What is connect rate?
Last verified · by Topcalls Team
Definition
Connect rate is the share of dialed phone numbers where a live person actually answers, expressed as a percentage of total dials. On cold B2B lists it commonly sits in the 8 to 15 percent range.
What it is
Connect rate measures reach, not outcome. If you dial 1,000 numbers and 100 people pick up, your connect rate is 10 percent, regardless of how those conversations go. It is the first metric to fix, because nothing downstream happens on a call that never connects.
Several things move connect rate: the freshness and accuracy of the list, the time of day you call, whether your number shows local presence, and whether carriers have flagged your number as spam likely. AI dialers raise it by calling more numbers per hour and by retrying at the times a given lead tends to answer.
Topcalls works on connect rate with local-presence numbers and high call throughput, and bills the talk time at $0.35/min, all-inclusive, so testing different call windows never changes your per-minute cost.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a good connect rate?
- On cold B2B lists, 8 to 15 percent is typical. Warm and inbound lists run much higher. The right benchmark depends on list quality and how recently the contacts opted in.
- How is connect rate calculated?
- Divide the number of calls answered by a live person by the total number of dials, then multiply by 100.
- How do I improve connect rate?
- Use accurate, fresh lists, call during the windows your leads answer, show local-presence numbers, and keep your numbers off spam-likely labels.
See it on your own numbers
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