Cognism (2025, a secondary report) puts the average B2B cold call connect rate at 4.8%, about one conversation in every twenty dials. The other nineteen end in a voicemail box or nowhere, and what a rep leaves there moves two numbers in opposite directions.
Should you leave a voicemail on a cold call?
One large dataset answers this directly. Gong Labs published it in 2024.
| What Gong measured | No voicemail | After a voicemail |
|---|---|---|
| Connect rate on later dials | 7.18% | 5.17%, 28% lower |
| Email reply rate, one or two voicemails | 2.73% | 5.87% |
| Email reply rate, three or more voicemails | 2.73% | 2.2% |
| Dialing time | baseline | 25% more calls possible in the time voicemails take |
| Callbacks | no figure | "rarely", no figure published |
Source: Gong Labs, Armand Farrokh, "Should you leave voicemails when cold calling? Here's what the data says", 2024, 300M+ cold calls, as stated by Gong; counts behind each figure not disclosed (archived 2026-10-01).
So a voicemail costs phone connects and buys email replies. Gong's own verdict is that the trade pays when the voicemail points at an email, and only for the first two. The third pushes replies to 2.2 percent, below the 2.73 percent of leaving nothing.
Read the table with three limits in view. Gong sells conversation-intelligence software, so these are its customers' calls, which lean towards funded B2B software teams. The article does not say how many calls sit behind each figure. And its own parenthetical labels both connect figures as "with voicemails"; the 28 percent drop it headlines only works as 7.18 percent without and 5.17 percent after, which is how this page reports them.
The callback rate most of page one quotes, 4.8%, is attributed to Marchex. MRR Nerds searched for the study on 1 October 2026 and could not find it, so this page no longer leans on it.
The structure
Gong recommends fifteen seconds of context for the first voicemail and thirty seconds with social proof for the second, both aimed at an email. The order below is MRR Nerds' editorial structure built around that advice. It has not been tested as a whole.
- Name and company, immediately. Anonymity reads as a scam call.
- Your number, said slowly. Early, in case they stop listening.
- One specific reason for the call. Something about them. Save the pitch for the email.
- A pointer to the email. "I'll send a two-line note with the details." This is the step Gong's reply-rate figure supports.
- Your number again.
Fifteen seconds covers all five.
The ten scripts
1. The standard (first voicemail)
Sarah, it's Alex from Northwind, 415-555-0199. I'm calling about the three AEs you're hiring and how long they'll take to ramp. I'll send a short note with the details today. 415-555-0199. Thanks.
2. The last attempt (second voicemail)
Sarah, Alex from Northwind, 415-555-0199. Last time I'll call. If ramp time for new AEs isn't on your list, no problem, I'll stop. If it is, the note I sent is in your inbox under "AE ramp". 415-555-0199.
Use it as the second and final voicemail. On Gong's figures a third voicemail costs email replies as well as connects. The deadline must be true.
3. The referral
Tom, it's Alex from Northwind, 415-555-0199. Jen at Acme suggested I call you about how you're handling invoice checks. That's the whole reason. I'll email you her note. 415-555-0199.
4. The one-question voicemail
Sarah, Alex from Northwind. One question and I'll go away: who owns supplier onboarding at your company these days? A one-line reply to my email works. 415-555-0199. Thanks.
Easy to answer, easy to forward, and the answer is worth more than the meeting.
5. The specific observation
Mark, Alex from Northwind, 415-555-0199. You opened your second location in March. I called about the one thing that usually breaks at that point. If it hasn't broken, ignore me. Details in my email. 415-555-0199.
6. The plain admission
Sarah, this is a cold call from Alex at Northwind, 415-555-0199. I'll be quick: I sell software for AE ramp time and I have no idea if that's relevant to you. One reply to my email either way and I'll stop guessing. 415-555-0199.
7. The social proof (Gong's second-voicemail shape)
Sarah, Alex from Northwind again, 415-555-0199. Two fintech teams we work with cut new AE ramp from five months to three. I put how in the email I sent Tuesday, subject line "AE ramp". 415-555-0199.
About twenty-five seconds. The customer claim must be true and you must be allowed to repeat it.
8. Real estate, expired listing
Hi Mark, it's Dana with Brightside Realty, 415-555-0199. I saw your home on Willow came off the market Friday. I had two buyers ask about that street last month. If you're still hoping to sell, 415-555-0199.
The buyer claim must be true. Consumer sellers rarely work from email, so this one asks for the call.
9. Insurance, aged lead
Hi Maria, Chris with Ridgeline, 415-555-0199. You asked for a quote a while back and I'm following up late. If you're already covered, no problem, ignore this. If you want to check what you're paying, 415-555-0199.
10. Recruiting, candidate
Priya, it's Sam from Northfield, 415-555-0199. I'm recruiting a senior backend role in Manchester, the salary is 85 to 95. If that's interesting, 415-555-0199. If not, no follow-up from me.
Lead with the number. A candidate who is not looking will listen to a salary figure and nothing else.
The five that get deleted
"Just following up." On what? There was no first contact.
"I wanted to reach out about..." Four wasted words before any content.
"We help companies like yours..." A broadcast. Everyone says this.
Anything over thirty seconds. Gong calls it a waste of the rep's time, and the number arrives after the listener has gone.
