by Amy Keuper, VP Sales & Operations

When evaluating cold-calling work, do you measure the volume of phone activity, first and foremost? If sales were merely a numbers game, then more dials should automatically net more results. But it's not always so. We maintain that for today's busy and distracted buyers, the quality of activity increasingly trumps quantity.

We record all significant activities rather than the dial count. We track how many meaningful touches are required on average to set a qualified sales appointment. We document every voicemail, conversation and email. Our activity-per-hour ratio ranges from 3-12 per hour depending on the type of work.

1. Most of our client base have a complex sale. By nature this is navigating work, not a high-volume dialing process. Frequently, we don't have a contact name to start with when calling a company. We have to figure out who the real Decision Makers are and reach them. We gather company and overall market intelligence as we go.
2. We work on a targeted list of named accounts, often a limited lead pool. Since we make our clients' first impression, careless contact will only burn through precious leads. Activity for activity's sake squanders prospects. Each touch has to count to move the ball forward.
3. Talk time is key. If we are just leaving voicemails, that's faster than connecting live and looks like more "work" in terms of activity count, but it is less productive than actually reaching someone and having a conversation. Our most successful Sales Managers may have the lowest number of tasks but the highest meeting-setting rates.

We have seen that fewer, carefully meditated, and well-executed activities will yield better results than a flurry of poorly-planned calls.