Cold Calling vs Warm Calling in 2026: 5 Trends Shaping the Future of Outbound Sales

Introduction

Outbound sales is undergoing a radical transformation. The age-old debate of cold calling vs warm calling is no longer black and white. In 2026, technology is blurring the line between a “cold” call and a “warm” one. Buyers have changed – they filter out noise and ignore generic pitches, responding only when outreach feels relevant (3). 

As a result, successful B2B sales teams are rethinking how they prospect. They’re infusing more context, personalization, and strategy into every call. Cold calls aren’t dying; they’re evolving into something much warmer. In fact, 69% of buyers have accepted cold calls from new providers in the past year (4), and nearly half of C-level executives prefer phone outreach (4). The difference is how these calls are executed. This blog will explore five key trends shaping the future of outbound sales – trends that are making even cold calls feel as warm and familiar as a trusted referral.

Before diving into the trends, we’ll clarify what cold calling vs warm calling means in today’s context, and why the distinction matters less as we leverage new tools. B2B sales and marketing leaders will gain strategic, data-backed insights on modernizing their outbound approach. It’s time to move beyond old playbooks and embrace the future of outbound calling, where AI, omnichannel touchpoints, and smarter tactics turn cold outreach into high-converting conversations.

Now, let’s break down cold calling vs warm calling and examine each trend in depth.

Cold Calling vs Warm Calling: What’s the Difference in 2026?

To appreciate the trends, we first need to understand warm calling vs cold calling. 

What is the difference between a cold call and a warm call?

Cold calls are unsolicited outreach calls to someone who has had no prior contact with you or your company. The prospect isn’t expecting the call – you’re essentially reaching out “cold.” In contrast, a warm call is placed to someone with whom you have some prior connection or who has shown interest. 

For example, calling a lead who downloaded your ebook or was referred by a mutual contact would be a warm call. The key difference lies in familiarity: warm calls have a foundation (past interaction, inquiry, or referral) that makes the conversation easier and more receptive, whereas cold calls start from scratch. As a result, warm calls typically see higher success rates because the prospect is more open – they recognize you or at least the context of your call.

These terms describe opposite ends of the outbound sales spectrum:

• Cold Calling – contacting prospects with whom you have no prior relationship and who haven’t expressed interest. It’s “cold” because the call comes out of the blue (8). Classic cold calls rely on sheer volume and a solid script to find a few interested needles in the haystack. Success rates are typically low (often ~2–3% conversion) (4). Cold calls can feel intrusive to prospects, since they’re unsolicited and unpersonalized.
  
• Warm Calling – calling prospects who have interacted with your company or shown some interest already (8). Perhaps they downloaded a whitepaper, filled out a form, or were referred by someone. This prior engagement “warms” the relationship – the prospect recognizes your company or has a reason to take your call. As a result, warm calls are usually more welcome and yield higher success rates (8). (In fact, one analysis indicated warm outreach can convert 15× more often than pure cold outreach (7).) Warm calls leverage an existing foundation of trust or familiarity, making conversations smoother.
  

In short, the difference between a cold call and a warm call comes down to familiarity and context. A cold call starts from scratch; a warm call builds on prior rapport. Warm calling is generally seen as more effective and respectful in today’s era of buyer empowerment and data privacy (8). It aligns with the “age of personalization and consent” where prospects expect relevance or permission before engaging (8).

Is warm calling more effective than cold calling?

Generally, yes – warm calling is more effective in terms of conversion rates and reception. Warm prospects have already engaged with your brand or expressed pain points, so they’re more likely to take your call and find it relevant. Studies show warm calls can convert at 15 to 30% or higher, whereas cold call conversion rates are often in the low single digits (7). Warm leads are more receptive because trust and interest have been established. That said, cold calling can still be effective when done right. The gap is narrowing thanks to modern techniques: personalized messaging, lead research, and multi-channel touches can make cold outreach feel warmer. In practice, the best approach is to warm up cold leads through emails, LinkedIn, etc., before calling – effectively turning your cold calls into warm ones for better results.

Cold calling typically converts only about 1–3% of the time on average (4), whereas warm approaches can see conversion rates of 30–50% in some cases (10). Warm leads are simply easier to close – selling to an existing engaged contact has a 60–70% chance of success, versus 5–20% when selling to a brand-new prospect (15). It’s no surprise most sales pros prefer getting warm referrals or inbound leads.

When should you use warm calling instead of cold calling?

Use warm calling when a prospect has already interacted with your company—downloaded content, visited your website, or been referred. These leads are more receptive and likely further along in the buying journey, making warm calling ideal for higher conversion opportunities and shorter sales cycles.

However, the reality is you won’t always have enough warm leads to hit growth targets. Cold calling is still a foundational outbound channel, especially in B2B. Even in 2025, over 50% of B2B sales development teams’ leads originated from cold outreach (13). And importantly, buyers can be receptive to cold calls if done right – 49% of B2B buyers prefer to be contacted via phone when exploring solutions (2). The caveat is that those calls must be relevant and well-timed to avoid feeling like spam.

