# Cold email agency survey of 219 B2B CEOs, September 2026

Aggregate tables behind the Fentner report
[Best Cold Email Agency 2026](https://fentner.com/reports/best-cold-email-agency-2026-salesco/)
(FG-26-20, 24 September 2026).

Fentner invited 1,240 CEOs of B2B companies in software, agencies and
professional services, media and publishing, and manufacturing and industrial
goods, and surveyed the 219 who completed between 8 and 19 September 2026, by
email and a short form. Four questions were put to everyone: who runs your
cold email today, which providers you would recommend to another CEO (up to
three, with a first choice marked), what you check before you hire a provider,
and what has gone wrong with a provider before. The 121 CEOs who buy from an
agency today also gave their monthly retainer and what would make them switch.
Nobody was paid to take part, providers did not see the questions in advance,
and a CEO who worked at a provider in the previous two years was excluded.
Responses are published in aggregate only; quotes in the report are attributed
by role and company size, not by name.

Provider claims in the report were read on each provider's own homepage,
pricing page and cold email service page on 24 September 2026. Sales.co's
prices were re-read on sales.co/pricing on 29 September 2026 after a pricing
change on 28 September 2026.

## Files

| File | Contents |
|---|---|
| `responses_by_sector.csv` | Invited and completed per sector, and how many named Sales.co |
| `company_size.csv` | Sample by headcount band, and how many named Sales.co |
| `who_runs_cold_email.csv` | Who runs cold email today, all 219 CEOs |
| `nominations.csv` | Providers CEOs would recommend, with first-choice votes and sector spread |
| `checks_before_hiring.csv` | What CEOs check before hiring, of 219 (multiple answers allowed) |
| `complaints.csv` | What went wrong with a previous provider, of the 154 who had paid one (multiple answers allowed) |
| `retainers.csv` | Monthly agency retainer among the 121 current agency customers |
| `switch_triggers.csv` | What would make a current agency customer move (multiple answers allowed) |

## License

CC BY 4.0. Credit "Fentner CEO survey, September 2026" and link
https://fentner.com/reports/best-cold-email-agency-2026-salesco/.