01
Why each retry returns less
Every time you call a lead again, two things happen: fewer people pick up than on the previous attempt and, of those who do, fewer are still interested. Many who answer on the sixth or seventh attempt do so to ask you to stop calling. Meanwhile, each attempt costs the same: your team's time dialling, waiting and logging.
The question isn't whether retries work, but how long they pay off. And the answer depends on what a lead costs you: if your CPL is high, recovering one who didn't answer is worth a lot and deserves more attempts; if it's low, past a certain point it's cheaper to spend that time on new leads.
02
The calculator
We've filled in some example values. Swap them for yours: the result updates instantly.
Your sweet spot
5 attempts
From attempt 6 on, each useful conversation costs you more than buying a new lead. Today you make 8.
You save €621 a month. Spent on about 29 new leads, and even after the conversations you no longer recover with retries, that's 3 more useful conversations.
Useful conversations from each attempt
With a new lead, each useful conversation costs you €102. That's the bar every retry has to clear.
See the data per attempt
| Attempt | Pick up | Useful | Hours | € / useful conv. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 175 | 105 | 33 | €6.35 |
| 2 | 80 | 38 | 22 | €11 |
| 3 | 42 | 16 | 16 | €20 |
| 4 | 24 | 7 | 14 | €36 |
| 5 | 15 | 4 | 12 | €65 |
| 6 | 10 | 2 | 11 | €115 |
| 7 | 6 | 1 | 10 | €206 |
| 8 | 4 | 1 | 10 | €368 |
| 9 | 3 | 0 | 10 | €656 |
| 10 | 2 | 0 | 9 | €1,172 |
| 11 | 1 | 0 | 9 | €2,093 |
| 12 | 1 | 0 | 9 | €3,738 |
03
How it's calculated
- 01
Cost of each attempt
Minutes per attempt × your team's hourly cost. It applies to every lead that hasn't picked up yet.
- 02
Useful conversations per attempt
Leads still to reach × that attempt's contact rate × share still interested. Both rates drop by the percentage you set on each retry.
- 03
The bar: a new lead
What a useful conversation costs with a freshly bought lead: (CPL + cost of one attempt) ÷ (1st-attempt contact rate × share interested).
- 04
The sweet spot
A retry pays off as long as its cost per useful conversation stays below that bar. The last attempt that clears it is your sweet spot.
04
Where to get your numbers
- CPL: last month's total campaign spend divided by the leads it generated.
- Contact rates: in your CRM, filter last quarter's leads and count how many picked up on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd attempt. That tells you how much it drops each time.
- Interest: of those who picked up on each attempt, how many moved to the next stage (interview, meeting, proposal).
- Minutes per attempt: time a normal morning. Include dialling, waiting, leaving a message and logging the outcome.
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