B2B Cold Email Outreach Pipeline & ROI Simulator

Modelling a B2B cold email funnel: from send volume to ROI

The tool chains conversion rates (delivered emails, replies, meetings, demos held, deals) and then divides signed revenue by the monthly tool cost. With 3,000 sends, 92% deliverability and a 6.5% reply rate, it gets 7 deals at 6,500, so 45,500 signed for 450 of tools (ROI of 101.1).

The calculation chain

Each step is rounded to a whole number before the next: delivered = sends × deliverability; replies = delivered × reply rate; meetings = replies × meeting rate; demos held = meetings × show-up rate; deals = demos × close rate. Signed revenue = deals × average contract value (ACV). ROI = signed revenue ÷ tool cost; cost per demo = tool cost ÷ demos held. The open rate only feeds the open counter: replies are calculated on delivered emails.

Worked example

3,000 emails, 92% delivered (2,760), 6.5% replies (179), 25% meetings (45), 80% show-up (36 demos), 20% close rate (7 deals), a 6,500 ACV and 450 of tools a month: 45,500 signed, 45,050 of profit after tools, ROI of 101.1, 13 per demo and 64 per deal. If deliverability drops to 80%, only 31 demos and 6 deals remain, i.e. 39,000: losing 12 points of deliverability costs 6,500 a month here.

Assumptions and limits

The cost only covers tools (domains, inboxes, sequencer, data); sales reps' time is not counted, which inflates the ROI considerably. All deals are booked in the month of sending, with no sales-cycle delay. On small volumes, successive rounding can shift a result by one. This simulator puts a figure on the business stakes; to check the technical setup of your inboxes (SPF, DKIM, DMARC, warmup pace), use the cold email deliverability auditor. The 30 to 40 emails per inbox per day shown on screen is industry practice, not a mailbox provider rule. Results are estimates to compare with your own statistics.

Sources and dates: Google's email sender guidelines for Gmail and the Yahoo Sender Hub best practices, enforced since February 2024: SPF or DKIM for every sender, complaint rate below 0.3%; for bulk senders (more than 5,000 messages a day to Gmail), SPF, DKIM and a DMARC policy (p=none accepted) plus one-click unsubscribe for marketing messages (checked on 14/10/2026).

Frequently Asked Questions

How many emails does it take to sign one B2B client?

With the tool's default rates (92% delivered, 6.5% replies, 25% meetings, 80% show-up, 20% close rate), 3,000 sends produce 7 deals, about 430 emails per signed client. At 1,000 sends only 2 deals remain, because each step is rounded.

What happens if my reply rate drops?

It affects the whole rest of the funnel. At 3,000 sends and 92% deliverability, going from a 6.5% to a 3% reply rate cuts demos from 36 to 17 and deals from 7 to 3: signed revenue falls from 45,500 to 19,500.

How much does a meeting booked through cold email cost?

The tool divides the monthly tool cost by the number of demos held: 450 ÷ 36 = 13 per demo in the default example, and 64 per deal. This excludes sales reps' time, which is often most of the real spend.

Why doesn't the open rate change the result?

In this simulator, replies are calculated on delivered emails, not opened ones. The open rate only feeds the open counter (1,518 out of 2,760 delivered at 55%). Since tracking pixels are often blocked, that rate is unreliable anyway.

Is this tool really free?

Yes, all tools on Kristools are 100% free and accessible without registration.

Is my data protected?

Yes. All processing is performed directly and securely inside your browser. No personal data is sent to our servers.