How to evaluate an AI dialer for your SDR team.
Test an AI dialer on live buyer conversations, qualified meetings held, handoff quality, and total cost. Compare it with your current setup using comparable leads and calling windows. Agree on what counts before the first call.
How do you run a fair dialer trial?
I want to know whether my reps had a better day and whether the meetings were worth having. Here’s the test I’d run, including on Thred.
- Split comparable leads. Keep account fit, data source, lead age, and geography similar. Don’t give one tool the fresh list and the other last quarter’s leftovers.
- Rotate the reps. Have the same people try both tools in comparable calling windows. Keep the pitch and qualification rules consistent.
- Keep the raw outcomes. Include failed calls, wrong numbers, and rep time. Follow meetings through to held or no-show before judging quality.
What should you measure?
First, ask what the vendor calls a “connect.” Twilio’s completed status can include a person, voicemail, or an IVR. It doesn’t establish that a buyer conversation happened.[1]
For this trial, I’d count a buyer conversation as a two-way exchange with an intended prospect. Count screeners and voicemail separately.
| Measure | Definition for your trial |
|---|---|
| Buyer conversations per rep-hour | Buyer conversations ÷ staffed calling hours. |
| Buyer connect rate | Buyer conversations ÷ attempted calls. Use the same repeat-attempt rules for both tools. |
| Qualified meetings held | Meetings that happened and met the qualification rules agreed before the trial. |
| Cost per qualified meeting held | Total trial cost, including rep time and calling charges, ÷ qualified meetings held. If none were held, report zero meetings and the spend. |
What should you make the vendor show?
The messy calls. A screening prompt, different voicemail greetings, a phone tree, and two simultaneous pickups. Detection can misclassify calls; Twilio recommends testing across varied devices and carriers.[2]
The handoff. Listen from the buyer’s side. Check the delay before a rep speaks, missing context, and clipped audio. Latency, jitter, and packet loss are useful diagnostics when something sounds wrong.[3]
The work after the call. Open your CRM. Check the contact, outcome, notes, and next step. Ask to see opt-out controls and what happens when an integration fails.
When do you have enough to decide?
Agree on the improvement you need before the trial. Review results by rep and lead group, alongside the totals. A handful of good calls is a reason to keep testing.
Get the full quote: seats, minutes, data, setup, and minimum commitment. If the result only looks good after hiding rep time or ignoring no-shows, keep looking.
Make us run the same test. I’m building Thred for people who have to make these calls every day.
Sources & notes
Written by Thred’s cofounder. The recommendations are mine. Technical references are below; Thred’s capabilities are described on our product page. These sources aren’t a benchmark of Thred’s performance.
Bring the awkward calls.
The screener. The long greeting. The phone tree.
Let’s walk through your team’s workflow.