Industries / Doctors
How to sell to doctors by cold email
Updated November 6, 2026. Reply data read October 9, 2026; list counted September 3, 2026.
To sell to doctors by cold email, start with the owner or practice manager. In our data healthcare executives gave positive replies at 0.24% against 0.06% for medical-department contacts, and 66 of 44,604 contacts overall replied with interest (0.15%). The data covers healthcare companies, which is wider than physician practices.
This page is for companies that sell products, software or services to doctors and medical practices. The numbers come from 336,257 contacts who got a first cold email from one of 20 Sales.co campaigns between March 6 and August 31, 2026, with replies read on October 9, 2026.
Quick picks: what are you doing?
| If you need | Pick | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Every contact we hold in this market, once | The doctors list | $295 one time |
| Someone to write, send and answer replies | Sales.co service | $2,000 a month for up to 10,000 emails |
| The same service plus cold calls | Cold calls add-on | +$1,500 a month |
| A check on the list before you send | Free email list cleaner | Free |
What happened when healthcare company contacts got cold email
| Who got the email | Contacts | Replied in person | Positive replies | Booked meetings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Healthcare & life sciences | 44,604 | 255 (0.57%) | 66 (0.15%) | 7 (0.016%) |
| All 20 campaigns | 336,257 | 2,830 (0.84%) | 975 (0.29%) | 143 (0.043%) |
Healthcare is the hardest of these five segments, at about half the 0.29% average. The role matters most: 17,106 executives gave 41 positive replies, 7,138 marketing contacts gave 16 (0.22%), and 8,319 medical-department contacts gave 5. Size matters too. Organizations with up to 50 staff gave 43 positive replies from 17,465 contacts (0.25%), and those above 1,000 gave 3 from 9,032 (0.03%).
How many doctors you can reach
The Census counted 204,617 physician offices with paid staff in 2023 (NAICS 621111). Our list holds 12,580 contacts, about 6% of that figure, so it is a sample of the market and far from the whole of it. If you need every practice in a county, buy a licensed provider file as well.
| State | Contacts on our list | Census: physician offices |
|---|---|---|
| California | 2,067 | 29,615 |
| Texas | 1,702 | 21,500 |
| Florida | 1,519 | 19,994 |
| New York | 705 | 12,412 |
Who is on the list
77% of addresses are on the practice's own domain and 23% on free mail. General records tagged doctor or doctors make up 27.5% of the file, dermatologists 10.7% and internists 7.5%, so cut the file first if you sell to one specialty. California, Texas and Florida hold 42% of the contacts.
How to run it, step by step
- Cut the file to your specialty. Dermatologists alone give you 1,343 contacts.
- Write to the owner or practice manager about money or staff time.
- Send three emails and keep the ask to a ten-minute call.
- Add a phone step. 99.8% of records carry a phone number, so you can ask the front desk who decides.
A worked example, with the numbers
This applies the positive reply rate above to the whole list and to one month of the $2,000 plan, with a 95% range around 66 positive replies from 44,604 contacts. It assumes the list behaves like the healthcare and life sciences contacts in our campaigns, and three emails to each contact.
| Buy the list, send it yourself | Sales.co runs it | |
|---|---|---|
| You pay | $295 one time, plus your own sending tool, mailboxes and time | $2,000 a month, month-to-month, no setup fee |
| Contacts reached | 12,580, the whole file | About 3,333 a month (10,000 emails at 3 per contact) |
| Positive replies, likely range | 15 to 24 | 4 to 6 a month |
| Cost per positive reply, before sending costs and your time | $12.46 to $20.16 | $320 to $520 |
Sources
- Reply data: Sales.co campaign records, 20 campaigns, 336,257 contacts, first emails March 6 to August 31, 2026, replies read October 9, 2026.
- List counts: Sales.co doctors list, counted September 3, 2026.
- Business counts: US Census Bureau, 2023 County Business Patterns, read October 30, 2026.
- Prices: sales.co/pricing and sales.co/email-lists, read November 6, 2026.
More on selling by industry
Healthcare lead generation companies · Cold email agency for healthcare companies · Dentists list · Best B2B email list providers compared · How to sell to financial advisors · How to sell to law firms · How to sell to contractors · How to sell to insurance agents
FAQ
Where can I get a doctors contact list?
Sales.co's doctors list has 12,580 contacts in 48 states for $295 one time, counted September 3, 2026, with a free 25-row sample on the page.
How many physician offices are in the US?
204,617 with paid staff, per the Census Bureau's 2023 County Business Patterns (NAICS 621111). California has 29,615, Texas 21,500, Florida 19,994 and New York 12,412.
Who should I email at a medical practice?
Start with the owner or practice manager. In our data healthcare executives gave positive replies at 0.24% and medical-department contacts at 0.06%, across healthcare companies of all kinds.
What are physician sales leads worth?
At 0.15% positive replies, 1,000 healthcare contacts give about 1 or 2 interested replies, so the cost per lead depends mostly on who you target. Our list works out at 2.3 cents a contact.