Cognism titles its 2026 cold calling report as an analysis of over 200K calls.

The State of Cold Calling in 2026 | Over 200K Calls Analysed

Cognism State of Cold Calling in 2026 report, based on analysis of 2025 cold calling data and WHAM cold-call performance data. Scraped with Firecrawl on May 10, 2026.

Cognism is a sales intelligence vendor. Treat Cognism team performance figures as first-party vendor benchmarks, not neutral market averages.


Cognism says its 2026 report analyzes 2025 cold calling data to inform how teams should approach cold calling in 2026.


Cognism reports that the industry average cold calling success rate climbed to 2.7%, up from 2.3% the previous year.


Cognism reports that its sales team entered 2026 with an 11.3% cold call success rate.


Cognism reports that its cold call success rate increased from 6.7% in the previous report to 11.3% in the 2026 report.


Cognism reports that 1.55 calls are now needed on average to reach a prospect.


Cognism reports that its 2025 data required an average of 2.9 call attempts to get through.


Cognism reports that Thursday remained the standout day to get through to prospects, while Tuesday overtook Wednesday as the second-best day.


Cognism reports that Friday still trails behind the rest of the week for cold calling performance.


Cognism reports that the most effective cold calling window is between 10am and 11am.


Cognism reports that the 2pm to 3pm slot also delivers solid connection rates and call durations.


Cognism reports that cold calling performance drops before 9am, after 4pm, and during the 12pm to 1pm lunch period.


Cognism reports that the average cold call lasts 82 seconds in 2026, according to WHAM data.


Cognism reports that the average cold call lasted 93 seconds in 2025.


Cognism reports that Cognism SDRs average two minutes per call, 38 seconds longer than the industry benchmark.


Cognism reports that its broader cold calling strategy produced a 16% success rate in Europe throughout 2025.


Cognism says its UK cold calling performance remained relatively consistent year over year.


Cognism says its US cold calling performance aligned closely to its overall average in the 2026 report.


Cognism says the 2026 cold calling winners are calling the right person, at the right time, with the right message.


Cognism says top teams are investing in data, tools, consultative training, and long-term relationship-building rather than one-shot meeting booking.


Cognism 2025 report data included 204,698 dials.

Cognism 2025 Cold Calling Report PDF using WHAM data, including 204,698 dials, 27,513 conversations, and 617 meetings. Scraped with Firecrawl on May 10, 2026.

Historical 2025 report used for trend comparison and methodology context.


Cognism 2025 report data included 27,513 conversations.


Cognism 2025 report data included 617 meetings.


Cognism 2025 report listed a 2.3% industry standard cold call success rate.


Cognism 2025 report listed a 6.7% Cognism cold call success rate.


Cognism 2025 report listed three as the optimum number of times to call a prospect.


Cognism 2025 report listed a 65.6% call-connected-to-conversation success rate.


Cognism 2025 report listed a 26.85% callback success rate.


Cognism reported that cold calls had a 4.82% success rate in 2024 based on WHAM data.


Cognism reported that the average cold call lasted 93 seconds in 2025.


HubSpot surveyed 379 sales professionals for its 2025 State of Cold Calling report.

HubSpot's 2025 State of Cold Calling Report

HubSpot surveyed 379 sales professionals via Panoplai across backgrounds, industries, company sizes, and seniority levels. Scraped with Firecrawl on May 10, 2026.

Survey responses are self-reported by sales professionals.


HubSpot reports that 24% of respondents say their sales organizations use cold calling as a primary sales channel.


HubSpot reports that 25% of respondents say their sales organizations use cold calling as a secondary sales channel.


HubSpot reports that 19% of respondents say their sales organizations use cold calling only for specific campaigns or segments.


HubSpot reports that 12% of respondents say their organizations have moved away from cold calling, while 21% say their organizations have never used it.


HubSpot reports that 68% of surveyed sales professionals are employed by sales organizations that use cold calling in some capacity.


HubSpot reports that 65% of surveyed sales professionals at least occasionally cold call themselves.


