# What actually makes the money

> Money is emails × reply × book × close × sale size × margin, minus cost. Use your own close rate.

Canonical: https://syncsolved.com/research/cold-outbound-roi
Last updated: 2026-10-23

Published 2026-08-24 · Updated 2026-10-23

**In short:** Money from cold email is emails × reply × book × close × sale size × margin, minus cost. Most tools stop at send. Use your own close rate in the homepage calculator. Do not borrow someone else's average.

## Who is this page for?

- Founders who can name sale size, close rate, and how many calls they can take.
- Teams at or above a $10,000 average sale.

## Who should skip it?

- Anyone treating a calculator as a promise. It is a guess from your numbers.
- Teams below the sale size for the $250,000 agreement.

### Who owns each step

| Step | You with a send tool | SyncSolved |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Emails sent | You, after you build the setup | Us, after the slow start |
| Replies received | You, if you watch the inbox | Us, in minutes |
| Calls booked | You, if you chase | Us, in the email |
| Deals closed | You | You |
| Money you keep | You | You |

## What is a booked sales call actually worth?

- At $10,000 a sale, $250,000 is about 25 closes. That is why the floor exists.
- The homepage calculator uses your bookings, show rate, close rate, sale size, and money left after the work.
- The $250,000 agreement still needs a 15% close rate on the right calls held.

## Is the calculator a promise?

No. SyncSolved’s calculator uses the numbers you type. The $250,000 figure lives in the signed agreement, not in the calculator.

Most founders undercount the steps after send. A small reply rate still adds up across daily volume. Then booking rate and close rate do the rest.

## Why a $10,000 average-sale floor?

Because $250,000 at a much smaller sale needs more closes than 90 days of cold email can honestly support at a 15% close rate.

Use the calculator on the homepage with your numbers. If those numbers cannot reach the figure, say so before anyone signs.

## What should you do?

1. If the calculator cannot reach the number with honest close rates, we should not put it in the agreement. Say that on the call.
2. If send is fine and close is fine but bookings are not, the leak is after the reply.

## What do buyers ask SyncSolved before they say yes?

### Is the calculator a promise?

No. It uses the numbers you type. The $250,000 figure lives in the signed agreement, not in the calculator.

### Why a $10,000 average-sale floor?

Because $250,000 at a much smaller sale needs more closes than 90 days of cold email can honestly support at a 15% close rate.

SyncSolved’s next step is a short call (https://cal.id/syncsolved/strategy). We check sale size, close rate, and calendar time.

## Related

- [Cold email and calculator](https://syncsolved.com)
- [What a booked call is worth](https://syncsolved.com/research/what-a-booked-call-is-worth)
- [A reply is not a booked call](https://syncsolved.com/research/intent-action-gap)
- [Automation calculator](https://syncsolved.com/automation)