Short answer
A sales cadence is a planned sequence of touches, such as calls, emails and LinkedIn messages, that a rep uses to reach a prospect over a set period, with the channel, timing and purpose of each step fixed in advance. A typical B2B outbound cadence runs 8 to 12 touches over two to four weeks and ends when the prospect replies, books a meeting, opts out or reaches the last step.
- A cadence fixes the channel, day and purpose of every touch, so results can be compared.
- Judge each step by meetings, not just replies: a step with few replies can book most meetings.
- Every cadence ends: on a reply, a meeting, an opt-out or the final step.
- Measure reply, positive reply and meeting rates per prospect enrolled, then by step.
- Opens are unreliable; judge steps by replies and meetings.
On this page
This page is for SDRs, account executives and sales managers who want a consistent way to work new prospects, and a way to tell which parts of it work. It defines a sales cadence, gives a complete multichannel example and shows how to measure it, overall and step by step.
What a sales cadence is
A sales cadence is the plan for how a rep tries to start a conversation with a prospect: which channels, in what order, on which days, and what each touch is for. "Email on day 1, call on day 2, LinkedIn on day 4" is a cadence. "Follow up when I get a chance" isn't.
Every cadence has five elements:
| Element | The question it answers | Typical B2B outbound choice |
|---|---|---|
| Touches | How many attempts? | 8 to 12 |
| Duration | Over how long? | Two to four weeks |
| Channels | Which ones, in what mix? | Email, phone and LinkedIn |
| Spacing | How many days between touches? | One to three business days, wider toward the end |
| Exit rules | What ends it? | A reply, a meeting, an opt-out or the last step |
The typical choices are working practice, not law. Test them on your own market.
Many sales engagement tools call a cadence a sequence. In management, "cadence" can also mean a team's meeting rhythm (a weekly pipeline call, a monthly forecast review). This page is about the prospecting kind.
Example: a 15-day multichannel cadence
Illustrative example. The company, prospects and figures are invented to show the method.
Penrill (penrill.example) sells e-signature software to insurance agencies. Its SDRs work operations managers at agencies with 20 to 200 employees using this cadence:
| Day | Channel | Touch | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Opener tied to one checked fact about the agency, such as a new office or an acquisition | Show this isn't a mass email | |
| 2 | Phone | Call; if no answer, a 20-second voicemail that refers to the email | Put a voice to the name |
| 4 | Connection request with no pitch | A second, low-pressure channel | |
| 6 | Reply in the same thread with one useful thing, such as a checklist for moving renewals online | Give before asking | |
| 8 | Phone | Call at a different time of day | Catch them at another moment |
| 10 | A short story of a similar agency: the problem, what changed and one number | Proof from a peer | |
| 13 | Phone and LinkedIn | Call; if connected, a two-line message | Last attempt to talk live |
| 15 | Close the loop: "Should I stop reaching out?" | A polite exit that often draws a reply |
That's nine touches over three weeks. After day 15, prospects who said "not now" move to a lead nurturing sequence, and the rest are set aside until there's a new reason to reach out, such as a new hire or an expansion. The breakup email templates cover the day 15 email, and the cold calling scripts cover the calls and voicemails.
The first email depends on a real fact about the account, and finding one is the slow part of any cadence. Bebop researches each account and writes a playbook with what's happening at the company and the angle to open with, so the day 1 email has something specific to say.
How to measure a cadence
Measure every rate against prospects enrolled, not emails sent. A cadence that sends more emails will always look busier.
| Metric | Formula | Penrill, 200 prospects |
|---|---|---|
| Bounce rate | Bounced emails ÷ first emails sent | 4 ÷ 200 = 2% |
| Reply rate | Prospects who replied ÷ prospects enrolled | 34 ÷ 200 = 17% |
| Positive reply rate | Interested replies ÷ prospects enrolled | 12 ÷ 200 = 6% |
| Meeting rate | Meetings booked ÷ prospects enrolled | 10 ÷ 200 = 5% |
| Opt-out rate | Prospects who asked to stop ÷ prospects enrolled | 3 ÷ 200 = 1.5% |
| Completion rate | Prospects who got every step or exited on a reply ÷ prospects enrolled | 170 ÷ 200 = 85% |
| Cost per meeting | (Rep hours × hourly cost + data cost) ÷ meetings | (30 × $50 + $300) ÷ 10 = $180 |
Leave open rates out. Privacy features such as Apple's Mail Privacy Protection, which "prevents senders from seeing if you've opened the email message they sent you," make opens a poor guide to whether anyone read the email.