HubSpot reports that 22% of respondents say cold calling is a major part of their daily activities, 22% do it regularly but not daily, and 21% do it occasionally.


HubSpot reports that among respondents who use cold calling as a major daily activity, 30% make 20 to 50 cold calls per week, 22% make 51 to 100, 22% make 100 to 200, and 12% make more than 200.


HubSpot reports that among respondents who cold call regularly but not daily, 37% make 1 to 20 cold calls per week and 36% make 20 to 50.


HubSpot reports that 63% of sales professionals whose organizations use cold calling as a primary sales channel say call volume increased year over year since 2024.


HubSpot reports that among daily cold callers, 28% follow a strict script, 52% use a script but adapt it significantly, 9% use bullet points, and 11% use no script.


HubSpot reports that among daily cold callers, 61% use CRM data and past interactions for prospect research, 59% use social profiles, and 57% use company websites and news.


HubSpot reports that among daily cold callers, 59% use a CRM, 49% use a contact or lead database, and 45% use a sales engagement platform.


HubSpot reports that among daily cold callers, 23% use AI tools extensively and 49% use AI tools occasionally to support cold calling.


HubSpot reports that among daily cold callers, 32% say AI completely transformed their approach and 37% say AI moderately improved their approach.


HubSpot reports that 38% of daily cold callers say late morning, 10am to 12pm, is the most productive time for cold calling.


HubSpot reports that 51% of regular but not daily cold callers say late morning, 10am to 12pm, is the most productive time for cold calling.


HubSpot reports that 30% of daily cold callers say Tuesday is the best day for cold calling, followed by Wednesday at 27%.


HubSpot reports that 39% of regular but not daily cold callers say Tuesday is the best day for cold calling.


HubSpot reports that 43% of daily cold callers define setting a meeting or demo as the most positive outcome of a cold call.


HubSpot reports that 35% of daily cold callers see a 2% to 5% conversion-to-appointment rate, while 32% see 6% to 10%.


HubSpot reports that 50% of regular but not daily cold callers see a 6% to 10% conversion-to-appointment rate.


HubSpot reports that 38% of daily cold callers say their typical cold call response rate is 11% to 20%.


HubSpot reports that 44% of regular but not daily cold callers say their typical cold call response rate is 5% to 10%.


HubSpot reports that 55% of daily cold callers make 3 to 5 call attempts before moving on from a prospect.


HubSpot reports that 56% of regular but not daily cold callers make 3 to 5 call attempts before moving on from a prospect.


HubSpot reports that among daily cold callers, the biggest challenges are overcoming initial rejection at 44%, getting past gatekeepers at 40%, and reaching decision-makers at 40%.


HubSpot reports that 55% of daily cold callers cite a personalized, research-driven approach as a technique that produced the best results in the past year.


HubSpot reports that 46% of daily cold callers open calls with a direct introduction and purpose statement.


HubSpot reports that 49% of daily cold callers say a successful cold call usually lasts 2 to 5 minutes.


HubSpot reports that among daily cold callers, 73% combine email with cold calling, 54% use SMS or text messaging, and 44% use social media outreach.


HubSpot reports that 52% of all respondents say cold calling is somewhat effective, 16% say it is very effective, 4% say it is extremely effective, and 28% say it is not effective.


HubSpot reports that among organizations using cold calling as a primary sales channel, 25% expect it to be much more important to their 2026 sales process, 21% somewhat more important, and 36% about as important.


HubSpot reports that 63% of respondents from primary cold calling organizations expect advanced AI call assistance to impact cold calling next year.


HubSpot reports that daily cold callers rank resilience and persistence at 56%, research and personalization at 51%, and active listening and adaptability at 51% as key cold calling skills.


RAIN Group reports that 82% of buyers accept meetings with sellers who reach out to them.

30 Must-Know Sales Prospecting Stats Infographic

RAIN Group Center for Sales Research prospecting benchmark infographic based on 488 B2B buyers and 489 sellers. Scraped with Firecrawl on May 10, 2026.

