Cold calling numbers: the big studies next to ours.
These are the B2B cold calling figures that large companies have measured on their own calls, each with its sample, next to what Bright Match measured on its own projects in Belgium and the Netherlands. Use them to check a plan or a promise. Our numbers are much better than the big averages and come from far fewer calls, so this page also says why you should read them with care.
In short
- The big datasets land between about 220 and 410 dials for one booked meeting. The average hides a wide spread: the best quarter of callers needs fewer than 50.
- Reach differs most. A mobile number helps in every dataset, ours included.
- We found no published dataset for Belgium or the Netherlands. Ours is small, and it is the only one we can show you.
The numbers, side by side
Definitions differ between sources, so each row says what was counted. A dash means we have not measured it.
| What | Published, with sample | Bright Match, with sample |
|---|---|---|
| Calls that reach the person | 5.4% for the average caller, 13.3% for the best quarter (Gong, over 300 million calls). 9.9% when any person who answers counts (Belkins, 175,000 dials). | 31.2% in Belgium and 15.6% in the Netherlands, same project (HR software, 571 calls, September to November 2026). 24% on a third project (simulation training for industry, 1,558 calls, March to November 2026). |
| Conversations that become a meeting | 4.6% on average in two datasets (Gong; Belkins). 16.7% for the best quarter of callers (Gong). | 34 meetings from 120 people reached on one project; 35 from 68 on another (accounting software, Belgium, October to November 2026); 124 from 378 on a third (simulation training for industry, March to November 2026). |
| Calls for one booked meeting | About 370 dials (Belkins). Between about 220 and 410 across four datasets; fewer than 50 for Gong’s best quarter. | About 6 on the accounting project (204 calls, 35 meetings). About 17 on the HR project (571 calls, 34 meetings): 28 in the first month, 8 in the third. About 13 on the simulation training project (1,558 calls, 124 meetings). In the Netherlands alone on the HR project: 180 calls, 2 meetings. |
| Mobile number against other numbers | Mobile numbers connect 45% more often, and those conversations become a meeting 18% more often (Nooks, about 3 million dials). | A contact with a mobile number was reached 1.6 times more often: 33% of calls against 21% (1,187 calls, seven lists, September to October 2026). |
| How many attempts per lead | 93% of all conversations happened by the third call and 98.6% by the fifth (Cognism with the agency WHAM, 204,000 dials). | Up to six attempts, after 1, 2, 4 and 7 working days, each time in the other half of the day. Which attempt brings the conversation: — |
| Booked meetings that take place | About 86% for one company’s own outbound team (Cognism, 39,679 meetings); about 60% when booked more than four days ahead. | 14 of 15 meetings the client reported on (accounting software, Belgium). 78% on the simulation training project (76 of the 98 meetings the client evaluated). |
| Best moment to call | Mid-morning, around 10 to 11, in most datasets. The best day differs from source to source. | — |
| Length of a call that books | About six minutes, against under one minute for calls without a meeting (Orum). 3.7 minutes (Belkins). | — |
| What one caller delivers | A median target of 10 held meetings a month for an in-house caller; 60% reach their target; three months to get up to speed (Bridge Group, survey of 351 companies). | One top caller booked 39 qualified meetings in October 2026, in about 20 hours on the line. Another caller booked 124 meetings on one project between March and November 2026, 34 of them in the best month. |
Why are our numbers so different?
Six calls for a meeting against several hundred is a gap you should question. These are the five reasons we can name, and none of them makes our figures a forecast for your project.
- Small samples. Our projects count hundreds of calls. The big datasets count hundreds of thousands, across every kind of market and caller.
- Lists made before calling. On the accounting project only the best-scored firms were called. That is one case, not proof that scoring caused the result.
- A different market. The big datasets are mostly American. Ours are Belgian and Dutch companies. On the same project the Netherlands gave 2 meetings from 180 calls, which is close to the big averages.
- The caller. In the largest dataset the best quarter of callers needs fewer than 50 dials for a meeting, against about 410 for the average caller. These projects were called by our top-ranked callers.
- Definitions. For us a call is one logged attempt, including the ones nobody answers, and a meeting is a booked one, confirmed by the client afterwards. Other sources count dials from a dialling machine, or only meetings that took place.
Numbers to stop repeating
- “It takes eight attempts to reach a prospect.” No study behind it can be found. The measured data says three attempts catch more than nine in ten conversations.
- “80% of sales need five follow-ups.” Traced back to a 2009 column that names no study.
- “39% of cold-call meetings are no-shows.” A modelled estimate, not a measurement.
How to use these numbers
- Checking a provider’s promise. Ask what counts as a call and as a meeting, and how many calls the figure rests on.
- Planning your own team. Start from the big averages, not from the best quarter. Then replace them with your own first hundred calls.
- Deciding where to spend. Two things move the result most: whether you reach people, and who makes the call.
Sources
- Gong Labs, insights from 300 million cold calls (2024).
- Belkins, cold calling benchmarks (2025, 175,000 dials).
- Cognism and WHAM, State of Cold Calling (2024 and 2025 editions).
- Cognism, State of Outbound 2026 (39,679 booked meetings).
- Nooks, who picks up the most (2025, about 3 million dials).
- Orum, cold calling in 2025 (platform data, 2024).
- Bridge Group, SDR metrics 2025 (survey of 351 companies).
Every one of these publishers sells calling software, contact data or outbound work. They measured their own customers or their own teams.
Written by Bright Match, from published studies and our own client reports. Bright Match books qualified B2B meetings by phone, paid per meeting.