Definition
The percentage of outbound dial attempts that result in an actual live conversation with the intended prospect, rather than a voicemail, no-answer, or wrong number.
Business Importance
Contact rate is the first-stage funnel metric for outbound calling — improving it (via better data, dialing windows, or predictive dialers) directly increases every downstream number without adding headcount.
Industry Examples
A campaign placing 500 dials and reaching a live decision-maker on 75 of them has a 15% contact rate.