What is a Sales Cadence?
A sales cadence is a structured sequence of sales activities and touchpoints spread over set intervals, designed to engage prospects and move them through the sales pipeline.
Cadences define when and how sales reps contact prospects—via email, phone, social media, or other channels—to maximize engagement while respecting the prospect's time and preferences.
Cadence Elements:
- Number of touchpoints (typically 5-15)
- Channel mix (email, phone, LinkedIn, video)
- Timing between touches (hours, days, weeks)
- Duration of overall sequence
- Content/messaging for each touchpoint
Why Cadence Matters
Consistency
Cadences ensure consistent follow-through.
Without structured cadences:
- Reps forget to follow up
- Inconsistent timing between touches
- Some prospects get too much attention, others too little
- No standard approach to optimize
- Every prospect gets appropriate follow-up
- Consistent brand experience
- Measurable and improvable process
Persistence
Most sales require multiple touches.
Reality:
- 80% of sales require 5+ follow-ups
- 44% of salespeople give up after 1 follow-up
- 48% of salespeople never follow up at all
Efficiency
Structured approach saves time.
Instead of deciding "what next?" after every touch, reps follow a proven sequence. Mental energy goes into personalization, not process.
Cadence Structure
Number of Touchpoints
Typical Touchpoint Counts:
- Cold outbound: 7-12 touches over 3-4 weeks
- Inbound leads: 5-8 touches over 2-3 weeks
- Enterprise ABM: 10-15 touches over 6-8 weeks
- Nurture sequences: 8-12 touches over 8-12 weeks
Channel Mix
Multi-channel cadences outperform single-channel.
Typical Channel Mix:
- Email: 40-50% of touches
- Phone/calling: 20-30% of touches
- LinkedIn/social: 15-25% of touches
- Video/other: 10-15% of touches
Timing
Spacing between touches matters.
Typical Timing:
- Email: Every 2-4 business days
- Phone: Every 3-5 business days
- LinkedIn: Every 5-7 business days
- Video: As needed (not on fixed schedule)
Cadence by Stage
Prospecting Cadence
Cold outreach to new prospects.
Structure:
- Duration: 14-30 days
- Touches: 7-12
- Channels: Email, phone, LinkedIn
- Goal: Book a meeting/discovery call
Nurture Cadence
Engaging leads not ready to buy.
Structure:
- Duration: 30-90 days
- Touches: 8-12
- Channels: Email, content, social media
- Goal: Stay top-of-mind until ready
Deal Acceleration Cadence
Moving active opportunities forward.
Structure:
- Duration: 7-21 days
- Touches: 5-8
- Channels: Email, phone, video
- Goal: Advance to next stage or close
Effective Cadence Practices
Personalization
Structured doesn't mean generic.
Each touch should be personalized to:
- Prospect's role and company
- Their specific pain points
- Their industry or use case
- Previous interactions
Value-First
Each touch provides value, not just asks.
Value-Add Touches:
- Industry insights and data
- Relevant case studies
- Helpful resources (not just your own content)
- Introductions to others
- Thoughtful questions
Variation
Avoid repetitive patterns.
Mix It Up:
- Don't send email every time
- Alternate channels
- Vary message types (questions, insights, offers)
- Change timing occasionally
Respect
Don't spam prospects.
Cadence Etiquette:
- Unsubscribe immediately when asked
- Stop if clear lack of fit
- Space touches appropriately
- Provide opt-out options
Cadence Benchmarks
Response Rates by Touchpoint
| Touchpoint | Cumulative Response Rate |
|---|---|
| Touch 1 | 15-20% |
| Touch 2 | 25-30% |
| Touch 3 | 35-40% |
| Touch 4 | 45-50% |
| Touch 5+ | 50-60%+ |
Key Insight: 42% of total responses come from touchpoints 2-5.
Optimal Timing
Best Times to Contact:
- Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: 9-11am, 2-4pm
- Friday afternoons: Lower response rates
- Mondays: Lower response rates (busy)
- 2-3 days between email touches
- 3-4 days between phone touches
- Total sequence length: 14-21 days typical
Cadence Tools
Sales Engagement Platforms
Tools that automate and track cadences.
Popular Platforms:
- Outreach: Enterprise sales engagement
- SalesLoft: Mid-market focus
- Yesware: Gmail integration
- Mixmax: Gmail/outlook integration
- Reply.io: Email-focused sequences
CRM Integration
Cadences should integrate with CRM.
Integration Benefits:
- Automatic activity logging
- Trigger-based cadence enrollment
- Handoff between teams
- Performance reporting
Common Cadence Mistakes
Too many touches too fast:
Spamming prospects kills reputation. Space touches appropriately.
Not adapting to signals:
If a prospect asks to slow down, respect it. If they show high interest, accelerate.
Generic templates:
Personalized cadences outperform generic templates. Take time to customize each touch.
Following up indefinitely:
Have a clear end point. After 7-12 touches with no response, move on.
One-size-fits-all:
Different personas, industries, and deal sizes require different cadence approaches.
Not measuring results:
Track which cadences, touchpoints, and timing work best. Optimize based on data.
Key Takeaways
- Cadence = structured sequence of touchpoints for engaging prospects
- Typical: 7-12 touches over 14-30 days using multiple channels
- 80% of sales require 5+ touches; most reps give up too soon
- Mix channels: email (40-50%), phone (20-30%), social (15-25%)
- Space touches: email every 2-4 days, phone every 3-5 days
- Personalize each touch; structured doesn't mean generic
- 42% of responses come from touches 2-5, not just the first
- Adapt timing based on prospect signals and responses
- Stop after 7-12 touches with no response
- Use engagement platforms (Outreach, SalesLoft) to automate and track
Sources:
Related Terms
CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)
Total sales and marketing spend divided by new customers. Lower is better.
Call-to-Action (CTA)
Specific action you want prospect to take. Clear CTA improves conversion.
CAN-SPAM Act
US law regulating commercial email. Requires opt-out mechanism and sender identification.
Champion
Internal advocate who promotes your solution within prospect's organization.
