You need to know the best times to makes telephone sales calls, especially cold calls, for two reasons:
- It helps you to reach prospects when their resistance to receiving sales calls might be lowest and their receptiveness is the highest.
- It helps you as a sales person to overcome the natural and common reluctance to make calls and risk rejection.
'Magic Minute' for Sales Calls
The "magic minute" for a telephone sales call, says Paul S. Goldner (author of Red-Hot Cold Call Selling) from his own experience, is 11:59 a.m. A likely reason is that the prospect has stopped working and is ready to break for lunch:
- You are not interrupting the prospect while the prospect is concentrating on work;
- The prospect is more relaxed and in a mood to talk to someone;
- Anyone who screens the prospect's phone calls, such as an executive assistant, might have already stepped away from the desk so you are more likely to reach the prospect.
Remember, the object of the call is not to make a sale but to secure an appointment for a meeting; see the article How To Sell Over The Phone. So catching the prospect at the very minute he or she might be in the frame of mind to meet people for lunch can make him or her more open to the idea of a meeting. The call should last only 2 minutes; the prospect can leave for lunch at 12:01, with the favorable impression in mind that your meeting will also be brief and convenient.
Early Bird Sales Calls
Many managers and executives start work early, before the distractions of associates and staff coming in to work. A call at 7:30 a.m. or 8 a.m. can find the prospect in, before the person who screens calls is in. The earlier you call, the better chance the prospect is not yet immersed in intensive work and will be less annoyed at being interrupted.
The best time to leave voice mail with existing customers, says Mark Hunter, 'The Sales Hunter', in his sales training sessions, is 7:00 to 7:30 a.m.
First 15 Minutes Sales Calls
Sales trainer Paul Goldner writes that most sales people spend the first 15 minutes each day at the water cooler or getting coffee or chatting. That's a waste of time. You can make 3 calls in 15 minutes. If you want to do better than your colleagues, make those 3 calls as soon as you get in.
Goldner advises sales people to organize the contact information for those 3 calls the evening before, as the last thing you do before you go home. Have your scripts ready with the appropriate unique selling position for each prospect, if you haven't learned them by heart. Then, you don't need to do anything other than make the calls.
This is also a good way to break through call reluctance and to get yourself moving.
Right after Lunch Sales Calls
The same goes for the first 15 minutes after lunch for the same reasons. Goldner says you should organize the contact information for these 3 the evening before also.
Keep Going
Selling over the phone is like many other tasks. You get in a the "flow" where you operate at peak efficiency.
To maintain that, and to make sure that you spend time making cold calls, set time aside on at least some days each week. Hang up a "do not disturb" sign. If you have a door close it.
Pick up the phone or click your auto-dialer, make the calls and don't forget:
- The "Magic Minute";
- The early bird catch;
- First thing in the morning;
- First thing after lunch.
Thomas Kelly - Tom Kelly has pursued a long, successful and award-winning career as a technical and business writer, marketer and publisher, during which ...
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