This is where outbound sales is heading in 2026. The goal is to make cold calls more like warm calls by adding context, personalization, and precision. The following five trends show how savvy sales teams are doing exactly that – bridging the cold/warm gap and dramatically improving outbound results.

5 Cold & Warm Calling Trends for 2026

As outbound sales evolve, understanding the shift from cold to warm calling, (and the technologies, strategies, and AI tools driving it) will be critical for sales teams looking to stay ahead and engage prospects effectively in 2026.

Trend 1: AI-Powered Personalization Blurs the Cold Call vs Warm Call Line

Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing how sales reps prepare for and execute calls, making even first-time outreach feel tailored to the prospect. In essence, AI is helping reps do the kind of in-depth research and personalization that used to only happen for warm leads – but now at scale for cold leads too.

Consider what typically separates a warm call from a cold call: knowledge about the prospect. In the past, a rep might only know a cold prospect’s name, company, and phone number – and little else. 

Can AI help make cold calls more effective?

Absolutely. AI is a game-changer for cold calling. It helps at multiple stages: before the call, AI can research prospects and provide personalized talking points (e.g., recent news about their company), so your outreach is more relevant. During the call, AI-powered cold call dialers and voice assistants can increase connection rates by dialing at optimal times and even handling initial conversations. For instance, AI voice agents can call and qualify leads with a human-like script, then hand off interested prospects to human reps. This means your sales team spends time on warm, qualified calls instead of pure cold calls. AI also assists in coaching – recording and analyzing calls to give feedback on how reps can improve. By using AI for data and efficiency, companies have seen significantly higher contact and conversion rates. In short, AI can make cold calls warmer by personalizing them and ensure no opportunity slips through the cracks.

Today, AI tools can equip reps with rich insight before they dial:

• Reps can instantly pull up a prospect’s LinkedIn profile, recent company news, industry trends, and even mutual connections, often summarized by AI. Armed with this, a caller can open with a relevant hook (“I saw your CEO was on CNBC discussing X…”) instead of a generic pitch.
  
• AI-driven sales enablement platforms can suggest talking points tailored to the prospect’s persona or pain points. For example, Gong’s data famously found that asking “How have you been?” as an opener boosted call success up to 10% (2), and referencing a mutual LinkedIn group can increase meeting rates by 70% (2). Modern tools surface these little personalization gems automatically for reps.
  
• Natural language AI (like GPT-3/4) can help draft ultra-customized call scripts or emails within seconds, incorporating details about the prospect’s company or role. This removes the time barrier to personalization.
  

All this means a cold call need not feel cold. The rep might reference a trigger event or a prospect’s specific challenge that AI identified, instantly demonstrating relevance. It creates an illusion that the rep has done extensive homework (in reality, AI did much of the heavy lifting). 61% of sales reps say AI enables deeper personalization in outreach, which is key to engaging today’s buyers (4). And these personalized touches have real impact – sellers who thoroughly research prospects (often with AI’s help) can boost their call-to-meeting conversion rates by up to 70% (4).

Not only does AI provide information, it can also guide when and who to call for maximum warmth. Predictive models analyze data to prioritize “high intent” prospects – those visiting your pricing page, for example, or businesses with a recent funding announcement. Calling such targets blurs the line between a cold call vs warm call; the prospect’s behavior indicates a potential need, so your outreach is timely rather than completely out of left field.

Crucially, AI is moving beyond back-end analysis and into real-time assistance:

• Some sales orgs use AI voice analytics during calls to gauge sentiment. For instance, nearly 95% of customer interactions may be processed through sentiment-analysis tools by 2025 (5). A rep on a cold call can get on-screen cues if the prospect sounds hesitant or interested, and adjust their tone accordingly – mimicking the finesse of a seasoned caller who “reads” the room well.
  
• AI-based coaching tools listen to calls and afterward provide feedback on talk ratio, questions asked, or missed opportunities. This helps reps continuously sharpen their approach, making each subsequent call warmer and more consultative.
  

Example: A sales development rep, let’s call her Sarah, is about to cold call a VP at a tech company. In 2016, Sarah might have gone in almost blind. In 2026, Sarah’s sales enablement AI has already gathered that the VP’s company recently opened a new office (useful small talk) and that they’ve been recruiting salespeople (possible pain point around outbound lead generation). The AI suggests Sarah mention how companies in their space often struggle with outbound prospecting ramp-up, which ties to the solution she’s selling. When Sarah calls, her opening sounds more like, “Hi Mark, I noticed you’re expanding your sales team – how are you planning to fill their pipelines?” This doesn’t feel like a typical cold pitch. It feels relevant – almost warm. The VP is far more likely to engage than if Sarah had led with a canned spiel.

The data backs it up: In Martal’s own experience training SDRs, we’ve seen that highly personalized outreach dramatically lifts connection rates. Third-party research concurs – LinkedIn data shows warm calling can be 2% to 30% more effective than cold calling, largely thanks to that personalization and prior contact (1). AI is simply helping you achieve a “warm call” effect even on the very first dial.

