Introduction
Does cold outreach work equally well in every industry? No. We sorted 20,978 contacted people by the industry of their employer and compared reply rates. Between the best and the weakest industry there is a factor of 2.8.
The numbers
| Industry | Contacted | Replies | Reply rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| IT services | 1,183 | 83 | 7.02 % |
| Healthcare & life sciences | 4,146 | 271 | 6.54 % |
| Software & technology | 2,034 | 127 | 6.24 % |
| Professional services | 781 | 45 | 5.76 % |
| Construction & engineering | 684 | 38 | 5.56 % |
| Wholesale | 413 | 22 | 5.33 % |
| Real estate | 401 | 20 | 4.99 % |
| Energy & utilities | 2,501 | 96 | 3.84 % |
| Automotive | 614 | 21 | 3.42 % |
| Industry & manufacturing | 3,428 | 117 | 3.41 % |
| Food | 744 | 24 | 3.23 % |
| Retail & e-commerce | 619 | 20 | 3.23 % |
| Financial services | 915 | 28 | 3.06 % |
| Transport & logistics | 724 | 18 | 2.49 % |
The overall average is 5.05 percent.
What's at the top and why
IT services, healthcare and software lead the way. These are industries where purchasing decisions are frequent and the contact person decides on tools themselves.
At the bottom is transport and logistics at 2.49 percent. Financial services is also low. Our reading: both are heavily regulated and have long procurement processes. Whoever writes to them rarely reaches someone who can decide anything at short notice.
Happy selling, Axel