If you’re running an outbound sales team, you know the difference between spinning your wheels and actually landing conversations. A good call cadence can mean the difference between burning through leads and booking real meetings. This post is for SDRs, sales managers, and anyone wrestling with call sequences inside Orum. If you want practical steps, honest advice, and zero fluff, read on.
Why Call Cadence Matters (and Where Most People Screw It Up)
A call cadence isn’t just a schedule—it’s the pattern, timing, and persistence you use to reach prospects. Get it right, and you’ll have more live conversations, less lead fatigue, and a clearer sense of what’s working. Get it wrong, and you’ll annoy prospects, waste dials, and have your team wondering why their connect rates are trash.
Most teams mess up in three ways: - Too few touches: Give up after one or two tries. - Too aggressive: Hammer the same prospect day after day. - No system: Rely on memory or sticky notes—calls end up random.
Tools like Orum are built to help automate and scale outbound calls, but even the best tech can’t fix a bad process. The cadence you set still matters.
Step 1: Get Clear on Your Goals and Audience
Before you dive into settings and templates, step back. What’s the goal? Who are you calling?
- Is it cold outbound, warm leads, or something else?
- Are you going for booked meetings, discovery calls, or just qualifying?
- How much time can your reps realistically spend calling each day?
If you’re targeting enterprise execs, your cadence should look different than if you’re calling SMBs who pick up more often. Don’t just copy a generic sequence from a blog post (even this one). Start with your real-world constraints.
Pro tip: Ask your best reps what’s actually working. Ignore advice from people who haven’t dialed in months.
Step 2: Map Out Your Call Cadence — Don’t Overcomplicate It
A “cadence” is just a schedule for how often you’ll try to reach someone, and when. You don’t need a 15-step plan. Most teams see results with 4-6 call attempts over 10-14 days.
Here’s a basic, proven call cadence for outbound:
- Day 1: Call in the morning. If no answer, leave a quick voicemail.
- Day 2: Call in the afternoon. No voicemail.
- Day 4: Call late morning. Voicemail if still no answer.
- Day 7: Try again—pick a different time of day. Voicemail.
- Day 10: Last attempt. No voicemail.
A few things to keep in mind: - Vary your call times. People pick up at different times. Don’t always call at 9am. - Voicemail strategy matters. Don’t leave a message every time. You’ll sound robotic. - Spacing is key. Don’t hammer someone five days in a row.
What doesn’t work: Calling six times in two days, or giving up after one try. You’re not annoying—you’re persistent, as long as you’re not creepy.
Step 3: Set Up Your Cadence in Orum
Orum is built to speed up your outbound calling, but you still have to tell it what to do. Here’s the nuts and bolts:
- Import your leads correctly.
- Make sure your CSV or CRM sync is clean. Garbage in, garbage out.
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Add columns for name, company, phone number, and cadence stage (if you want to get fancy).
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Create call lists or campaigns.
- Segment by persona, industry, or lead source. Don’t dump everyone into a single list.
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Label your lists clearly: “Enterprise Prospects - June” is better than “Calls.”
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Set up call tasks by cadence stage.
- Orum doesn’t have a built-in “cadence” builder like some email tools, but you can simulate this with smart list management and scheduled tasks.
- Each day, have reps filter for leads at the right stage (e.g., “Day 2 call”) and work through those lists.
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Use Orum’s call notes to log outcome: Connect, Voicemail, No Answer, etc.
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Use Orum’s power dialer features.
- Set call dispositions after each attempt. This helps you track where each lead is in the cadence.
- Automate voicemail drops (but don’t overuse this).
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Take advantage of call recording (if legal in your area) for coaching.
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Schedule follow-ups and recycle leads.
- If a lead completes the cadence with no response, tag them for a future campaign. Don’t just toss them.
- Set up reminders in your CRM or a simple spreadsheet if Orum’s tracking isn’t enough.
What to ignore: Fancy AI scoring or “priority” features until you’ve nailed the basics. More tech won’t fix a broken list or sloppy process.
Step 4: Train Your Team (and Keep It Simple)
The best cadence in the world is useless if your reps ignore it. Here’s how to make it stick:
- Keep the instructions dead simple. “Each morning: Work through your Day 2 list. Each afternoon: Day 4 list,” etc.
- Show examples. Run a team call where you actually walk through the process—don’t just send a PDF.
- Review results as a team. Who’s getting connects? Where are people dropping off?
- Update things when they break. If prospects start complaining, or connect rates tank, adjust. Don’t be precious about your “perfect” cadence.
Real talk: Most reps will try to cut corners if your process is confusing or if they don’t see value. Make it easy for them to follow—and check regularly.
Step 5: Measure What Matters (and Ignore Vanity Metrics)
Orum gives you a lot of data. Don’t fall into the trap of tracking everything. Focus on what actually moves the needle:
- Connect rate: How many live conversations for every 100 dials?
- Meetings booked: The only number your VP cares about.
- Attempts per lead: Are you giving up too soon, or dragging things out?
- Call outcome breakdown: Voicemail, No Answer, Connect, etc.
Things that don’t matter much: - Dials per hour: Easy to game, and says nothing about quality. - Total talk time: A 10-minute call isn’t always good. Focus on outcomes.
Set calendar reminders to review your metrics every week. If you’re not improving, tweak the cadence—not the tech.
Step 6: Iterate—Don’t Set and Forget
No call cadence works forever. Markets change, people get busier, and what worked last quarter might flop today.
- Run mini-experiments. Try changing call times or adding/subtracting a step. See what happens.
- Get feedback from your team. They’ll spot patterns before your dashboard does.
- Don’t chase every new feature. Stick to what works, and only add complexity if there’s a clear reason.
Warning: If your cadence starts to feel like busywork, cut steps. Simpler almost always wins.
Final Thoughts: Keep It Simple, Stay Flexible
Setting up call cadences in Orum isn’t rocket science. The hardest part is resisting the urge to overcomplicate things. Start with a simple, proven sequence and actually stick to it for a few weeks. Track what matters. Ignore the noise. And if it’s not working, change one thing at a time.
Outbound sales is already hard enough. Don’t let process get in the way of real conversations.