It’s worth noting that technology doesn’t replace human creativity or empathy – it augments it. The best outbound teams use AI to do what humans can’t easily do (analyze vast data, recall every detail, automate prep work) so that their human sales reps can focus on what they do best: building rapport and trust. One recent trend report put it well: winning with AI outbound is about a stack, not a single bot. High-performing teams combine intent data, AI research, and human personalization to orchestrate great outreach (6). In other words, you still need the rep’s judgment and personality at the helm, but AI is the co-pilot making every call count.

Key takeaway: In 2026, AI-driven personalization is turning cold calls into warm encounters. Sales leaders should equip their teams with AI tools that deliver prospect insights and message customization on-demand. When a prospect feels like you understand their world (even if it’s your first live conversation), you’ve essentially made a cold call as good as a warm one.

Trend 2: Omnichannel Outreach Makes Every Call Warmer

The days of a lone wolf cold call are over. Today’s buyers engage across multiple channels – phone, email, LinkedIn, even text – and the most successful outbound strategies mirror that. By the time a prospect actually gets on a call, chances are they’ve already seen your name or interacted with your content elsewhere, making the call feel warmer. Omnichannel outreach is now table stakes for warming up cold prospects.

Why is this so important? Put simply, reaching out in just one medium is likely to be ignored. Decision-makers are bombarded with emails, InMails, calls, ads – it takes a coordinated approach to break through. Research shows sales sequences that use at least 3 channels get 287% higher response rates than single-channel sequences (4). Prospects might not answer an unknown phone number on the first try (indeed 67% of Americans generally won’t (12)), but they might notice a LinkedIn connection request or a clever email. By the time you ring again, they recognize who you are. You’re no longer a stranger.

Here’s how omnichannel outbound is typically executed in 2026:

• Email + Call Synergy: Often the first touch is a personalized email introducing your value prop, followed by a cold call. If the prospect saw your email, your call is no longer truly “cold” – it’s a follow-up. This improves pick-up and receptiveness. In fact, outreach sequences that include both email and phone have a 128% higher response rate than email alone (4). A prospect might think, “Oh, I remember that email about improving our supply chain. Sure, I’ll take this call and hear more.”
  
• LinkedIn and Social Selling: Many reps connect with prospects or engage with their posts on LinkedIn before calling. By doing so, your name and face become familiar. Social engagement can significantly warm a lead – reps who actively build a relationship on LinkedIn generate 45% more opportunities and are 51% more likely to hit quota (3). With 75% of B2B buyers using social media to inform decisions (3), you can’t afford to ignore this channel. Even a simple LinkedIn message referencing a mutual connection or commenting on a prospect’s post can make your eventual call feel like a continuation of an existing conversation rather than a cold outreach (3).
  
• Sequences and Cadences: Sophisticated sales orgs use multi-touch cadences: e.g., Day 1 – email, Day 3 – LinkedIn message, Day 5 – phone call + voicemail, Day 7 – email follow-up with case study, etc. Each touch adds context. By the time the prospect hears your voice, they’ve ideally had two or three prior “touches” from you or your company. This persistent, varied follow-up is critical – about 80% of leads require 5 or more touchpoints before they respond (3), yet many reps give up too soon. An omnichannel sales cadence ensures you hit those multiple touches without annoying the prospect with the same method repeatedly.
  
• Other Channels – SMS & Video: As prospects move further along, reps might introduce channels like text messages or video messages to stand out. SMS can be powerful for quick follow-ups or meeting reminders – with open rates over 90% (3) – but it’s usually used after an initial conversation or introduction via email/LinkedIn. Personalized video voicemails or video emails (using tools like Loom) can boost engagement by 3-5× (3) and put a face to your name, which massively humanizes cold outreach.
  

The impact of an omnichannel lead generation approach is best illustrated with numbers. In one study, companies using an omnichannel strategy for prospecting saw 250%+ higher engagement and substantially faster pipeline growth (14). Martal’s own outbound campaigns for clients, which integrate cold calling, cold emailing, and LinkedIn touches, often achieve response rates well above industry averages. For example, one omnichannel sequence might start by warming the lead with a LinkedIn interaction, then hitting them with an insightful email, and finally a call – by then, the call feels almost expected.

It’s not just about blasting every channel either; it’s about orchestrating them intelligently. Top teams alternate channels to avoid overload (sequences that alternate channels see 23% higher engagement than those that hit the same channel repeatedly (4)). And they tailor the message to each channel – maybe a casual, quick LinkedIn note, a data-driven email, and a consultative tone on the call. The consistency of presence combined with variety of touch makes the outreach more credible. It’s an omnichannel conversation, not a one-sided pitch.

For experienced sales leaders, this trend means coaching your team to think beyond just “call or email first?” and instead design a multi-step journey for prospects. The warm calling vs cold calling question isn’t either/or – a prospect can be made warm through other channels before the first call. In fact, one could argue many “warm calls” today are simply cold calls that were preceded by smart marketing or social touches.

