You're not alone if you're wondering when the best time to call or write a prospect is. Many sales professionals struggle with this question. While there is no perfect time to reach out to a prospect, certain times of day are more likely to yield positive results. The timing of your call or email can make a big difference. It is important to know the best time of day to contact someone, so they are more likely to respond.
Tip: The best time to call or write a prospect is generally during regular business hours. If you are unable to contact the prospect during business hours, the next best time to reach them is in the evening. The worst time to contact a prospect is on the weekends or late at night.
In general, the best time to call or write a prospect is during business hours, when the prospect is likely to be at work and able to take your call or read your email. Nevertheless, even that depends on the industry and company. For example, if you are selling to small businesses, the best time to contact them is during business hours. Still, if you are selling to larger companies that are extremely busy during working hours, consider contacting them after business hours. It is best to contact a prospect when you have something valuable to say that will help them make a decision. However, there are a few other factors to consider when choosing the best time to reach out to a prospect, which we'll discuss in more detail below.
What You Need to Know about Calling Prospects at Different Times of Day
When making sales calls, it is important to know what time of the day to call your prospects. You don’t want to call too early and wake them up or too late and miss them. The best time to call a prospect depends on several factors. The industry, company size, and prospect's location are all important considerations.
When trying to reach a decision-maker at a company, timing is everything. The best time to call a decision-maker is early in the morning or late in the afternoon when they're likely to be in the office and less busy. However, you should avoid calling during lunchtime or in the evening, when they're likely to be out of the office or unavailable.
Depending on the person's role within the company, they may have different daily schedules and priorities. The time of day you call them can significantly impact your success rate. Calling at the wrong time of day can significantly decrease your effectiveness and make it more difficult to close deals. So, what are the best times to call prospects? We will examine some more essential details later in this post.
The Best Days and Times for Prospecting
The best days and times to make call attempts vary depending on your industry and target market. However, you can follow some general guidelines to ensure you're making the most of your time. If you have a sales team, they need to know the best times of day for calling a prospect to get the best response rate possible.
It is best to call a prospect when they are most likely to answer their phone and not be busy with other tasks. This means that you should consider your prospect's time zone when planning your call schedule. If you know your prospect's schedule and are comfortable with their time zone, you can adjust your timing to match their availability. If you are unsure of their schedule, it's best to err on the side of caution and avoid early morning or late evening hours, i.e., call them during regular business hours, as discussed above.
Best Days to Contact Your Prospect
Mondays and Tuesdays are typically the best days to reach decision-makers, as they're typically back in the office after the weekend and looking to get things done. Although Wednesday is the best day to cold call, according to many people, You may want to avoid Wednesday late afternoons, as this is when most people start to wind down for the week.
Thursdays and Fridays can also be good days for prospecting, as people are typically more relaxed and open to conversations. However, Fridays can also be challenging to get ahold of people, as many are already winding down for the weekend. If your prospect is not available on any of these days of the week, then you will need to come up with an alternative time that works for both of you (e.g., if they are only available on Saturdays or Sundays, then you may try to work out a feasible plan). The idea is to avoid contacting your prospects during their peak working hours. To achieve this, you can find out information about their work schedules through prospecting.
Best Time of the Day to Contact Your Prospects
The most common time to call a prospect is between 9 am and 5 pm, which equates to regular business hours in most societies. Prospects are usually at work at this time and will be more likely to answer their phone. However, this does not mean you should only call prospects during these hours. It is also important to remember that there are different time zones, and your work time might be another person's sleep time. Ensure that you consider your prospect's time and availability and not yours only.
Again, remember that the best time to contact your prospect depends on a number of factors, including the type of business you're in, the nature of your product or service, and the time of the day your prospects most likely need your product. It also depends on who your prospect is, their role in the company, and availability. Here's a quick guide to calling prospects at different times of day depending on their role:
- Early Morning:
If your prospect is in a high-level position, they may be up early to get a head start on their day. These are the company decision-makers who are usually eager to get the tiniest piece of information that will help throttle their business to a position of competitive advantage. Depending on their opening hours, you can try calling between 7 and 9 am.
- Mid-Morning:
This is generally one of the best time segments to call most people, especially for companies who open up early and have punctual employees, as they're settled into their workday and haven't been bombarded with calls and emails yet. Try calling between 9 and 10 am.
- Late Morning:
Around 10 or 11 am is often considered the best time to make successful cold calls. At this time, people are usually settled into their workday and are more likely to have the time and patience to listen to your pitch. This can be your default pick if you do not have enough information on the role of your prospect or the nature of their business or company.
- Early afternoon:
Around 1 or 2 pm is often considered a good time for making sales calls too. Many people have already taken their lunch break and feel refreshed and ready to talk.
- Late afternoon:
Another good time for making sales calls is late in the afternoon, around 4 or 5 pm. At this time, people have handled most of the day's work, are starting to wrap up their workday, and may be more receptive to your call.
- Early evening:
If you can't reach your prospects during normal working hours, the last resort is to make call attempts from 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm when they might be off work and have little time to spare.
The worst time to call a prospect is between 2 pm and 4 pm. This is when most people are at the peak of their work day and may be unable to talk to you. If you call them during this time, you will likely just end up leaving a voicemail.
It is important to avoid calling your prospects between 11 am and 1 pm when they are likely to be on their lunch break and want to catch some breeze.
N/B: Never call a prospect during night/sleeping hours i.e. between 8 pm and 7 am.
In summary, it is very important to determine the perfect time and day to call your prospects. If you call them too early, they may not be ready to talk to you. If you call them too late, they may already be busy with their day. The best days to call a prospect are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday morning and Thursday. Sales calls are typically most effective when made in the late morning, around 10 or 11 am.
Conclusion: Final Thoughts on the Best Time and Day to Contact a Prospect
While cold calls, cold emails, Twitter messages, LinkedIn messages, etc., are never guaranteed to lead to a sale, there are many reasons why it doesn’t hurt to try. First, even if a prospect doesn’t take your call, you’ve still invested time and effort in reaching out and gained the necessary experience to guarantee future success. Second, you never know when a cold call or email might turn into a long-term business relationship or a valuable referral.
It's important to reach out to new prospects and keep the conversations going with old ones. You never know what's going to set a promising prospect off. For example, maybe a prospect tells you about a recent marketing issue causing problems for their business, giving your business an opportunity to offer a perfect solution. However, it's important to always pay attention to the times and days you reach out to your prospects.
The best time of day to contact a prospect is whenever you feel most passionate about your product or solution and when they are most likely to be available to listen to you and respond. In other words, you want to reach out to them when they are available and eager to talk to you, most notably when they need your products or services.
This can be based on their business hours, their location, and the type of content that they are viewing. That might mean early morning or late afternoon, or it might mean you top off the day by spending an hour in the evening reaching out. The important thing is to connect with people at a time when you're most energized, either physically or mentally, and when you're most certain to get them involved.
As a sales professional, it is important to find a balance between the frequency of your calls and the relationships you are trying to build with your prospects. It is also essential to be mindful of the time you call your prospects. If you constantly call during their busy times of the day, they will likely view you as a nuisance. Finding a balance between maintaining contact and respecting your prospect's time will help you build strong relationships built on trust and mutual respect.
This article has shown you the importance of timing when it comes to prospecting. It also explored when is the optimal time to connect with prospects, as well as ways to organize your prospecting time. Remember! There's no perfect textbook standard, and the trend is as different as business categories are. At the end of the day, it is what works that's important. Feel free to try several possibilities, analyze and measure results, find the one that works for your business, and optimize it.