Completion rate is the one managers forget. If reps skip a quarter of the calls, you're not measuring the cadence you designed.
Measure it step by step
Tag each reply and meeting with the step that produced it:
| Step | Day | Replies | Meetings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Email 1 | 1 | 9 | 2 |
| Call 1 | 2 | 5 | 3 |
| Email 2 | 6 | 5 | 1 |
| Call 2 | 8 | 4 | 2 |
| Email 3 | 10 | 3 | 0 |
| Call 3 and LinkedIn | 13 | 2 | 1 |
| Breakup email | 15 | 6 | 1 |
| Total | 34 | 10 |
Three decisions follow. The calls produced 11 of the 34 replies but 6 of the 10 meetings, so cutting calls to save time would cost most of the meetings. Email 3 drew replies but no meetings, so rewrite it or drop it. The breakup email drew six replies, mostly "not now," which is exactly the list to feed into nurture. Change one step at a time and run at least a couple of hundred prospects through before judging the change.
Rules that apply
In the US, the CAN-SPAM Act covers commercial email, and the FTC states that "the law makes no exception for business-to-business email." Each email needs accurate header information, a non-deceptive subject line, a valid physical postal address and a clear way to opt out, and opt-outs must be honored within 10 business days. An opt-out should end every cadence the prospect is in, across all reps. Calling rules differ by country; the cold calling scripts page summarizes the main US and UK ones.
Related terms and common confusions
- Cadence vs nurture. A cadence is short and intensive, aimed at a first conversation. Nurture is longer and lighter, for leads who've said "not yet."
- Cadence vs sales engagement. Sales engagement is the wider practice, and the software category, for running and tracking outreach. A cadence is one plan inside it.
- Follow-up count. How many touches is enough is a question in its own right; the guide to how many follow-up emails to send covers it.
Next step: write the day 15 email with the breakup email templates.
Sources
- CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business, Federal Trade Commission, accessed 26 October 2026
- Use Mail Privacy Protection on iPhone, Apple, accessed 26 October 2026
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Last updated .
Questions people ask
What is a sales cadence?
A sales cadence is a planned sequence of touches, such as calls, emails and LinkedIn messages, that a rep uses to start a conversation with a prospect. It fixes in advance how many touches there are, which channel each uses, how many days apart they are and what each one is for. It ends when the prospect replies, books a meeting, opts out or reaches the final step.
What does cadence mean in sales?
In prospecting, cadence means the planned rhythm of outreach to a prospect: the order, timing and channels of each call, email and message. The word is also used for a team's management rhythm, such as a weekly pipeline call or a monthly forecast review, sometimes called a cadence call. Context usually makes clear which one is meant; job ads for SDRs almost always mean the prospecting kind.
How many touches should a sales cadence have?
Most B2B outbound cadences use 8 to 12 touches over two to four weeks, across email, phone and LinkedIn. Treat that as a starting point, not a rule. Measure which steps produce replies and meetings, and cut the ones that don't. Fewer, better touches built on a real reason to reach out usually beat a long sequence of generic follow-ups, and every cadence should stop the moment someone opts out.
How do you measure a sales cadence?
Divide results by prospects enrolled: reply rate, positive reply rate, meeting rate and opt-out rate. Then tag each reply and meeting with the step that produced it, to see which touches earn their place. Track completion rate too, because reps skipping steps distorts the results. Avoid relying on email open rates, since privacy features in mail apps can hide whether a message was opened.
What is the difference between a sales cadence and a sequence?
In practice, usually nothing. Cadence is the sales term for the planned series of outreach touches, and many sales engagement tools call the same thing a sequence. Some teams use sequence for an automated email-only series and cadence for a multichannel plan that includes manual calls and LinkedIn steps. If your team uses both words, agree which means which.