Importantly, an omnichannel strategy forces alignment between sales and marketing. SDRs and AEs benefit greatly from marketing’s help – content, ads, and brand awareness all contribute to a prospect feeling warmer. By 2026, many B2B orgs have integrated sales outreach with marketing and lead generation campaigns so that a target account might see a LinkedIn ad or webinar invite, receive a cold email, and a week later get a phone call – all reinforcing the same core narrative. This integrated approach yields higher credibility and trust. One survey noted 72% of customers prefer an integrated, consistent experience across channels when interacting with a brand (4).

To sum up, omnichannel outreach is turning cold leads into warm leads before the first live conversation ever happens. Sales leaders should ensure their teams are adept at using multiple channels in tandem. If your SDRs are just “smiling and dialing” without sending emails or InMails, you’re leaving a lot of goodwill and success on the table. The future belongs to those who can orchestrate phone, email, social, and more into one cohesive outbound strategy that envelops the prospect. When done right, by the time you finally get a prospect on a call, they won’t be saying “Who are you and why are you calling?” – they’ll be saying, “Oh yeah, I’ve seen something about you, what do you have for me?”

Trend 3: Data-Driven Targeting Turns Cold Calls into Warm Conversations

Another major development reshaping warm calling vs cold calling dynamics is the explosion of data and analytics in sales prospecting. In 2026, successful outbound isn’t about randomly dialing down a list – it’s about calling the right people, with the right message, at the right time. By leveraging intent data and buying signals, companies are essentially pre-qualifying and “warming up” their cold calls before they’re made.

Here’s what this looks like in practice:

• Intent Signals & Trigger Events: Rather than purely cold lists, sales teams now prioritize prospects demonstrating intent. This could be third-party intent data (e.g. Bombora signals that a company is researching CRM solutions) or first-party behavior (prospect visited your pricing page, downloaded a whitepaper, or repeatedly opened your last email). If a prospect shows buying intent or relevant activity, an outreach call to them is far more likely to hit the mark. It’s effectively a warm call because you’re responding to their implicit interest. By 2026, tools integrating with CRM can flag these hot prospects in real time. For example, if an account surges in intent data for keywords related to your product, your reps get alerted to call them immediately – catching them when interest is peaking.
  
• Ideal Customer Profiles (ICP) & Scoring: Sales organizations are increasingly precise about who they target. They build detailed ICPs based on historical data (industry, company size, job titles, technographic data, etc. that correlate with wins) and use lead scoring models to rank prospects. A high-scoring prospect – say a VP at a SaaS firm that matches your ICP and has engaged with your newsletter – enters the calling queue before a random low-scoring contact. This means reps spend time on prospects that are more likely to convert, making their “cold” calls much more fruitful. In other words, data helps identify which cold leads are more likely to become warm. A cold calling report highlighted that their above-average cold call success rate (6.7% vs ~2% industry) was due in large part to “quality data paired with laser-focused targeting.” (2) They weren’t calling blindly; they focused on well-fitted prospects with accurate contact info and even intent signals. The result was more conversations and meetings.
  
• Best Time to Call Analytics: Ever notice how some prospects always pick up in the afternoon, or that Thursdays tend to yield better connect rates than Mondays? Multiply those patterns across thousands of calls and you get powerful insights. Modern sales dialers and CRM analytics track call outcomes and can pinpoint optimal times or cadences for each prospect. For instance, data might show that lead architects in the software industry respond best to calls around 4–5 PM their local time (4). A savvy team will use that data to schedule their calling blocks when it’s most likely to succeed. Hitting a prospect at the right moment can be the difference between reaching voicemail (cold silence) and having a live conversation (warm engagement).
  
• Enriched Contextual Data: Before making a call, reps now often have access to data beyond just name and title. Integrations can pull in news mentions (“Company X just acquired a competitor”), job postings (indicating growth or initiatives), financial reports, etc. Roughly 89.9% of companies use two or more data sources to research prospects before outreach (4) – showing how prevalent data enrichment is. All this context allows the rep to tailor their value proposition. A call that references the prospect’s specific context (“I saw you’re expanding into Europe – we can help ramp your sales there”) will feel warmer and more relevant than a generic pitch thrown at a random list.
  

In essence, data-driven targeting flips the traditional cold calling script. Instead of asking “who can I call today?” sales teams ask “who should I call today that is likely to care about what I offer?”. By focusing outreach on high-probability prospects, every call feels more like a warm consultative outreach than a shot in the dark. This improves efficiency (why waste dials on dead-end leads?) and boosts morale too – reps have more success when they’re calling better prospects.

The numbers underscore this trend: According to surveys, 65% of sales professionals say access to buyer intent data makes it significantly easier to close deals (16). And companies that adopt data-driven sales prospecting outperform those that don’t – one study by Harvard Business Review noted B2Bs with formal, data-informed sales processes generate 28% more revenue than those without (9). It’s the difference between acting on insight versus relying on intuition.

