Building and scaling a winning cold calling culture
Recently, Colin Specter, Orum’s SVP of Revenue, joined the 30 Minutes to President’s Club podcast to discuss how to build the “best ever” sales organization.
Here’s the TL:DR:
Structure creates freedom. Energy fuels results. Talent wins the game.
That’s the big three.
They got into the real nuts and bolts of what it takes to build a calling culture that actually works. Not just one where reps “occasionally pick up the phone,” but one where dialing is a daily ritual. A competitive advantage. A team sport.
Whether you're leading a team of 5 or 50, here’s how we do it at Orum—and how you can bring the same fire to your sales floor.
🧱 1. Build the Blueprint: Daily Schedule = Daily Success
If your SDRs don’t know exactly what they’re supposed to be doing throughout the day... that’s not their fault. It’s yours.
At Orum, we start with intentional structure:
- 📅 Daily Standups at 9:00 AM to align on goals, targets, and updates.
- 📞 Prospecting Block at 9:30 AM—focused on warming up the engine.
- 🔥 Power Hours: 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM every day, dedicated to new logo calls only.
- 🧠 Follow-ups, training, list building, and emailing are built around that core.
You can view the schedule on the wall if you’re in the office. Or in their calendars if you're virtual. Why? Because SDRs thrive in clarity. They want to know where to show up and when, and what “great” looks like.
"Reps don’t fail from a lack of effort. They fail from a lack of expectation."
⚡️ 2. Energy Is King: Sales Is a Transfer of Feeling
It’s not about how good your script is—if your energy is flat, your funnel will be too.
Sales is emotional. It's vibes. It’s how you show up on that first call that sets the tone.
Every Monday at Orum kicks off with Make-It-Happen Monday, a sales team tradition packed with:
- 🚀 Our mission
- 📊 Current pacing against goals
- 🎉 Shoutouts for team crushers
- 🎧 Real call reviews
It sets the tone. The buzz is electric. Our reps aren’t sipping coffee—they’re chugging liquid Red Bull and competing in Call Wars to see who books the most meetings.
“Motivation is like bathing—it’s recommended daily.” – Zig Ziglar (and your friendly neighborhood cold call emperor)
🏆 3. Hire Best Ever Talent—and Set the Bar High
There’s no shortcut here. Great coaching only goes so far if the person sitting across from you isn’t ready to run through walls.
So here’s the test: If you rate someone as “good enough,” it’s a no.
We hire Best Ever Talent—the folks who raise the standard the moment they walk in. They’re not just chasing the leaderboard—they are the leaderboard. And when one rep thrives, it elevates the entire floor.
That said, talent without accountability is just potential. And potential doesn’t book meetings.
We hold every SDR to 150 dials/day, aiming for:
- 5–6% connect rates
- 20% connect-to-meeting booked rates
- Two 1-hour call blocks/day
- Follow-up cadence as strong as first-touch
And yes, reps must earn the right to break the playbook. Creativity is welcome. But only after you master the fundamentals.
| KPI | Target |
|---|---|
| 🎯 Dials per day | 150 |
| 📞 Connect rate | 5-6% |
| 🗓️ Connect-to-meeting | 20% (top reps hit 30%+) |
| 🧑💼 Accounts targeted | 1 account, 2 departments, 3 contacts per dept |
| 🔁 Follow-up conversion | Up to 50%—the real honeypot |
Culture > Scripts
Here’s what Colin leaves the listener with:
Don’t wing it. Your team craves standards, structure, and a clear example of what “excellent” looks like.
Be loud about your expectations. Be louder about your support. And remember—the spark of transformation always starts with one or two believers. When they catch fire, the whole floor lights up.
“Attitudes are contagious. Make yours worth catching.”
