Washington, D.C.—Nurtured b2b sales leads are almost nine times more likely to agree to receive a sales call than are cold calls, according to a recent internal study conducted by b2b marketing company Sales Engine International.

In the study, Sales Engine examined its own integrated marketing efforts in April and May. Sales Engine sent e-newsletters to 18,000 prospects, garnering 1,216 leads, which were then handed over to a call center team for nurturing. The leads were divided into four categories based on their activity and response to the e-newsletter.

One of the categories was a group that did not receive the e-newsletter. This was the “cold call” or “control group.” The leads that scored the highest, those who opened the e-newsletter over a period of several months, were 878% more likely to accept a sales appointment than the cold call group.