For B2B sales leaders in 2026, this means investing in the right data sources and analytics is crucial. If your outbound strategy in the past was just buying a list of 10,000 names and handing it to SDRs, it’s time to evolve. High-performing teams often have a Revenue Operations or Sales Ops function that provides reps with targeted lead lists based on data, continually refines scoring models, and monitors campaign metrics. In fact, “GTM data engineers” or RevOps analysts have become standard roles to manage this sophisticated approach (6).

Another facet here is A/B testing and iteration – using data to double down on what works. For example, if calls into a certain vertical (say, fintech companies) are converting at 4× the rate of others, the data will show that and smart teams will reallocate efforts to where the iron is hot. Or if mentioning a certain use-case on calls leads to longer conversations, reps can be coached to use that angle more often (and data from call recordings can verify the impact). It’s a continuous improvement loop powered by analytics.

Finally, data-driven targeting contributes to making outreach feel more helpful rather than salesy. When you reach out because data indicates a prospect might actually need your solution, you’re more likely to initiate a genuine problem-solving discussion – the hallmark of a warm sales conversation. Contrast that with old-school cold calls where a rep might push a product blindly without knowing if it’s relevant. The latter is what annoys buyers. The former can come across as timely and useful.

In summary, the future of cold calling is precision. By harnessing data, outbound calls become smarter and more welcome. Sales leaders should prioritize cold calling software and processes that deliver actionable prospect insights and prioritize calls for their teams. The result is an outbound engine where every dial is informed by data – making your “cold” calls much warmer than your competitors’. When you call a prospect because you know there’s a good chance they have the problem you solve, you’re not really cold calling at all – you’re engaging in a targeted, consultative reach-out that feels like the prospect was on your radar for a reason (which they were). That’s the power of data in 2026.

Trend 4: AI Voice Assistants and Automation Scale Warm Outreach

Artificial intelligence isn’t just working behind the scenes – it’s increasingly taking a front-line role by directly participating in outbound calls. A striking trend for 2026 is the rise of AI voice assistants and automated calling systems that handle the initial contact with prospects.

These AI “SDRs” can dial numbers, deliver pitches or gather information, and even engage in basic conversation with prospects – all without human intervention. The implication? You can effectively warm up leads at scale using AI, reserving your human sales reps for the most qualified, high-value conversations.

We’re not talking about the pre-recorded, robotic telemarketing messages of yesteryear. Modern AI voice technology is far more sophisticated:

• Natural, Conversational AI Voices: Advances in natural language processing (NLP) and voice synthesis mean AI sales agents can speak in a surprisingly human-like manner. They can understand responses, navigate simple Q&A, and adjust their tone and script based on context. By 2025, it’s expected that virtually 100% of customer interactions will involve AI in some capacity (5) – and outbound calls are a prime example. Already, 80% of contact centers use some AI technologies to enhance calls (5). We’re fast approaching the point where a prospect might not immediately realize whether the caller is a human or a bot.
  
• Outreach at Unprecedented Scale: An AI caller doesn’t get tired or hit mental bandwidth limits. It can theoretically call thousands of contacts in a day, far beyond what a team of humans could manage. Need to blanket a new market or follow up with a large list of event leads? AI to the rescue. These systems can run 24/7, across time zones, ensuring no prospect is missed. As Telnyx notes, AI agents never sleep – you can run campaigns around the clock and handle 10× more calls during peak times (5). For example, an AI agent could call through a list of 5,000 webinar registrants overnight, have brief introductory chats, and schedule follow-ups for human reps with those who expressed interest.
  
• Automated Qualification and Warm Transfer: Perhaps the most powerful use of voice AI is as a gatekeeper and warm-up agent. The AI makes the first call to a prospect and follows a script to qualify them. It might ask questions like “Hi, I’m calling to see if you’re interested in X” or “Would you like to set a meeting to discuss Y?” If the prospect is not interested, the AI politely ends the call (or perhaps gathers a reason for disinterest – valuable data!). But if the prospect is interested, the AI can either warm transfer to a human rep who is standing by, or schedule an appointment for later. In other words, AI handles the initial cold touch, and only warm leads get passed to human sellers. One provider reported their AI sales agents captured 27% of previously missed leads and delivered an 8× ROI by filtering out the noise and surfacing the gems (5). Essentially, AI does the grunt work of dialing and triage; humans do the closing. This maximizes efficiency.
  
• Voicemail Drops and Personalized Messages: Automation is also used for tasks like leaving voicemails or sending follow-up texts/emails. If 80% of calls go to voicemail, your reps can’t practically leave thousands of personalized voicemails. But an AI system can drop a pre-recorded yet personalized-sounding voicemail for each prospect (for example, using the prospect’s name and company dynamically). Some tools allow recording a generic voicemail that the system then tailors. This ensures every missed call still gets a touch without occupying rep time. Likewise, automated SMS follow-ups after an AI call can share a quick intro or link. These touches keep the prospect engaged and informed, warming them up for future contact.
  

