How Many Cold Calls Per Day Should an SDR Make?

One of the most common questions in sales development is: "How many cold calls should I make per day?" The answer? It depends. Every SDR role is different, and the ideal number of daily cold calls varies based on your quota, connection rate, and meeting rate.

Instead of guessing, let's break it down with real numbers.

Step 1: Define your quota

Start by identifying your monthly quota for booked meetings. For example, if your goal is 20 meetings per month, that’s 5 meetings per week.

Step 2: Calculate Your Connection Rate

Your connection rate is the percentage of calls that reach a decision-maker.

• If you call 100 prospects and connect with 10, your connection rate is 10%.

• This varies by industry but typically falls between 3% and 10%.

Side note: If your connection rate is low, check out our other blog post on increasing your cold call connection rate

Step 3: Determine Your Meeting Rate

Your meeting rate is the percentage of connected calls that result in a scheduled meeting.

• If you book a meeting in 25% of connected calls, your meeting rate is 25% (this is a high booking rate, but we’re using this to keep this simple)

Step 4: Do the Math

Calls Needed Per Week

• To book 1 meeting, you need 4 connected calls (since 1 in 4 leads to a meeting).

• At a 10% connection rate, you need 40 calls to get 4 connections.

• To book 5 meetings per week, you need 200 cold calls per week.

Calls Needed Per Day

• 200 calls per week ÷ 5 days = 40 calls per day at minimum

• We highly recommend you add a buffer of 25% on top of your calculated minimum to be safe

Final Takeaway

Your cold call target will vary based on your company’s expectations, industry, and personal performance metrics. If your connection rate or meeting rate is lower, you’ll need to make more calls. Conversely, improving your cold call quality can help you hit quota with fewer dials.

Rather than focusing on an arbitrary number, track your own metrics and adjust accordingly. Cold calling is a numbers game, but smart SDRs play the numbers to their advantage.

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