The data-backed blueprint for multi-touch prospecting

Written by Jason Bay and Elias Melul . This article is part of a special Gong Labs x 30 Minutes to President's Club x Outbound Squad cold email series as a sneak peek of our Cold Email Course: The Reply Method for Double Digit Replies. This week only: Get $85 off the cold email course in honor of the 85M+ cold emails analyzed in this study with code “gong85”.

We’re taught that persistence wins deals.

The rep who's willing to hear “no” and keep emailing and calling is the one who lands the meeting. The rep willing to follow up for months or quarters is the one who lands the big deal.

But how much is too much? At what point are you harassing your buyers?

That's exactly what we wanted to investigate.

That's why we analyzed 85M+ cold emails to see how top performers book 8.1x more meetings than their average performing peers. In this fourth and final article of the series, we’ll answer:

1. How many emails should you send?
2. How do cold calls and voicemails impact cold email reply rates?
3. Do bump emails work? What about breakup emails?
4. What’s the best combination of emails, calls, and social touches?

We'll also draw from firsthand experience with companies like Gong, Zoom, Shopify, and Rippling.

Let’s dig in.

How many emails should you send?

According to our data, 70% of cold email replies come after the first email.

You can't get away with sending one or two emails and expect to get a response. The majority of your cold email replies will come after the first email.

The sweet spot is around six to seven emails in total before stopping. After that, there are significant diminishing returns.

A little stuck on what to say after the first or second email? Keep reading.

How do cold calls and voicemails impact cold email reply rates?

In short, cold calls and voicemails triple your cold email reply rates.

“No one picks up the phone anymore.”

That statement isn’t entirely false. Cold call pick-up rates are 5.4% and declining substantially every year.

The future of cold calling is not booking live meetings.

It’s using the phone, through effective voicemails, as a “nudge” for the prospect to check their email. Lower-friction asks like this are way easier than playing phone tag with you.

Reps who make cold calls and leave voicemails more than triple their cold email reply rates.

Here are two voicemail frameworks from Cold Calling Sucks by Nick Cegelski and Armand Farrokh:

Context only voicemail

[Context] Nick, we work with a few Skadden partners in the LA office.

[Direct to Email] No need to call back. I’m literally about to hit send on an email.

[Incentivize the Reply] Just so we don’t play phone tag, mind replying and letting me know if it’s even moderately interesting?

[Introduction] It’ll come from Armand at Northwestern, cheers.

Context + Social Proof Voicemail

[Context + Social Proof] Nick, we work with a few Skadden partners in the LA office on their tax planning and a few other things.

[Direct to Email] I’m sure you’ve got that taken care of, but I’m about to press send on an email to give you a sense of what we’re doing with those other folks.

[Incentivize the Reply] Just so we don’t play phone tag, mind replying and letting me know if it’s even moderately interesting?

[Introduction] It’ll come from Armand at Northwestern, cheers.

Do bump emails work?

The data is clear: not only do bump emails work, but they also double your reply rates when done well. Here’s how:

When writing a bump email, you have to keep it short. The longer your follow-ups, the worse your reply rate. Limiting your bump emails to 1-2 sentences is how you double your reply rates.

What about breakup emails?

So what type of bump email works best? Well, love ‘em or hate ‘em… breakup emails increase reply rates by 89%

Followed by CTA and “thoughts” follow ups.

Asking to share case studies can reduce reply rates by up to 47%.

Here are a few bump email frameworks you can steal:

What's the best combination of emails, calls, and social touches?

A great multi-touch outbound prospecting campaign is like any other great routine. It’s simple, effective, and easy to follow.

Follow these guidelines:

• Multi-Channel: Phone + Email + Social
• Multi-Touch: 12-15 total touches across channels
• Multi-Day: 14-28 days

Use this pattern as a starting point

• Weekly: 2 calls + 2 emails + 1 social touch
• Over 3 weeks: 6 calls + 6 emails + 3 social touches

Tactics for driving double-digit contact rates

1. Double and triple taps

Mix multiple channels together in unison when possible. Your contact rates will increase by 3x or more.

✅ Call, leave a voicemail, and then send your email. 

✅ Queue up your emails in advance to send during your call block. 

2. Follow the engagement

Focus the majority of your “manual effort” on prospects engaging with your outreach.

✅ Sort call tasks by prioritizing prospects opening and engaging with your emails

✅ Call prospects when they open your email 2-3x, reply to your emails, or accept your LinkedIn connection request

3. Bump emails

Don’t bombard your prospect with a ton of long-winded follow-up emails. Simply bump your previous email with something short and sweet.

✅ Use short, 1-2 sentence bump emails

✅ Leverage break-up emails where applicable

4. Point voicemails to emails

Voicemails have a 90%+ open rate. Your prospect may not listen to your voicemail, but they click on it to read the transcript. Email reply rates increase by 3.1x when you leave voicemails through your sequence.

✅ Leave voicemails with a CTA to open the email you just sent 

Here’s an example of a full multi-touch prospecting campaign that follows a similar structure:

Verdict: Professional persistence pays off

Notice the word “professional.” Top reps perfect the art of following up without being a pest:

• Send at least 6 emails before giving up (it’s where 70%+ of your replies come from)
• Leave value-driven voicemails (increases reply rates by 3x)
• Leverage short bumps emails, especially break-up emails (increase reply rates by 89%)
• Follow science-backed touch patterns

Put these practices into place and you’ll book a lot more meeting from your cold outreach.

Want more? The Ultimate Cold Email Data Report breaks down 20+ data-backed email insights that separate the top reps from the pack.

Download the report for free here.