Does it work? Early adopters are seeing promising results. Forbes noted that AI is “making cold calling cool again” by boosting connection rates through real-time data and intelligent targeting. Another report found companies using AI-driven voice outreach were able to contact and qualify leads at a volume simply impossible for humans alone, dramatically lowering customer acquisition costs and speeding up pipeline generation (11). One metric to consider: if a single human SDR can effectively connect with, say, 20 prospects a day, an AI system might handle 200 or more – and tee up the best 5–10 for the human to handle in depth. That leverage is game-changing.

However, AI voice technology does blur ethical and quality lines, which companies must manage carefully. There’s a fine balance to strike so that prospects don’t feel deceived or annoyed:

• Disclosure vs. deception: Some companies have AI identify itself (“Hi, I’m an AI virtual assistant calling on behalf of…”) for transparency. Others design AI to sound human. While the technology can fool people, it might backfire if a prospect feels tricked. By 2026, customer comfort with AI voices is growing, but clarity and brand trust are paramount.
  
• Script sophistication: Early AI calls were very linear. Now, with better NLP, they handle more variation. Yet, complex queries or objections will still trip up an AI. This is why handing off to a human at the right time is key. The transition must be smooth – e.g., the AI says, “Let me connect you with a specialist,” rather than the prospect realizing something is off.
  
• Compliance: Automated calling at scale must obey regulations (like TCPA in the U.S. for telemarketing). Ensuring AI calls the right numbers (not DNC-listed) and adheres to call time windows is critical. The good news is AI can actually enhance compliance by strictly following rules and approved cold calling scripts.
  

What’s exciting is how AI and human teamwork can make the overall experience better for prospects. Instead of no one calling them back or a rep calling at a bad time, an AI can reach out instantly when a prospect submits interest, and a human can follow up promptly on qualified leads. In a way, prospects get faster responses and only engage with a human when it’s likely to be useful – which many prefer. According to one stat, 77% of customers expect to reach someone (or something) immediately when they have interest (5). AI is meeting that expectation on outbound, initiating contact at lightning speed.

From an outbound sales manager’s perspective, AI voice assistants are like having an army of junior SDRs that drastically expand your capacity. Imagine your team of 5 human SDRs is now augmented by 5 AI SDRs dialing in parallel – your coverage doubles. And if each AI SDR can handle 2-3× the call volume of a human (since they don’t need breaks and can even make multiple asynchronous calls), your capacity might effectively 5x or 10x with the same headcount focused on high-value work.

Bottom line: AI is making cold outreach more efficient and scalable than ever, while actually improving its “warmth” by quickly filtering and engaging the right prospects. Companies on the cutting edge are already letting AI sales reps handle first contact – warming up leads and booking meetings – so their human reps can spend time closing deals instead of cold-calling. As 2026 progresses, expect this to become more common. The traditional cold call isn’t going away, but you might hand it off to your AI assistant as the first touch. Your human team then steps in when interest is confirmed – effectively handling only warm calls. In that sense, AI could all but eliminate the classic cold call as we know it, turning your outbound call funnel into a highly optimized, semi-automated machine.

Modern AI voice assistants and AI sales automation tools not only help scale outreach but also make it warmer and more personalized, turning cold calls into thoughtful, relevant interactions.

Before dialing, it’s crucial to lay the groundwork so your outreach feels thoughtful and relevant. If you are wondering:

How can I warm up a cold call beforehand?

Warming up a cold call is all about creating familiarity or interest before you actually dial the phone. Here are a few strategies:

• Research the Prospect: Before calling, learn about the person and their company. Find a nugget you can mention (e.g., a recent product launch or a comment they made on LinkedIn). This shows you’ve done your homework and aren’t calling blindly.
  
• Use LinkedIn or Email First: Send a brief, personalized email or LinkedIn message a few days prior to introduce yourself or share a useful insight. When you call later, reference that message (“I’m following up on the email I sent about X…”). The prospect is more likely to recall you.
  
• Reference a Common Connection or Event: If you have a mutual connection, ask them for an introduction or permission to name-drop. Or reference a shared experience – for example, “We both attended the SaaS Summit last week.” Common ground warms things up.
  
• Leverage Intent Signals: If you know the prospect visited your website or downloaded content, mention it: “I saw you checked out our case study – I thought I’d reach out to see if you had questions.” Using their activity as context immediately makes the call relevant.
  
• Plan Your Opening: Have a strong, tailored opening line. Avoid a generic pitch. Instead, lead with a problem you know they might have or a recent industry development. For example, “Hi, I noticed your team is hiring SDRs – many firms in your space use our platform to ramp new sales hires faster…”.
  By doing the above, you turn a “cold” call into a much warmer interaction. The prospect will sense it’s not just a random telemarketing call, but a thoughtful outreach specifically to them. And that increases your chances of a positive reception.

Trend 5: The Human Touch – Training Reps as Tech-Enhanced Advisors

With all the focus on technology – AI, data, automation – it’s easy to assume the human element in sales might diminish. On the contrary, in 2026 the human touch is more critical than ever, but its nature is evolving. The role of a sales rep is shifting from a smile-and-dial cold caller to a tech-empowered, consultative advisor. Reps who master this hybrid skillset are thriving. Organizations are investing heavily in training and upskilling their sales teams (often through internal academies like Martal Academy or external programs) to ensure reps can leverage new tools while building genuine relationships.

