From: Time Management

The number of dials you make per hour is an important measure of productivity because the faster you dial, the more people you will be able to reach. And the more people you reach, the greater your chances of success.

But there are limits. For example, if you just burn through a list and don't make any contacts, you'll have accomplished nothing. Or if you make some contacts, but neglect to ask questions or take notes, you'll have learned nothing. Or if you contact the wrong people, or make poor calls, the effort will have been wasted. In general, the goal is to have as high a dial rate as possible without impacting the quality of the calls or the quality of the documentation.

Depending on the campaign, you might expect to have a dial rate of anywhere from 5 dials-per-hour to 20 dials-per-hour. But a pre-qualification campaign might get as high as 35, with each dial taking less than a minute, and each conversation taking less than two minutes. An executive appointment-setting campaign, however, might have a dial rate of three dials-per-hour, with each conversation taking fifteen minutes or more.