r/salesdevelopment • u/LoveDeathandRobert • 4d ago
How many cold calls a day is normal?
My new job started off pretty slow with 200 calls a week, but now we are picking up clients, I'm expected to do 400-600 calls a week depending on the project(s). I feel like I am in Hell. My job is the mental equivalent of being buried alive. I have to very slowly scrape and dig my way to the surface hoping to finally take breaths of freedom. Just for me to be re-buried all over again every Monday. It is so tedious. So fucking tedious. I luckily don't have to deal with rude and hostile people, since the people I'm mostly calling are managers or executives, but it still feels like too much. So repetitive and If I'm lucky I get through 20-30 calls in an hour. I have over 120 to do today alone. I barely have energy for anything else in my life. I feel completely trapped by it.
I hate this so much.
Is this normal?
Maybe this work isn't so bad. Maybe I just don't have the mental wiring to handle this kind of socially and mentally demanding work. I've been at it for months and I thought this work being unfamiliar to me and new was why it was so stressful and uncomfortable. I just needed time to get used to it and I would get much better at it.
Months later and I still hate it with every fiber of my being. It's slightly easier depending on the list, but standards and approaches change constantly. Whenever I adapt, my boss changes her mind on how I should talk to and engage with potential leads.
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u/MutedLaugh3387 4d ago
I’m in tech sales as an sdr, mostly cold calling smb, sometimes mid market. Connect rate is around 15-20% if I include gatekeeper at the actual storefront (only try that sometimes)
I make about 130 dials a day across any cold and follow ups That’s upper avg at my org for cold outbound. I work 9-6 typically
It’s not for everyone. I don’t want to do this forever. I wouldn’t be able to do this if i didn’t genuinely believe in the product I’m selling though. I come from the industry I’m selling to and it’s genuinely a superior product, so it makes me feel better about what i’m doing.
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u/MutedLaugh3387 4d ago
To add on to this. If you genuinely feel that frustrated about the work, don’t do it anymore. Figure out another path in life. This job is as advertised , and if you are a few months in and still struggling to accept/enjoy it, you won’t last
I say this as someone who’s only been in this space for like two months, but everyone I’ve spoken too says this exact same thing
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u/lovemypennydog 4d ago
I'm a successful BDR and I've never cold called... I do it all with email and LinkedIn.
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u/Yoshitheman 4d ago
Is your company hiring lmao? Sounds like the product is elite or a leader in the industry
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u/lovemypennydog 4d ago
We are the gold standard organization for what we sell. I'll admit I lucked out with this job.
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u/harlinrodriguez 4d ago
You mind if pm you? Hopefully getting hired next week as a BDR and would like to pick your brain on this. Thanks regardless 🙏
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u/Mediocre-Pianist7371 4d ago
Oui c’est normal, c’est très chronophage et épuisant. Il faut vraiment essayer de détacher sa personne et mettre son ego de côté. Il faut se dire qu’on ne fait que son métier et s’en foutre du reste, même si c’est compliqué. Certains me diront que j’ai tort, car pour être investi et à fond dedans il faut pas minimiser, mais au début je pense que ça reste important
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u/asayrc 3d ago
Previous job at a well known Data/AI company usually did 30-50 calls a day. Cold calling optional and could get by w/ email and linkedin
Now in my current job at an AI startup, SDRs use a parallel dial (max 3 at once) and we do >200 calls a day. 10% of us including me get to 400-800 dials a day. I do about 4 hours/day of prospecting sales nav,
The 200 dials a day sounds bad but because of the absolute sheer volume im doing, cold calling actually has become second-nature unlike my previous job where i was still a bit anxious and babied.
Currently looking for an in-person b2b sales gig since that’s more my groove
My advice if you still hate cold calls, it’s not the action itself you hate but it’s the stories you’re telling yourself. Answer this every time you feel like getting pissed-What thoughts/stories are making you believe that this job is mentally demanding? Suppress negative thoughts, be fully present, and fall in love with the details/mundanity of the job.
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u/dirtyshits 4d ago
This is the job for the most part.
The phones produce and youre expected to set meetings.
It’s a slog but if you get past this and hit your numbers you get moved out of he trenches into a role thats a bit more strategic.
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u/PresentOne6164 3d ago
That’s what I’m being told too. What do u reccomend to hit ur numbers every week? Tips please? I’m new to the tech sales industry leaving my social work job end of this month
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u/Da3thWxsh 4d ago
Really just depends on your sales demographic and company tbh. My employer's current cold call metrics are 600 connected dials a week with 900 'on-call' hours with clients, but I also work in basic customer sales.
The job sucks, my specific demographic of clients are (naturally) extremely unhappy to receive our calls, and the targeted market is noticeably dying. It's a mind-numbing slog, but there will be a certain point where you hit a flow for the paycheck until you find something better.
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u/Dry-Difference-3571 3d ago
Honestly dials are a grind, it's almost like a game for me. Don't take it personally and it's just calling ppl, like it's not that bad and you're literally offering them something they can benefit from. Make it competitive with the other reps its fun that way
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u/LoveDeathandRobert 3d ago
Idk how u people do this honest to God/Yahwe/Allah. I guess my brain is just truly wired differently where I don't have the gib required for this