Playbook
How to call paid leads. Seven rules from 2,739 real calls.
Call in the hours people answer, stop after two attempts, count voicemail as no answer, say who and why first, never re-dial someone who talked, confirm the email and pace the dialler. Each rule comes from calls to 993 people between 19 and 22 Sep 2026.
2,739 calls audited · 993 people called · 4 of 7 rules built into Revvox
- 35% vs 18%
Call in the hours people answer.
Pick-up was 35% at 14:00 and 18% at 19:00. Half of all calls went out at 18:00, the wrong hour to crowd.
Spread calls across the hours that answer, inside your calling window.
In Revvox today: Calls only go out inside your calling window.
- 544 → 19
Stop after two attempts.
Fourth and later attempts took 544 calls to reach 19 new people.
Cap automatic attempts at two, and stop the moment someone picks up.
In Revvox today: Two attempts at most. Retries stop the moment someone picks up.
- 226
A voicemail is not a conversation.
226 calls marked as talked were voicemail greetings or call screeners, inflating pick-up by a third.
Count machine greetings as no answer, and never schedule a callback for them.
In Revvox today: Voicemail and screeners count as no answer.
- 81
Say who and why before you ask anything.
81 people hung up right after an opener that asked “is now a good time?”.
Lead with who is calling and why, in one breath, then ask the first useful question.
- 222
Never re-dial someone who already talked.
222 people were called again by the qualifier after they had already had a conversation.
Once a lead has talked, hand them to a person or a closing call.
In Revvox today: People who talked are not re-dialled.
- 8%
Confirm the email on the call.
8% of itinerary emails bounced because the address on the form was wrong.
When the agent will email something, have it read the address back.
- 10
Keep about ten conversations at once.
Above roughly ten simultaneous conversations the voice provider billed a burst rate: a quarter of spend in the audit.
Pace the dialler instead of bursting a list in one go.
Method
How were these rules measured?
One customer, four days, every transcript read.
We audited every AI call placed for one customer, a travel company selling group trips from Meta lead forms: 2,739 real calls to 993 people, 19 to 22 Sep 2026. 387 people, 39%, reached a human at least once, and 98 of them were graded hot or warm. Some figures were counted before we separated voicemail from people, and the notes say so. Treat each number as a direction to test on your own leads, not a benchmark.
Best time to call leads: pick-up by hour
Pick-up by hour of day, and why half the calls landed in one hour.Read moreHow many times to call a lead
The attempt-by-attempt table, and why we stop at two.Read moreVoicemail detection
226 of 739 “talked” calls were machines.Read moreThe customer story behind the audit
The travel company whose calls these are.Read more
Your checklist
How many does your team follow?
Tick what you do today.
Saved in this browser only. Revvox does 4 of the 7 for you on every call.
0 of 7
Ready to let the rules run themselves, on every call?
Revvox Loop keeps the calling window, the attempt cap and voicemail detection in code.