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Knowing the best time to cold call can help an organization in multiple ways. Calling your prospects and leads at the right time results in
- High pick-up rates,
- Higher conversions,
- More attentive responses,
- Better campaign success.
This article explores the best and worst times to cold call and how to run an effective cold-calling campaign that generates results.
What is the best time to cold call?
The right way to determine the best time to cold call would be to analyze trends from the past 4-5 years. This period also considers the effect of COVID-19 and post-pandemic trends such as remote working and how these shape the behavior of consumers.
Our research, which spans the last 5 years, consistently suggests that 4-5 pm is the best time to cold call. The second best time to cold call is between 10-11 a.m.
Here’s a breakdown of timings through the day:
Experts suggest that Wednesdays and Thursdays are the best days to cold-call potential leads.
Worst time to cold call
While it is essential to know the best time to cold call, it is equally important to understand when you must avoid making calls.
Mondays and Fridays are considered the worst days to cold call. Think about it: you’re either beginning or ending your week. You may not have the patience or mindset to listen to someone pitch to you.
Early mornings between 6 am and 9 am and lunch timings are the worst times to cold call. Your prospects would be least likely to engage with you during these hours.
Lastly, apart from engagement, even TCPA guidelines come into the picture when considering some of the worst times to cold call. For compliance, you must check local regulations to understand the wrong timings for outreach. Failure to comply can lead to heavy fines on your campaign.
Cold calling statistics for success
Apart from the best time to cold call, there are some cold calling statistics a manager must know. These statistics are crucial to setting up effective campaign strategies. Here are some vital statistics to consider–
Cold calling success rate
The success rate for cold calling is 2% – which means you need to get each call right, without room for error.
Ensure your cold calling scripts are perfectly crafted so each conversation goes smoothly.
The number of attempts required
Industry experts believe 8 attempts at cold calling are required to reach a prospect. One of the ways your team can manage this is by automating their workflows.
Automated workflows help you streamline cross-channel communication and schedule retries. This way, all your contacts are included, and re-attempts happen promptly.
Average connect time for cold calls
Successful cold calls have an average duration of 5 minutes and 50 seconds, while unsuccessful ones typically last 3 minutes and 14 seconds. An engaging conversation is vital in making your cold call last longer.
One way you can ensure agents are more engaging is to explore dynamic branching scripts. These scripts follow the flow of the conversation, ensuring agents aren’t sticking to a rigid script nor wasting time scrolling to the suggested response.
63% of People Find Cold Calling Challenging
A whopping 63% of salespeople report that cold calling is what they dislike most about their job. Despite its effectiveness, cold calling can be challenging for many professionals.
However, training your agents on critical call center skills and equipping them with the best time to cold call can help their anxieties.
No one-size-fits-all approach
While we discuss these crucial cold calling statistics, it is essential to realize that statistics can vary depending on the following:
- Industry
- Target audience
- Local regulations and compliance
- Geographical location
Researching your industry-specific cold calling statistics can help sharpen your approach towards cold calling.
Essential tips for successful cold calling
A successful cold calling campaign requires the basics, such as the best time to cold call. However, beyond that, there are two essential practices to ensure your campaign is a success.
Easy-to-learn and effective cold calling scripts
Cold calling scripts are essential since they help you structure your conversations. Creating scripts that are easy to learn and cater to your audience is vital to ensure your call center agent’s success.
For an in-depth guide, explore our Effective Cold Calling Scripts resource.
Workflow automation
Your cold calling campaign includes follow-ups, retries, callbacks, and touchpoints across communication channels. Coordinating it all is a challenging task.
Automation tools can help you schedule follow-up calls, emails, or text messages. It also enables you to reach your contacts promptly, ensuring engagement at every step.
Workflow automation with CallHub
If you are seeking to optimize your cold calling process, CallHub offers workflow automation. With CallHub’s tools, you can:
- Follow up with contacts at the right time.
- Avoid leakages in your nurturing funnel.
- Share data with your CRM for a holistic view of a contact.
- Avoid manual, repetitive tasks and get through lists quickly.
- Segment lists based on tags and survey responses.
Workflow automation on CallHub
Enhanced capabilities with call center software
CallHub’s call center software not only ensures you follow the best time to cold call guidelines, but it also has an efficient array of offerings to improve your campaign:
- A single platform for inbound and outbound calling.
- Workflow automation
- Timezone calling
- TCPA compliant dialers
- Text from call center capabilities
- Mobile app for agents.
Try CallHub today with a 14-day free trial.
Featured Image Source: Tima Miroshnichenko
