Cold Calling vs. Cold Emailing (2025 For Beginners)

When it comes to generating leads fast, everyone asks the same question: cold calling or cold emailing?

TL;DR: It depends on your situation, but I'll explain why.

Your choice between cold calling and cold emailing should align with your business stage and target audience.

And as you're reading this, I assume you're new to sales, need leads fast, and feel as stressed as Zuck hearing about privacy...

Don't worry - it gets easier. Within 4-8 weeks, you'll see significant improvement.

Since both methods are highly effective, let's look at the key criteria to help you decide

Which one will generates more leads.
Which one gets you faster started.
Which one generates higher ROI.
Which one is better for you based on your skills.
What are the essentials for both- hook, speed to value and tonality (copywriting).
Pro’s and con’s.

Which One Generates More Leads in One Day?

Both generate a lot of leads as long as you do it in the right way.

This calculation uses actual examples that I generated without long experience, just with everyday practice over 2 months.

When comparing cold calling vs. cold emailing conversion rates, we have to consider a few different key metrics.

Cold Call Metrics (based on 100 calls)

Cold calls got me an average connect rate of 28% surprisingly aligns with the statistics from Baylor University.

This means if you do 100 cold calls, you will get 28 connections and 10% of those end up in arranged meetings.

100 Cold Calls
Connect rate (28%): 28 connections
Meeting conversion (10%): 2.8 meetings

I didn’t use a power dialer back then, if you use one you can make 50 calls more in one day and land one meeting more.

Cold Email Metrics (based on 250 prospects contacted)

Cold emails get me, on average, a response rate of 4.32% with an average positive reply rate of 27.13%, and from those, if done correctly, you can convert 40-50% into a meeting.

Response rate (4.32%): 10.8 responses
Positive replies (27.13% of responses): 2.93 positive replies
Meeting conversions (40% of positive replies): 1.17 meetings

This calculation shows that from 250 contacted prospects by cold email, you could expect around 1 meeting.

Cold calling gets you more conversions but cold email outreach lets you scale faster

Which One Generates Faster Leads

When comparing cold calling vs. cold emailing, one crucial factor is the required time investment to see the results.

Let's see the key differences in time investment, learning curve, and technical setup requirements for both methods to help you make an informed decision for your business.

Time Investment to First Meeting:

Cold Calling: A focused calling session can yield 1-2 meetings on your first day if you have high quality prospect lists and a good script.
Cold Emailing: You need to set it up and wait for 2 weeks, but after that it can bring fast and consistent meetings as long as you send personalized emails to quality prospect.

Learning Curve:

Cold Calling: Can be learned within 2-3 weeks of consistent practice, listening and iterating on your script based on the feedback and reactions you get from your prospects.
Cold Emailing: Takes way longer to master as you don’t speak much to prospects and therefore you don’t have many feedback loops and can mostly improve on assumptions or data but not on direct feedback from prospects.

cold email outreach takes longer to learn

cold calling skills can be developed fast

Technical Setup and List Building:

For Cold Calling – Minimal setup needed including:

AI-Copilot and AI credits to qualify prospects for ICP-fit.
CRM system with power dialer to dial faster.
Database subscription to get phone numbers.

** 👉 This can be done within an hour.**

For Cold Emailing – to reach 5000 prospects in a month are more tools needed including:

Email sending tool to reach your prospects inbox.
Domains to set up mailboxes.
Mailboxes to send your emails.
LinkedIn Scraper to export prospects from LinkedIn.
AI-Copilot and AI credits to personalize each email to each prospect for max. conversion.
Email verification tool to find the emails of the prospects.
CRM system to turn positive replies in closed deals.

👉 This can be done in 12 hours if you use the DFY service of Smartlead otherwise it will take you longer.

Domain & mailboxes need regular replacements due to the strict policies of Google/Microsoft.

Cold calling has a clear advantage when it comes to speed-to-first-lead. You can start generating meetings on your very first day with just a phone and a list of prospects.

cold calls get you much faster results than cold emails

Cold Calling vs. Cold Emailing – Costs Per Lead

Let's look at exactly what it costs to run both methods effectively.

We'll break down the financial investment, time commitment, and tools needed for each approach.

Understanding the true costs will help you make the right choice for your business.

Cold Calling Calculations

Looking at what we found earlier, you can get around 2.8 meetings a day just by picking up the phone - and that's without any power dialer.

Let's calculate the potential meetings you can get by using a power dialer to reach 150 calls per day across 20 working days

Monthly Performance Breakdown

Time Period	Calls Made	Meetings Booked
Daily (8 hours)	150	4.2
Weekly (5 days)	750	21
Monthly (20 days)	3,000	84

Cold Calling Costs

Your time - $20/hour – $3600/mo
AI-Copilot and AI credits. $30/mo
CRM system with power dialer. $49/mo
Database subscription. $59/mo

Cold Calling – Cost Per Lead

84 Meetings for $3739 – not bad!

This means you'd pay $44,5/meeting

Cold Emailing Calculations

Based on our earlier calculations contacting 500 prospects through cold email outreach would generate 2.34 meetings.

