have, and when you're unsure, stay inside hours that are legal in both places.
• Do-not-call: check consumer numbers against the National Do Not Call Registry before you call, keep your own internal list, and stop calling anyone who asks. TopReach keeps a do-not-call list and handles texting opt-outs for the whole team, but it doesn't check numbers against the National Registry, so do that before you import.
• Consent for automation: autodialed or prerecorded calls and texts to cell phones generally need prior express consent, and written consent for telemarketing.
• State mini-TCPAs: several states, such as Florida and Oklahoma, have their own telemarketing laws with stricter consent rules, calling hours or limits on how often you can call the same person.
• Email: in the US, CAN-SPAM requires commercial emails to identify the sender, include a postal address and offer a working opt-out. In Canada, CASL requires consent before you send commercial emails or texts, B2B included, plus identification and an unsubscribe option.
• Canada calls: calls to businesses are exempt from the National Do Not Call List rules, but telemarketers calling consumers must register with the list, check numbers against it and follow the CRTC's other rules, which bar automated, prerecorded sales calls without the person's express consent.
• B2B: most business-to-business calls fall outside the TSR and the Registry, but the TCPA's consent rules follow the phone, so a prospect's personal cell phone can bring them back in.
• Recording: some US states require every party's consent to record a call.

When should you stop calling a prospect?

Stop as soon as the prospect gives you an answer, asks you to stop, or reaches the end of the cadence without replying; then close them out or move them to a slower nurture list with a date to try again.

• They reply or book: end the cadence right away and move them to the next stage. Make sure any automated steps stop too, so nobody gets a 'just following up' email after saying yes.
• They say no, or not now: record the reason. 'Not now' gets a date to call back, often a quarter or so out. A clear no gets closed.
• They ask not to be contacted: add them to your do-not-call list and stop every channel at once. A STOP reply to a text is an opt-out too.
• Wrong number or wrong person: fix the record or remove the number. Don't keep calling a number that belongs to someone else.
• The last step passes without a reply: send a short final email saying you'll stop for now, then take them out of the active cadence.
• The law says stop: a state limit on calls to the same person, or a do-not-call request, ends the cadence wherever it is.
• Quiet isn't lost for good. Put them on a nurture list and try a new cadence in a few months with a new reason to call, such as a new offer, a change at their company or a season that matters for their business.

What does a B2B cold calling cadence look like?

A B2B cold cadence typically runs about three weeks, with most attempts as calls, emails carrying the detail, and texts held back until there's consent or a reply. Here is a sample of seven calls, two voicemails and four emails over 21 days, for a prospect with a direct line or mobile number and a work email:

• Day 1: Call. If there's no answer, leave a short voicemail and send an email that mentions it, with a two-line reason for calling and one ask.
• Day 2: Call at a different time of day. No voicemail.
• Day 4: Call, then send a second email with one new thing, such as a short example from a similar company or a question about how they handle the problem today.
• Day 7: Call and leave a second voicemail that points to your emails.
• Day 9: Call.
• Day 11: Email a specific ask, such as two times for a 15-minute call.
• Day 14: Call, late in the day.
• Day 17: Call, early in the day.
• Day 21: Send a short final email saying you'll stop for now, then move them to a Not now stage with a date to try again.
• Variations: if the prospect gave you a mobile number for texts or has replied before, add a one-line text on day 7 or 9. For accounts with several contacts, run the cadence on two or three people at once, and pause the others when one replies.

What does a consumer calling cadence look like?

A consumer cadence is shorter and lighter than a B2B one: fewer attempts, more calls in the early evening and, where rules allow, on weekends, live voicemails rather than prerecorded ones unless you have consent, and stricter checks before the first dial. Here is a sample of six calls over two weeks for a consumer list, such as past customers or older leads who have gone quiet:

• Before day 1: check numbers against the National Do Not Call Registry and your own do-not-call list, confirm what consent you hold for texts and prerecorded messages, and note each contact's time zone.
• Day 1: Call in the early evening, their time. If there's no answer, leave a short live voicemail with your name, company, why you're calling and a number to call back.
• Day 3: Call at midday.
• Day 5: Call on the weekend, if state rules allow it. Send a text only if they've given the consent the TCPA requires.
• Day 8: Call in the early evening, and send an email if you have their address and, in Canada, their consent.
• Day 11: Call.
• Day 14: Final call. If there's no answer, stop and set a date to try again in a few months.
• Keep the voicemails human. A rep leaving a live message is generally treated differently from an automated voicemail drop, which is a prerecorded message under the TCPA. If you plan to automate voicemails or texts on a consumer list, settle consent with counsel first, and remember the TSR's 3% abandoned-call limit if you plan to parallel dial it.

What does a cadence for warm inbound leads look like?

A warm inbound lead, someone who filled out a form, asked for a quote or called and missed you, gets the fastest and densest cadence: call within minutes, try several times on the first day, then follow up most days for the first week. They asked to hear from you, and the reason they reached out is freshest in the first hours.

Here is a sample for an inbound lead over two weeks:

• Within minutes: call. If there's no answer, send an email with what they asked for, and a text if their request included consent to texts.
• An hour or two later: call again.
• End of day 1: call and leave a voicemail.
• Day 2: call in the morning, and again late in the day.
• Day 3: call, and email a specific next step, such as a time to talk.
• Day 5: call and leave a second voicemail.
• Day 7: call.
• Day 10: email to ask whether they still want help, and say you'll close their request if you don't hear back.
• Day 14: final call, then move them to a slower nurture list.
• Speed only helps if the lead reaches a rep fast. TopReach doesn't have web forms or lead routing, so inbound leads reach it by spreadsheet import or, for teams with a developer, through its public API with keys and webhooks. Call these leads in power mode, not parallel: someone who asked for a call should never pick up to silence.