What is the key to winning the customer experience race? The phone
In today’s revenue orgs, customer experience isn’t a soft metric—it’s the frontline of competitive advantage.
Chief Revenue Officers (CROs) are laser-focused on driving growth, but behind nearly every conversation we’ve had with them, a consistent concern keeps surfacing:
"How do we improve the customer experience, without slowing down pipeline?"
The answer? Go back to the beginning. Back to the first conversation.
The most forward-thinking teams aren’t waiting until the onboarding phase to deliver a standout CX—they’re winning before the race even starts.
And they’re doing it by putting conversations on the phone back at the center of their strategy.
💬 The Forgotten Power of Voice in a Digital World
The sales world loves automation, sequences, and self-service funnels. And for good reason. However, in a market flooded with noise and AI-generated emails and LinkedIn direct messages, human connection continues to stand out. 57% of C-level executives and VPs prefer to be contacted via phone.
It’s not nostalgia—it’s neuroscience. Voice builds emotional resonance faster than text ever could. And reps who talk to their prospects early establish trust that carries through the entire customer journey.
As Orum puts it in their Calling Culture Guide:
“Calling cultures are like relationships: when they’re good, they’re great—but when they’re bad, it can be extremely challenging. It requires a lot of work.”
That work pays off. Teams that use the phone early and often are creating authentic engagement, building credibility, and converting conversations into momentum.
🎯 Why Phones are the Tip of the Spear for CROs
There are three undeniable reasons CROs are making phones central to CX strategy:
1. Live Voice Builds Trust at Speed
Unlike email or LinkedIn messages, phone conversations are immediate and interactive. Objections get handled in real time. Emotion can be felt. Reps can listen actively and pivot fast.
According to Orum’s platform data, the average cold call that books a meeting lasts around 6 minutes—a significant jump from the 52-second average of unsuccessful calls. That’s not about talking more. That’s about listening better.
Extending active listening from sales calls to customer experience calls creates a strong foundation for relationships with your clients. They feel like they’re being heard from the buyer journey throughout the customer experience because every member of your team is having conversations with them.
2. High-Performing Teams Are Call-First and Culture-Strong
Building a phone-first team isn’t about buying headsets—it’s about building a calling culture from the ground up.
In Orum’s Calling Culture Guide, leaders are urged to establish KPIs early, gamify call blitzes, and normalize rejection. More importantly, they are told to create a psychologically safe environment where reps feel confident learning from unsuccessful calls, rather than being punished for them.
“Sales reps are 87% more likely to feel like they’re doing a good job when supported by their leaders.” — Sales Health Alliance
3. AI Is Fueling the New Era of Live Voice at Scale
Phones don’t mean dialing by hand anymore. Platforms like Orum are redefining what it means to make calls, with AI that’s faster, smarter, and fully integrated into your workflow.
From Boost Connect, which intelligently picks the best “call from” number to improve answer rates, to pre-recorded voicemails that free reps up while increasing future pickups by 25.8%—AI is quietly making phone-based outreach scalable again.
Orum’s customers regularly report connect rate improvements of 18% or more, thanks to features like:
- Real business lines that maintain caller ID compliance
- Spam risk alerts to preserve number reputation
- AI-powered call sequencing to avoid fatigue and maximize timing
📈 Customer Experience Begins Before the First Sale
CROs often think of CX as something you optimize after a deal is signed, focusing on onboarding, support, and renewals. However, today’s most successful companies begin much earlier.
“Reps build relationships and rapport through phone calls. They establish brand integrity through content. And you establish trust through data that proves the value proposition of your product.” — Orum, Sequence Best Practices
The first five touches? The first voicemail? The first moment a rep listens more than they speak? That’s where CX really begins.
🔁 It's Not Just More Dials—It’s the Right Motion
Yes, conversations matter. But how you get to those conversations matters just as much.
Orum’s Sequence Best Practices outlines a multi-channel, phone-first approach with consistent, human-centered follow-up:
- Mix calls with emails, social touches, and thought leadership content
- Use call disposition data to improve targeting and future cadences
- Train reps to personalize with real research, not superficial flattery
- Celebrate all positive outcomes (not just booked demos) to keep morale high
This is a framework for building trust before the first “yes.” And it lays the groundwork for a long-term customer relationship built on listening and meeting their needs. The above sequence notes may not initially feel directly connected to the customer experience, but they set the tone for being phone-first from the sales process to the life of the contract.
🧠 CROs: This Is the Strategic Shift You Can’t Miss
Revenue leaders are facing more noise, increased pressure, and less time to meet their targets. But the teams that are thriving? They’re creating better customer experiences by going back to the phones—back to human connection.
And it’s not just about picking up the phone. It’s about:
- Building a team that’s confident, coached, and culture-driven
- Giving them AI tools that eliminate the drudgery and amplify the impact
- Reinforcing the idea that every conversation counts
The future of customer experience doesn’t live in a dashboard—it lives in the tone of your rep’s voice on a six-minute call.
TL;DR for Revenue Leaders
Customer experience is now a frontline differentiator.
The best sales teams aren’t waiting for CS to drive it—they’re creating it in their very first call.
So if you want to:
- Build trust early
- Increase your connect rates
- Empower your team with tech and training
- Create a pipeline that actually converts…
📞 Start dialing. Start listening. Start winning—before the race even begins.
