What should you ask a cold calling company before you hire?
Ask the same eleven questions of every company and compare the written answers. Vague answers cost you later, because a cold calling service is hard to judge from a sales call. The table below gives each question, what a good answer sounds like, and how Call Savvys answers it.
| Question | What a good answer sounds like | Call Savvys answer |
|---|---|---|
| 1. What is guaranteed, and what counts as a lead? | A number in writing, every month, and a plain definition of "qualified" before you pay. Be wary of hours of dialing or a vague "average." | 15 to 30 qualified leads a month, 15 guaranteed in writing. Miss it? We keep dialing for free. A qualified lead is a seller who shows real interest and matches the motivation, condition, and timeline criteria we set with you at kickoff. |
| 2. What are the contract and cancellation terms? | Month to month, no setup fee, cancel by message. Long minimums are a red flag for a service that is supposed to prove itself. | Month to month, no setup fees, cancel anytime. |
| 3. Who are the callers, and where are they based? | A straight answer on location, English fluency, experience in your niche, and whether one caller works your campaign or you share a pool. | A dedicated caller on your campaign, based in Egypt, fluent in English, with 6 to 12 months of real estate or roofing calling experience. |
| 4. How are callers trained and quality checked? | Written training on your script and buy box, plus a review of calls by a person, not only a dashboard. | Trained callers, with human QA on every call. |
| 5. Do I get call recordings? | Yes, all of them, in a place you can open yourself, not only a handful of "best" calls on request. | Call recordings are included with every plan and land next to each lead. |
| 6. Who owns the leads, notes, and data? | You do. Leads and recordings should live in a CRM you control and should leave with you if you cancel. | Every lead and recording goes into the free Pipelio CRM, or we push it to the CRM you already use. |
| 7. How do you handle compliance? | A specific process: Do Not Call scrubbing, an internal opt-out list, legal calling hours, and a clear line on recording and consent. "We follow the law" is not an answer. | See our compliance pages: Do Not Call and is cold calling legal. |
| 8. Which CRM and tools are included? | Dialer, local numbers, and a CRM in the price, not billed on top after you sign. | Predictive dialer, rotating local numbers, and the free Pipelio CRM (a $348 per year value) are included. |
| 9. What reporting will I see, and how often? | Calls, connections, and qualified leads by week or day, with recordings you can spot check. | Call recordings and weekly reports on Starter, daily reports on Growth and Scale. |
| 10. How fast can you launch? | A specific number of days, with what you must provide (usually a list) spelled out. | We can start within 48 hours. |
| 11. What is the all-in price? | One monthly number that covers the caller, dialer, numbers, QA, and CRM, with the only extras named. | Starter $1,200, Growth $2,300, Scale $3,300 per month for 1, 2, and 3 callers. Data is your call: bring your own list, or go All-in and we pull and skip-trace your list for you. See pricing. |
How do you vet the guarantee?
A guarantee is only as useful as its definition of a lead. Ask for the definition in writing, ask what happens in a month that falls short, and ask whether the number grows with your package. A minimum that scales with your package beats one flat cap.
For realistic numbers, see how many leads one cold caller should get, and for what the leads cost, cold calling cost per lead.
How do you check the callers?
Ask to hear them. Request recordings from a similar campaign, listen for a natural opening, clean objection handling, and a clear next step. Ask where the callers are based, because location affects time zones, accent, and cost. Our own answer is on the table above. For the honest trade-offs, read offshore vs US cold callers.
What are the red flags?
- Hours, not outcomes. You pay whether or not anything is produced.
- No definition of a lead. Any call can then be called a lead.
- Price hidden until a sales call. The CRM, dialer, or QA often show up as extras.
- Long lock-in. You should be able to leave if results do not come.
- Only curated recordings. Ask for the full set.
- No specific compliance process. See DNC and TCPA rules and call recording laws by state.
How do you compare companies side by side?
Put the answers in one sheet and compare cost per qualified lead, not monthly price. A cheaper plan with no guarantee can cost more per lead. See the ranked options in the best real estate cold calling companies and the head-to-head with Lead Mining Pros.