Here’s why the human element remains paramount:

• Trust and Relationships: No matter how advanced technology gets, B2B buying ultimately involves trust between people. A recent Pew Research study found 84% of buyers want to buy from a salesperson they know and trust (9). Buyers may use digital channels for research, but they often need a trusted advisor to guide them through complex decisions. An AI can provide information, but it can’t (yet) build rapport in the nuanced way a human can. Eye contact over a Zoom meeting, a shared joke about the weather, or empathy in understanding a client’s unique challenges – these are human touches that cement deals. Warm calling has always been powerful because of the trust factor; scaling warm calls means training reps to quickly establish credibility and rapport once a conversation is initiated (whether that call was inbound, warm outbound, or nurtured by AI first).
  
• Human-AI Collaboration: Rather than replacing reps, AI is becoming their sidekick. High-performing sales teams treat AI as a co-pilot, not an autopilot. For example, AI can draft a follow-up email, but a rep reviews and personalizes it before sending. AI can surface a talking point, but the rep delivers it with authentic tone and timing. This collaboration is yielding stellar results – one study noted that teams that adopt AI see a 1.3× improvement in revenue outcomes (17). Additionally, sales teams using AI for support see 27% higher win rates on average (4). The takeaway is clear: AI plus human beats AI alone or human alone. To capitalize on this, companies need to ensure their teams are AI-fluent – comfortable with tools, able to interpret AI insights, and disciplined in using them responsibly. Job descriptions for sales roles in 2026 often list “experience with sales automation/AI tools” as a requirement (6).
  
• Continuous Training and Coaching: The fast pace of change means what worked in 2022 might not work in 2026. Sales orgs are focusing on continuous development. Those with formal coaching programs dramatically outperform those without – firms with structured coaching see 91% quota attainment vs 85% for those with ad-hoc coaching (3). Training now goes beyond product and pitch; it covers data analysis, social selling, video engagement, and more. In response, Martal launched Martal Academy, an in-house training curriculum to keep our SDRs and sales executives sharp on the latest outbound techniques, from mastering LinkedIn outreach to leveraging AI analytics. The idea is to create sales technologists – reps who are as comfortable building a contact list in a sales engagement platform as they are leaving a persuasive voicemail. Investing in people pays off: your tech is only as good as the people wielding it. A poorly trained rep with world-class tools will still flounder, whereas a skilled rep can thrive even with basic tools.
  
• Empathy and Personalization at Scale: We’ve talked about personalization via AI, but there’s another side: genuine empathy. Buyers can tell when a rep is just reading a tailored script versus truly engaging in a two-way dialogue. Modern sales training emphasizes active listening, asking insightful cold call questions, and tailoring the conversation in real-time – things AI cannot do authentically (yet). When a prospect voices a concern, a trained rep knows how to navigate that emotion, share a relevant story, or adjust the solution approach. These moments often decide the deal. In fact, Gong’s analysis of sales calls shows top reps engage in two-way conversations and adjust their talk-to-listen ratio based on cues, while average reps stick more rigidly to script. Technology can encourage good habits (e.g., conversational intelligence software might warn if a rep is monologuing), but it’s the rep who must internalize and execute these cold calling skills.
  
• Advisory Role vs Transactional Seller: B2B sales cycles are increasingly complex, with more stakeholders and longer processes. Buyers don’t need a rep to tell them about features – they can read that online. They need reps to advise on implementation, integration, ROI, and to be their advocate. Therefore, the salesperson’s role is morphing into that of a consultant. In 2026, many orgs are aligning sales closer with customer success and subject matter expertise. Reps are trained on industry knowledge, not just product pitch. When you approach a prospect with insights about their business (perhaps informed by AI, but delivered by you) and help them envision a solution, you transcend the cold caller stereotype and become a trusted partner. That’s the essence of warm selling. As one trend piece stated, “baseline product knowledge is easy to copy; the durable edge is knowing your customer better and earning trust” (6). Hence, human reps focus on understanding the customer’s world deeply – something warm callers have always done – and now it’s expected even in outbound contexts.
  

One real-world shift we see is that organizations are measuring different sales KPIs for outbound reps. Instead of purely activity volume (dials, emails) or even immediate conversions, they’re also looking at relationship metrics: quality of conversations, feedback scores from prospects, how well reps leverage tools, etc. This encourages reps to approach each contact with a long-term relationship mindset, not just a hit-and-run call. It’s quality and quantity balanced.

To support reps in this new landscape, companies provide an environment of learning and sharing. Peer learning is encouraged (e.g., successful cold call recordings are shared and dissected). Modern sales floors often have large screens not to pressure reps with call counts, but to share real-time wins and insights (e.g., “X product mentioned frequently today” or “new objection heard”). It creates a culture where tech and human insights are continuously exchanged.

