How the lead calculation works
The calculator starts with companies, not emails sent. One company may have several contacts and receive more than one touch, but it should remain one account in the funnel. This prevents repeated emails to the same buyer from inflating the result.
- Enter the number of target companies after deduplication by legal entity.
- Enter the share of touches delivered: the part of the list that can physically receive the message.
- Add the reply rate among contacted companies, then the share of replies that qualify.
- Add the conversion from qualified lead to closed deal and the average revenue from one deal.
The formula is straightforward: companies × deliverability × replies × qualification × closed deals × average revenue. Each factor should be supported by evidence, not by a sales-team expectation.
Before launch, check how the list and email addresses have been prepared. Email list verification improves the first stage of the formula: it does not promise leads, but removes addresses that cannot receive a touch.
What to enter when you have no campaign data yet
Do not use generic industry averages: they mix different markets, offers and definitions of a reply. A cautious starting point is OT9’s actual aggregate: from April 2025 to July 2026, 48,100 of 811,200 contacted companies replied, or 5.93%. This is not a forecast for your campaign.
| Field | Include | Exclude |
|---|---|---|
| Reply | Any substantive response from a company | An autoresponder or unsubscribe request |
| Lead | A request for details, a proposal or a meeting | A polite “not interested” |
| Revenue | Value of an actually closed deal | Potential value shown in a presentation |
If you have contacted this market before, export the replies and label them manually: interest, not now, wrong person or refusal. Set the qualification rule before launch, and align it with what counts as a lead.
Why the same list size can produce different revenue
Two campaigns with the same number of accounts can diverge for reasons unrelated to volume. A supplier of management reporting software might write to a finance director: “We noticed several legal entities in your group. Is consolidating management reporting a current task?” That can start a conversation about implementation timing. A message such as “We automate business—shall we send a presentation?” gives the recipient little reason to reply.
A reply asking for a proposal is not yet a deal. Clarify the scope, current process and people involved in the decision before passing the contact into sales conversion. Review first and follow-up messages through B2B cold email sequence copywriting and handover rules through CRM integration.
- Count companies, not emails.
- Separate any reply from explicit interest.
- Use average revenue from closed deals, not desired deals.
- Update the rates after every campaign wave.
When this calculator is not for you
This tool cannot give an honest forecast if you have not decided who you sell to and what you sell, or if average deal value and sales cycle are unknown. It also cannot predict revenue for a one-off purchase without signs of demand; the result would only be arithmetic applied to assumptions.
Do not treat the calculation as a sales plan if nobody can handle replies on the day they arrive. A substantive conversation cools while a contact waits without a response. To test the initial hypothesis, start with a cold outreach and deliverability audit or a small test wave, then replace assumptions with observed results.