Prospecting benchmark source, not exclusively a cold calling report.


RAIN Group says its Top Performance in Sales Prospecting benchmark research used data from 488 B2B buyers and 489 sellers.


RAIN Group reports that 71% of buyers want to hear from sellers when they are looking for new ideas to drive stronger business results.


RAIN Group reports that 62% of buyers want to hear from sellers when they are actively looking for a solution to solve a problem.


Orum says its State of Cold Calling report draws on more than 1 billion outbound dials.

Orum gated report landing page states the report draws on more than 1 billion outbound dials, more than 8 million verified job titles, and hundreds of industries. Scraped with Firecrawl on May 10, 2026.

The landing page exposes methodology and report scope, but detailed benchmarks are gated.


Orum says its State of Cold Calling report spans more than 8 million verified job titles across hundreds of industries.


Orum says its State of Cold Calling report includes persona-by-seniority connect-rate breakdowns, power versus parallel dialing comparisons, and time-of-day heatmaps.

The detailed benchmark tables are gated; this claim only describes the exposed report scope.


Sopro reports that 31% of sales and marketing decision-makers report excellent or very good ROI from cold calling.

Sopro 2026 cold outreach statistics page with cold calling, email, LinkedIn, buyer attitude, and outreach tool benchmarks. Scraped with Firecrawl on May 10, 2026.

Sopro is an outreach vendor and the page mixes Sopro commentary with third-party benchmarks; use as directional outreach context.


Sopro reports that about 2% of cold calls are successful across all attempts.


Sopro says a 4% to 5% conversation-to-meeting rate is solid, while top performers reach 15%.


Sopro reports that most regular cold callers see appointment conversion rates between 6% and 10%.


Sopro reports that it takes an average of 18 calls to connect with a buyer.


Sopro reports that booking one qualified meeting often requires over 200 dials.


Sopro reports that 55% of high-growth companies find cold calling effective.


Sopro reports that calls made between 4pm and 5pm are 71% more effective than midday calls.


Sopro reports that 96% of prospects research vendors before speaking to an SDR.


Trellus gives 4% to 6% as a connect-rate range for unverified or generic data, 6% to 10% for verified mobile numbers, and 10%+ for strong execution.

Average Cold Call Connect Rate (2026): Benchmarks, Stats & How to Improve

Trellus 2026 vendor benchmark article about connect-rate ranges, persona ranges, data quality, timing, and caller ID hygiene. Scraped with Firecrawl on May 10, 2026.

Directional vendor benchmark, not a neutral primary dataset.


Trellus says SMB managers and mid-level decision-makers can show 15% to 25% connect rates, C-suite executives 4% to 6%, and technical individual contributors 8% to 12%.


Trellus says first dials can see 10% to 15% connect rates, while third attempts and beyond often drop closer to 5%.


ZoomInfo summarizes average cold calling success rates at 2% to 3% and top performer success rates at 6% to 10%+.

Cold Calling Statistics: 2026 Benchmarks and Data for B2B Sales Teams

ZoomInfo 2026 cold calling benchmark article citing several external sales sources and ZoomInfo case-study context. Scraped with Firecrawl on May 10, 2026.

Aggregator/vendor benchmark. Prefer direct sources where possible.


SalesHive summarizes a typical B2B connect-rate range of 3% to 10% and a top-team range of 7% to 10%+ with strong direct-dial data and timing.

Cold Calling Benchmarks for B2B Sales Teams in 2025

SalesHive 2025 benchmark article summarizing funnel metrics and citing Cognism, SalesHive, Optifai, Bridge Group summaries, and other sources. Scraped with Firecrawl on May 10, 2026.

Agency/vendor summary with cited sources; use as secondary operational context.


SalesHive summarizes average dial-to-meeting performance around 2.5% and top performer performance at 5% to 8%.


SalesHive summarizes typical SDR daily call activity at 40 to 50 dials and top-team activity at 50 to 70 thoughtful dials.