A number said once, quickly. The prospect who wanted to call back cannot.
The voicemail drop question
Voicemail drop lets a rep click a button and move to the next call while a pre-recorded message plays. Of the 21 dialers reviewed on this site, 16 include it, 3 offer a partial version (Aircall, Myphoner, Dialpad Sell) and 2 have none (Vulcan7 and Allo).
Gong's 25 percent figure is the case for it: a recorded drop gives back most of the dialing time a live voicemail costs. The price is specificity. The recording is identical on every call, so it cannot mention anything about the prospect, and the scripts above work because they do.
Use drop on high-volume consumer lists where the message is generic anyway: real estate expireds, insurance aged leads, home services canvassing. For B2B accounts you researched, record live, keep it to fifteen seconds and let the email carry the detail.
How voicemail fits the sequence
Reaching a prospect takes about three dials in most of the published data. Cognism's 2025 report, from more than 204,000 calls, found an average of 2.9 attempts, with 93 percent of conversations happening by the third call; its 2026 report puts the figure at 1.55. Saleshandy's 7,699 calls in July and August 2026 averaged 3.51 attempts per prospect, with a median of 2, and Belkins logged about three across more than 175,000 dials in 2025. Gong's data caps voicemails at two. So a sequence of five dials gives most prospects their third attempt with room to spare, and only two of those dials should end in a voicemail:
| Touch | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Dial, no voicemail |
| 2 | Dial at a different hour, voicemail 1 (context, fifteen seconds), email the same day |
| 3 | Dial on a different day, no voicemail |
| 4 | Email follow-up |
| 5 | Dial, voicemail 2 (social proof or last attempt, under thirty seconds), email the same day |
| 6 | Dial, no voicemail |
| 7 | Break-up email |
Two voicemails across five dials and four emails. A third would cost connects and, on Gong's figures, email replies too. A prospect still silent after five dials is in the long tail. In Saleshandy's data half of prospects were reached within two attempts, and the average of 3.51 is pulled up by a few who took many more.
Repeated voicemails from one number also read as automated, and complaints feed the carrier analytics behind Spam Likely labels, which cost the whole team connect rate.
What to measure
Track two numbers per prospect, split by whether a voicemail was left: the email reply rate in the three days after it, and the connect rate on the next dial. On Gong's figures the first should roughly double and the second should fall by about a quarter. If replies do not rise, the voicemails are costing connects and buying nothing; shorten them and point harder at the email. Callbacks are too rare to learn from.
Until 1 October 2026 this page told readers the opposite, that a voicemail lifts the connect rate on the next dial, and until 3 October it built the sequence on a six to eight attempts figure from a secondary source. Both changes are logged on /corrections.
Frequently asked questions
- Should you leave a voicemail when cold calling?
- Yes, up to two per prospect, and each one should point to an email. Gong Labs' 2024 analysis of a stated 300M+ cold calls found one or two voicemails raise the email reply rate from 2.73 to 5.87 percent. The same data shows the connect rate on later dials falling from 7.18 to 5.17 percent, so a voicemail trades phone connects for email replies. From the third voicemail, replies drop to 2.2 percent.
- How long should a cold call voicemail be?
- About fifteen seconds for the first voicemail and under thirty for the second. Gong Labs recommends exactly that split, context only in the first and context plus social proof in the second, and calls anything longer than thirty seconds a waste of the rep's time. Fifteen seconds is enough for your name, your company, one specific reason, a pointer to your email and your number twice.
- Do cold call voicemails get callbacks?
- Rarely. Gong Labs says so in those words and publishes no callback figure. The 4.8% callback rate repeated across sales blogs is attributed to Marchex, but MRR Nerds could not find the study behind it on 1 October 2026, so treat it as untraced. A cold voicemail earns its keep through email: Gong measured replies rising from 2.73 to 5.87 percent after one or two voicemails.
- Does leaving a voicemail hurt your connect rate?
- On Gong Labs' data, yes. Its 2024 voicemail analysis puts the connect rate on later dials at 7.18 percent without a voicemail and 5.17 percent after one, a 28 percent drop, likely because the message tells the prospect a salesperson is calling. Gong still recommends leaving up to two, because the same voicemails roughly double the email reply rate, from 2.73 to 5.87 percent.
- How many voicemails should you leave the same prospect?
- Two. Gong Labs found the email reply rate rises from 2.73 to 5.87 percent after one or two voicemails and falls to 2.2 percent after three or more, lower than leaving no voicemail at all. Repeated voicemails from one number also read as automated. Leave the first early in the sequence and the second, which can announce that you will stop calling, near the end.
- Should you say your phone number in a cold call voicemail?
- Twice, at the start and at the end, slowly. Gong Labs' data points the voicemail at email replies, so the number is a backup rather than the main ask, but it costs about three seconds and a prospect who does want to call back cannot do so from a number heard once at speed. Saying it first means it lands even if they stop listening halfway.
How to cite this page
Abhi Chawla. "Cold call voicemail scripts, and what Gong's data says about leaving one." MRR Nerds, 2026-10-03. https://www.mrrnerds.com/guides/cold-call-voicemail-scripts. Accessed 2026-10-20.
The underlying vendor data is published at /data under CC BY 4.0. Cite the dataset for numbers, this page for the analysis.