Let's say we contact 500 new prospects every two days, with follow-ups on alternate days, for a 20-day period.

Day 1: 500 new prospects

Day 2: 500 follow ups

Day 3: 500 new prospects

Day 4: 500 follow ups

...

Day 20: 500 follow ups (for prospects from Day 19)

By Day 20, you would have contacted 5000 new prospects and got projected 23.4 meetings

Time investment for setup, maintenance and execution: 22 hours

Infrastructure setup: 2 hours
Writing sequences: 8 hours
List building & personalization: 8 hours
Response handling: 4 hours

Cold Emailing Costs:

Your time - $20/hour - $440/total
Email sending tool: $94
Domains: $6.25
Mailboxes: $80
LinkedIn Scraper: $99
AI-Copilot and credits: $30
Email verification tool: $49
CRM: $59

Cold Emailing Cost Per Lead

23.4 meetings for $857.25 – very good!

This means you’d pay $36.63 per meeting

Based on this calculation cold email has higher ROI than cold calling.

These are projected numbers used for demonstration purposes. Actual results will vary due to non-linear performance and other variables.

Which one is better for you based on your skills

Let's be real - more calculations won't help if you can't execute effectively. While I believe any skill can be mastered through consistent practice, it's smart to build on your existing strengths.

Let me show you the essential skills needed for success in both cold calling and cold emailing.

Essential Skills for Cold Calling

Tonality
Resilience
Persistence
Objection handling
Active Listening

Being good at cold calling requires practice, resilience, and most importantly - the ability to listen actively rather than just waiting for your turn to speak.

Essential Skills for Cold Emailing:

Building logical workflows
Copywriting
Scraping
A/B testing
Response handling

Cold emailing nowadays is mostly about finding the right data, using signals, and personalizing beyond the standards to show the prospect that there’s a real human behind the message who understands their needs and not only a “bulk send” button.

Skills You Need for Both

AI Prompting
List building
Lead scoring
Standing out

Wether you do cold calling or cold email outreach always invest enough time in list building to ensure you talk only to high-quality prospects.

How sales people react to proper lead list.

Pro’s and Con’s

Pros of Cold Calling

Immediate audience feedback and information gathering
Real-time intelligence through voice feedback
Builds trust through personal connection
Best suited for high-ticket offers
Faster deal closure

Cons of Cold Calling:

More immediate and direct rejection that can affect morale
Time zone limitations and scheduling constraints
Higher cost per contact compared to email
Significant time investment needed

How fast you should iterate after receiving feedback from your prospects

Pros of Cold Emailing

Highly scalable with low costs (≈ 23% of cold calling costs)
Can be automated while you focus on other tasks
Works best for low-ticket offers
Easy to systematize

Cons of Cold Emailing:

High risk of landing in spam folders or being filtered out
Increasing competition as inboxes get more crowded
Harder to build emotional connections and rapport
Low amount of real prospect feedback
Requires initial setup time

Personal Note: For entrepreneurs with high-ticket offers, cold calling can become an enjoyable and rewarding practice. Like any sport, there are three key benefits:

The initial resistance fades once you establish a rhythm
You develop confidence through consistent practice
You gain a competitive advantage since most avoid direct rejection, while you receive immediate market feedback

you getting ahead by doing some cold calls.

Which One Is The Winner?

Both approaches have their unique strengths and weaknesses. Let's break down when each method works best:

Cold Calling is Best For:

Getting started in sales with immediate feedback
Targeting traditional and local businesses
Building personal relationships quickly
Closing high-ticket deals faster

Cold Emailing is Best For:

Scaling operations cost-effectively
Working asynchronously with flexible schedules
Reaching a larger audience simultaneously
Building automated, systematic processes

The Bottom Line:

Choose cold calling if you need quick money and direct customer feedback. It's particularly effective when you're just starting out and need to build confidence and experience.

Opt for cold email outreach if you have the technical knowledge and resources to scale, prefer systematic approaches, and want a more cost-effective solution in the long run.

Remember: The best choice depends on your business goals, target audience, and personal strengths. Many successful businesses actually use both methods in combination to maximize their reach and effectiveness.

FAQ

Is cold emailing better than cold calling?

Based on cost analysis, cold emailing ($36.63 per meeting) is more cost-effective than cold calling ($44.50 per meeting). However, the best choice depends on your goals: Cold calling is better for immediate results and high-ticket sales, while cold emailing excels at scalability and systematic outreach.

Does cold emailing work anymore?

Yes, cold emailing remains effective when done properly - focusing on highly personalized messages to well-targeted prospects rather than using a "spray and pray" approach.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of cold calling?

Advantages:

Immediate feedback and information gathering
Real-time voice feedback
Builds personal trust
Ideal for high-ticket offers
Faster deal closure

Disadvantages:

Direct rejection affects morale
Time zone limitations
High cost per contact
Significant time investment

What are the advantages and disadvantages of cold emails?