Finally, let’s not forget morale and mental fortitude – an often under-discussed part of the human factor. Traditional cold calling could be soul-crushing with its high rejection rate. As we’ve seen, the new approaches (omnichannel, AI help, targeted cold call lists) improve success rates, which in turn keeps reps more motivated. But even so, hearing “no” repeatedly is tough. Human sales leaders play a vital role in coaching resilience, providing encouragement, and keeping teams motivated in the face of challenges. Human empathy applies inwardly too – managers must empathize with their reps, not just expect empathy for prospects. In 2026, forward-thinking sales orgs emphasize mental wellness, breaks, and a positive team culture to prevent burnout from the always-on world of modern sales. Happy, motivated reps will project confidence and positivity in their calls – making them more effective at warming up prospects.

In conclusion, technology is raising the bar for salespeople, not lowering it. The ones who succeed are those who augment their workflow with AI and automation but still put the human buyer first. They leverage data to be smarter, not spam faster. They use AI to inform their approach, not replace their judgment. And they double down on human strengths: building trust, demonstrating expertise, and delivering empathy. Martal’s approach has always been rooted in combining the best tech with the best talent – that’s how we consistently turn cold leads into warm opportunities for our clients. As you look to the future, invest in your people as much as your tech. An AI can schedule a meeting, but it’s the human that turns that meeting into a lasting client relationship.

Is Cold Calling Still Effective In 2026?

Yes, cold calling can still be effective in 2026 – but not in the old “spray and pray” way. Modern buyers are harder to reach by phone alone, yet phone contact remains important. Surveys show a majority of C-level executives and decision-makers will still respond to well-targeted phone outreach, and many actually prefer a phone call for discussing business once interest is established. The key is that what we call “cold calling” today isn’t cold blind dialing. It’s backed by research, often preceded by other touches (emails, LinkedIn), and highly personalized. 

When executed as part of an omnichannel strategy, cold calling absolutely works – it consistently yields B2B leads and appointments. For example, even in recent years, 69% of B2B buyers have accepted cold calls from new providers (4). The effectiveness comes down to quality: targeted lists, good timing, and skilled reps. So, while the tactics have evolved, picking up the phone to connect with a prospect remains a powerful tool in 2026.

As we’ve seen, the landscape of cold calling vs warm calling in 2026 is very different from the past. The lines have blurred – with the right strategies, a cold call can have the context and receptivity of a warm call. Five big trends are driving this evolution: AI is injecting personalization and efficiency into outreach, omnichannel strategies ensure prospects are primed across multiple touchpoints, data and intent signals guide reps to the best opportunities, AI voice automation scales our efforts, and ongoing training hones the human touch to tie it all together. Outbound sales has become smarter, more strategic, and more customer-centric.

For B2B sales and marketing leaders, the takeaway is clear: modern outbound success means embracing technology and elevating your team’s skills. No single tool or trick will magically transform results – it’s the orchestration of AI-driven insights with authentic human engagement that wins. Companies that update their playbooks to reflect these 2026 trends are seeing higher contact rates, better conversion ratios, and faster pipeline growth. Those that don’t, risk falling behind as buyers tune out old-school tactics.

At Martal Group, we’ve been at the forefront of these outbound innovations – not in theory, but in practice. We’ve blended cold calling, cold emailing, LinkedIn lead generation, and other channels into cohesive campaigns that consistently turn strangers into prospects and prospects into long-term clients. Our sales development experts leverage AI tools to research and personalize outreach, engage leads through an omnichannel cadence, and follow up diligently across phone, email, and social touches. Importantly, we combine this with the human element: highly trained reps (through Martal Academy and continuous coaching) who know how to build rapport and tailor conversations to each prospect’s needs. The result of outsourcing inside sales is that it delivers warm, qualified appointments at scale – essentially making cold outreach feel like an inbound lead for our clients.

Ready to succeed in modern outbound? Whether you need to boost your internal team’s results or want a trusted sales partner, the time to act is now. Martal Group offers a free consultation to assess your current outbound strategy and show how we can help you apply these 2026 trends to crush your sales goals. We’ll help you deploy AI-driven prospecting, craft multi-touch outreach sequences, and provide seasoned sales reps as an extension of your team to engage and nurture leads. In an era when simply dialing for dollars is no longer enough, Martal’s omnichannel, tech-enabled approach to sales outsourcing can be the catalyst that fills your pipeline with warm leads and fuels predictable revenue growth.

Don’t let your outbound sales go cold. Contact Martal Group for a free consultation and let us help you turn today’s “cold calls” into tomorrow’s closed deals. Together, we’ll navigate the future of outbound sales and ensure your business thrives by connecting with the right prospects, at the right time, in the right way.

References

1. Investopedia
2. Cognism
3. Supademo
4. ProfitOutreach
5. Telnyx
6. Walnut.io
7. VoiceSpin
8. Kixie
9. Zety
10. FullEnrich
11. Fluid AI
12. AIbees
13. Martal Group – is Cold Calling Still Effective
14. Martal Group – ABM Statistics
15. OutboundEngine
16. HubSpot
17. Salesforce