When it comes to making a cold call, finding the ideal time to contact someone is critical to maximizing the chances of having your prospects pick up the phone when you attempt to reach out to them.

You can’t sell to someone if you cannot reach them, so identifying the perfect time to contact businesses is well worth the time investment.

All businesses in the United States operate on their own schedules and it can be difficult to narrow down an exact time frame that can apply to all industries, but thankfully there are patterns that can be easily identified if you pay attention. In this article, we will be going over some helpful advice and statistics on how you can discover the best times to have your cold calls take place.

Helpful Articles:

• Top Cold Calling Statistics To Use
• The 5 Tips For A Successful Cold Call
• The Seven Rules Of Successful Cold Calling

Basics For All Industries

In the United States, the typical working hours of almost all businesses are from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm in their respective time zones. Some businesses will operate on nonstandard hours or have decision-making personnel working on their own schedule, but a general guideline to follow is to only contact businesses by phone during these times.

Best Days of the Week to Cold Call

Best: Wednesday is the best day of the week for cold calls, followed closely by Thursday. Hubspot explains that by mid-week, people have settled into their workloads and will be more receptive to a call.

Second-worst: Mondays are notoriously busy days, with people gearing up for the week ahead. Mondays are also popular for team meetings.

Worst: Friday has been nominated as the worst day for cold calls. Reasons include people trying to get tasks finished by the end of the week, focusing on the weekend ahead, and not wanting to commit to anything new in the final hours of their working week.

Best Times of the Workday to Cold Call

Research gathered from over nearly 14,000 cold calls by CallHippo found the two best times to call during the day:

Best: Between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., or just before the end of the workday. Indeed.com theorizes that most people have completed their tasks by this time and are unlikely to begin new ones.

Second-best: Between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m., or just before lunch. Again, people try to finish up tasks before their lunch break, which means you’re less likely to interrupt them in the middle of something. Try not to call during lunch, though. No one likes to answer the phone with a mouthful of sandwiches.

Worst: Calling before 10 a.m. isn’t advised. Most people spend this time on administrative tasks, dealing with urgent requests, or completing unfinished tasks from the day before. Companies that conduct daily meetings tend to hold them first thing in the morning.  

To Summarize

With all this data readily available on cold calling along with thousands of businesses performing them each and every day, it’s impossible to determine what times will guarantee the best results for your efforts.

For a majority of businesses out there, the most optimal time to attempt to contact prospects based on recent studies is on Wednesdays and Thursdays between the hours of 9:00 am and 11:00 am, as well as 4:00 pm and 5:00 pm.

The least effective time on average to contact prospects is during lunch, between the hours of 11:00 am and 2:30 pm, so noting this information down can make a big difference when making your calls.