People say cold calling is outdated, but the data proves otherwise.
According to Cognism’s 2025 State of Cold Calling Report, based on over 204,000 cold calls and 27,000 conversations, cold outreach remains a powerful tool in B2B sales.
The numbers show that it takes three call attempts to connect with a lead, and when that connection happens, there’s a 65.6% chance of having a live conversation. Getting callbacks also play a significant role, with a 26.85% chance of successfully reaching a prospect on a return call.
With results like these, it’s clear that cold calling works for businesses.
Want to see if it will work for you? In this article, we’ll explain why cold calling still works in 2025 and how you can make the most of every conversation to turn calls into closed deals.
The Myth: “Cold Calling No Longer Works”
You’ve probably heard sales leaders and marketing influencers claim cold calling is outdated and ineffective. They argue that buyers don’t answer unknown phone numbers and that digital channels like email and LinkedIn are more effective.
However, according to the same data from Cognism, cold calling has an average success rate of 2.3%. This success rate refers to the percentage of cold calls that successfully lead to a live conversation.
The real problem is that many companies execute cold calling poorly. When sales teams treat it as a pure numbers game and rely on generic scripts to dial hundreds of contacts, engagement drops, and rejection rates rise. It’s no wonder many think cold calling is dead!
The Cold Truth? Cold Calling Still Works
Here is the data from Cognism’s latest cold-calling report, which proves why businesses that embrace cold calls gain a competitive edge.
Cold Calling Connects Decision-Makers Faster
One of the challenges in sales is getting past gatekeepers and reaching the right people. When you do cold calls, you eliminate this barrier by directly engaging decision-makers. This gives you an edge over digital outreaches.
According to Cognism, connecting with a lead takes just three call attempts on average. Compare this to the slow drip of email sequences, which can take you days or weeks to generate a response from your recipient.
Once connected, sales reps have a 65.6% success rate in holding a conversation. The success rate is the percentage of cold calls that result in a meaningful outcome, such as securing a meeting or conversation with your potential clients.
The more meaningful exchanges you get, the more it helps your business qualify leads, handle objections, and accelerate the sales pipeline!
Longer Conversations = Bigger Chance to Close Deals
Engagement is the first step to earning revenue, and cold calling creates conversations with your prospects.
Additionally, the same report by Cognism reports that the average cold call lasts 93 seconds. 93 seconds with a prospect is a significant window to build relationships with them!
In comparison, most cold emails get skimmed in under five seconds, and 91% get ignored.
It’s no wonder that companies that integrate cold outreach into their sales process create more opportunities and deals with prospects.
The Verdict?
If revenue growth is your goal, cold calling should be in your sales team’s toolkit. The numbers we showed you don’t lie. While indirect outreach is helpful, direct outreach builds relationships faster, creates more opportunities, and drives sales in a way that digital channels alone can’t.
Companies that invest heavily in cold calling close more deals, shorten sales cycles, and outperform competitors. The real question isn’t whether it works but whether your team is leveraging it effectively.
How CoDev Uses Cold Outreach
Our SDR teams use cold calling as a key revenue driver. Unlike outdated sales tactics, our approach is data-driven. Our SDRs don’t just call random prospects but focus on high-intent leads who match our ideal customer profile.
We craft personalized pitches, making conversations feel natural and engaging rather than robotic. Our team establishes credibility from the first interaction by understanding the prospect’s business and industry. This approach builds trust and increases the likelihood of a positive response from the prospect.
If a prospect isn’t ready to engage on the first call, we continue nurturing them through follow-up calls, emails, and LinkedIn interactions. We prioritize keeping our message top-of-mind for our leads.
If our pitches don’t work, we continuously refine it until we hit the sweet spot and start seeing results.
The result? Higher engagement rates, better conversion rates, and more closed deals. This same approach could work for your team, too.
How Can You Successfully Make Cold Calls?
While using data is helpful, the key to success lies in strategic timing, persistence, and leveraging technology.
Instead of relying on outdated scripts and high-volume dialing, your business can refine its approach to create meaningful conversations that lead to actual results.
Here’s how you can maximize your cold-calling success using data-driven strategies.
1. Understand Conversion Rates and Set Realistic Goals
The average cold call success rate varies across industries. As we mentioned earlier, Cognism’s 2025 report indicates a success rate of 2.3%, while CloudTalk reports an average conversion rate of 4.8%. Recognizing these benchmarks can help you set realistic expectations and goals.
2. Best Time to Cold Call?
Remember that timing plays a crucial role in cold-calling success. Cognism’s data reveals that Tuesdays have the highest success rate for booking meetings, with optimal call times between 10–11 AM and 2–3 PM. Additionally, you should not call prospects during off-hours because this can lower your success rate.
3. Prepare Your Team for Multiple Attempts
Connecting with prospects often requires persistence on your end. Cognism’s findings show that connecting with a lead takes an average of three cold call attempts. You can also plan for multiple touchpoints to improve your connection rates with prospects.
4. Leverage AI and Technology
Cold calling has come a long way, thanks to technology that makes it more innovative. Sales teams can now use data-driven tools like Cognism’s sales intelligence platform to reach the right prospects at the right time.
Thanks to technology, you can use smart dialers and call analytics to help you connect faster and improve your approach in real time. AI can also help you personalize scripts based on a prospect’s background to make conversations more engaging.
Overall, technology enhances cold calling rather than replacing it. This helps teams have better conversations, build stronger relationships, and close more deals.
5. Develop a Flexible Script
You need a well-structured and adaptable script that serves as a conversation roadmap, ensuring consistency and confidence. You can include key talking points and responses to common objections to foster a natural and engaging dialogue with prospects.
6. Focus on Quality Conversations
The average cold call duration has increased from 83 to 93 seconds, indicating that prospects are open to engaging in meaningful discussions. It’s essential for you to prioritize meaningful interactions over sheer volume, which can lead to better results with prospects.
The Future of Cold Calling
Cold calling is changing, and sales teams need to adapt. The most effective outreach today combines traditional phone calls with digital strategies to create a smarter, more efficient sales process. Instead of dialing cold, reps can warm up leads through pre-call research and social selling, such as engaging with prospects on LinkedIn, interacting with their content, and offering value before ever picking up the phone.
This approach makes conversations more natural and increases the chances of a positive response.
Technology and AI are also playing a more significant role, with call insights helping sales teams pinpoint the best times to reach prospects, analyze past calls for improvement, and refine their messaging.
It’s clear that these tools aren’t replacing the human touch, but they are making every call more effective and driving better results.
Cold Calling Isn’t Dead
So the next time you hear someone say, “Cold calling is dead,” challenge them to look at the numbers. When done strategically, cold outreach is a powerful tool for revenue growth. To us, it’s not about making a hundred random calls but about making the right calls to the right people with the right message.
If you understand that, you can thrive in today’s market. The future of sales belongs to those who embrace traditional and modern outreach methods. Will you embrace that?
Start using your cold-call approach to win deals, build relationships, and drive sustainable growth. Want to see how CoDev’s expert SDRs can accelerate your revenue through cold outreach? Book your free strategy session today.
