salesJan 07, 2026•1 min read

Outbound Metrics That Matter: Reply Rate, Not Vanity Stats

Open rates are noisy. Here are the metrics that actually predict pipeline: reply rate, positive reply rate, and meeting conversion.

Draft Team(Ops)
metricsreply-ratesales

Outbound Metrics That Matter: Reply Rate, Not Vanity Stats

If you want outbound that produces pipeline, measure the right things.

Avoid over-indexing on open rates

Opens are impacted by:

  • privacy features
  • client-side prefetch
  • tracking blocks

Use these instead

1) Reply rate

Total replies / total sends.

2) Positive reply rate

Positive replies / total sends.

3) Meeting conversion

Meetings booked / positive replies.

4) Deliverability signals

  • bounces
  • spam complaints
  • inbox placement (if you test)

A great outbound program is predictable. The right metrics make it controllable.