What is the best time for sellers to make outbound sales calls?
- CRM company Salesmate analyzed 12,480 sales phone calls—they say Wednesday is the best day of the week to connect with prospects, with 10-11a and 4-5p as the most productive hours.
- Lead response management says Thursday is better than Wednesday.
- Insight Squared, another CRM company, reported that Tuesday was the most productive day of the week, with 10a-4p as the sweet spot.
So, when should a seller make calls? You guessed it…
The day and time are less important than whether they make the call at all.
No matter what the statistics say, sellers can always come up with a reason why now is not the right time to pick up the phone. Prospects are too busy first thing in the morning, they don’t want to talk to you when they’re trying to finish things up later in the day, they’re probably out to lunch (that could be anytime between 11am and 2pm).
Yes, all the studies listed above indicate that mid-week is statistically more fruitful. But they also show connections being made on Mondays and Fridays as well. I know a successful seller who makes cold calls on Friday afternoons because he figures he’s the only one calling then, and that ups his chances of starting a good conversation.
Bottom line is that it doesn’t matter when sellers call as long as they do it consistently and often. And their calls are more likely to be successful if these 3 things happen in advance:
- You’re prepared. Do you have a script? Have you done your research before the call so you’re ready to handle objections when they occur?
- Do you have a differentiator? If you say the same thing to every prospect every time, and it’s the same thing all the other media reps are spewing, you’re likely to get the same response as the other reps—NO. So how can you differentiate yourself? With…
- A Valid Business Reason. Give the prospect an indication that you’ve got something of value to offer them and your chances of hearing yes go up significantly.
The best time to call new prospects is NOW. No excuses.