When businesses consider outsourcing their sales development, SalesHive is often a top option. Their website is polished, their sales pitch is confident, and their claims about scale and results sound compelling. However, this SalesHive review is based on my direct experience as a paying client, and the reality was far from what was promised.
I am publishing every detail because the numbers tell the whole story, and other companies deserve to know what they are risking before committing thousands of dollars to an underperforming sales vendor.
When I was first approached by Michael Dodge, SalesHive's sales representative, the pitch sounded compelling and straightforward:
The monthly package costs $7,250. That is not a small investment. In just two months, I paid over $14,500. Michael Dodge assured me that the return on investment would justify this expense. I was promised a proven process, experienced SDRs, and measurable results.
I trusted that promise. That was a mistake.
When you pay thousands monthly for outsourced sales, you expect the campaign's managers to be sharp, accountable, and results-driven. Instead, the team I dealt with wasted my time and money.
Another red flag throughout the engagement was the lack of authenticity in how the SalesHive team presented themselves. In my experience, the team often used imagery that appeared to be AI-generated and never turned on their cameras, which I found unprofessional. For a service that claims to be relationship-driven and people-powered, hiding behind stock-style AI imagery and blank screens was unprofessional and downright cringeworthy. It set the tone for the lack of transparency and accountability that defined the entire experience.
Michael Dodge was the SalesHive sales representative who sold me the Growth plan at $7,250 monthly. During the sales process, I was told to expect 5 leads in the first month and up to 20 by the third. My records show that it did not happen. He also emphasized that SalesHive had extensive experience with web development and marketing companies, which was supposed to make my campaign a strong fit.
The reality was starkly different. After two months and more than 8,600 touches across calls and emails, SalesHive generated zero qualified opportunities. The results did not meet the benchmarks that Michael Dodge had set as expectations during the sales process.
Elle Rogers was my Campaign Manager, responsible for account targeting and SDR execution. While she did not say much directly, the results of her oversight speak for themselves.
Out of 2,965 calls and 5,708 emails in the first month, her targeting resulted in three meetings in total, two no-shows and one unqualified lead with no budget. That means zero viable results. The industries and accounts selected under her management were entirely misaligned with my market, which resulted in thousands of wasted touches and weeks.
When my team and I provided specific feedback on which companies to pursue, those adjustments were ignored. Instead of course corrections, the campaign stayed locked on the wrong targets. The poor performance reflects a breakdown in the very role a Campaign Manager is supposed to own.
Jordan Bresson was Elle's manager, and I escalated my concerns to him when the campaign failed. His response was shocking, especially in comparison to the promises made by Michael Dodge during the sales process.
In my initial conversations with their sales rep, I was told to expect 5 leads in month one, 10–12 in month two, and up to 20 in month three. Jordan stated that I should consider myself "lucky to get 1 lead the first month" and that he did not believe I would get more than 1 the second month. This was a complete reversal of expectations and a direct contradiction of the original SalesHive sales pitch.
In my opinion, conversations with Jordan felt evasive, similar to how politicians sometimes avoid answering direct questions. The data I presented was not acknowledged.
This leadership chain, characterized by Michael's overpromising, Elle's poor execution, and Jordan's avoidance of accountability, was a recipe for complete failure.
Here are the raw results from my first month with SalesHive:
Calls made: 2,965
Conversations: Almost every call logged as 00:00:00 duration, meaning virtually no live connects took place
Meetings booked: 3 total. Two were no-shows. One was unqualified and had no budget. That left 0 viable meetings.
Emails sent: 5,708
Over two months, SalesHive touched more than 8,600 prospects through calls and emails. The result was zero qualified opportunities.
Here are how my results compared to accepted benchmarks for SDR teams:
| Metric | Industry Standard | My Results |
|---|---|---|
| Cold call connect rate | 5–13% - Gong.io and EBQ | Near 0% |
| Call-to-meeting conversion rate | ~1–2% Focus Digital and Cognism | <0.1% (3/2965 calls, none viable) |
| Meetings per SDR per month | 12–15 – (Sales Assembly) | 0 viable |
| Cold email reply rate | 5–10% – (Belkins), RemoteReps247, Mailforge | 0–1% |
| Email meetings | 2–5% – Bridgely 20–50 meetings expected from 5,700 emails |
0 |
| Meeting show rate | 70–80% - (Salesloft) | 0% (2 no-shows, 1 unqualified) |
When I raised benchmarks and concerns, leadership did not acknowledge them or make adjustments in response. Instead of acknowledging the gap between my results and widely accepted standards from sources like Gong, Cognism, and Belkins, she acted like the benchmarks were irrelevant and even asked if I "used" them as if that somehow mattered. It was a hypocritical stance from a team that hides behind AI-generated headshots, never turns on their cameras, and still tries to sell themselves as experts in building authentic sales relationships. Rather than facing complex data, SalesHive's leadership dodges accountability while continuing to bill for failure.
SalesHive review after one month: Proactive leadership could have addressed the lack of results. Instead, SalesHive's internal handling made everything worse.
When I escalated this to Jordan Bresson, there was no ownership of the data and no plan to correct the course. Instead of accountability, I was met with denial and avoidance.
By the end of two months, I had paid over $14,500. SalesHive did not issue a refund. They did not honor any concession. I did not dispute the charge, meaning I had to eat the cost. This was the ultimate insult: not just a failed performance, but the expectation that I would continue to pay for more of the same.
SalesHive's reporting dashboard displayed a "CRUSH %" metric that supposedly measured campaign effectiveness. In my case, this figure hovered around 75%. On paper, it looked like progress. In reality, the program produced zero qualified meetings.
This kind of metric is activity-based fluff. Calls, emails, and touches were logged, but outcomes were nonexistent. As Forrester Research has pointed out in its Wave Reports on conversation intelligence, dashboards without business outcomes are meaningless.
My experience was not unique. A quick scan of SalesHive's 1-star Trustpilot reviews shows the same complaints:
SalesHive employees themselves confirm what clients like me experienced. On Glassdoor, the company has a 3.3 out of 5 rating with just 54% saying they would recommend it to a friend (Glassdoor). The reviews reveal a consistent pattern of disorganization, poor management, and a lack of accountability.
What employees report:
This internal feedback lines up with my experience as a client. SalesHive fails at leadership, accountability, and delivering results. The same dysfunction clients observe on the outside is confirmed by those working inside.
SalesHive focuses heavily on activity metrics, such as calls made, emails sent, and dashboards filled. But activity is not an outcome. They failed by every benchmark that matters in sales development, connect rates, reply rates, meetings attended, and qualified opportunities created.
Worse, they refused to acknowledge those failures, reset expectations midstream, and continued to bill clients regardless of the results. That is not a sales partner. That is a pipeline drain.
At the end of my SalesHive engagement, I had:
Based on my experience, I cannot recommend this company to anyone seeking real results.
According to public reviews on Trustpilot and Glassdoor, multiple customers and employees reported similar issues, including poor management and lack of results.
SalesHive is not worth the investment. My recommendation to other businesses considering them is simple: avoid at all costs.
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