Best Time to Call Businesses?

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Ehanson

What's the best time to call a business?

I'm going to test out offline marketing tomorrow but after a trip to get lunch at deli today I realized calling midday is not the best option as they were so busy they sometimes couldn't answer the phone. I'd also expect the owner would be short on time during peak hours and not very receptive to any web designer calling him up when he's trying to deal with a line of customers.

I know it depends on the business but what times have worked for all the warriors doing offline marketing? I'd guess the morning or a bit before closing time works the best as most businesses aren't that busy during that time. Maybe the time you call doesn't matter and it's more in the pitch?

Thirty minutes after they open, one hour before they close.

Preferably the first one; that way they haven't really started "working" yet, but they are still open to talking since they didn't "just" wake up.

Up to you really when you actually call, but that's when I do and it usually pays off.

Even if someone says no, they aren't an a**hole about it and they respect you calling when they aren't busy and when they aren't dying to go home.

Thanks
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trini

13 years ago

"Maybe the time you call doesn't matter and it's more in the pitch? "

- think again!

If you call at the wrong time- not only may you run smack into a Gate Keeper,
even if you manage to get through to the decision maker,
they may be so busy fighting the day's "fires" that they never really hear your pitch- regardless of how good it is.

My best time to call imho: 1hr before open time and 1 hr after closing time.

You are most likely to get a decision maker to answer the phone as the
gate keeper either has not come in as yet- or has already left in the case of the 1hr after closing time.

As in other aspects of sales: TIMING Matters big time.

Stay Sunny,

Michelle

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Will Perkins

13 years ago

Originally Posted by trini

[B]

- think again!

If you call at the wrong time- not only may you run smack into a Gate Keeper,
even if you manage to get through to the decision maker,
they may be so busy fighting the day's "fires" that they never really hear your pitch- regardless of how good it is.

My best time to call imho: 1hr before open time and 1 hr after closing time.

You are most likely to get a decision maker to answer the phone as the
gate keeper either has not come in as yet- or has already left in the case of the 1hr after closing time.

As in other aspects of sales: TIMING Matters big time.

Stay Sunny,

Michelle

Good advice, although you also have to know what kind of person you're selling too. I know 99% of my local market sends you straight to voicemail once they're closed and before they open. So just be wary with that...

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zigato

13 years ago

It depends what kind of business it is. If it's a restaurant/deli, then avoid the busy hours like midday. If it's a restaurant/cafe/deli, then you can try calling at around 3pm when it's not as busy as compared to 12pm or 7pm.

Otherwise an hour before or after they close is good too.

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AidenChong

13 years ago

Elliot,

It's me again

Here's a HIGH IMPACT kind of method you can try. I've yet to use it, but it's a great idea.

The Stalking part: 1) Try to check if the business has an answering machine, a voicemail or something similar.

The Ambush part: 2) If they do have that (most of the businesses do have that, in order not to lose track on any missed call), call them in the midnight. Essentially, you want them NOT to pick up the phone. Reason will be given later on.

The due diligence part: 3) Do your own due diligence on your targeted prospective clients, research about their stuff, and research on which part of their business that you want to target, and find out about its competitors as well.

For example, if you think that 'Company Ehanson' is not doing good in retaining its customers, but his rival company(ies) is/are doing good, then you can call them up at midnight, and then try to convey them about that.

The Ambush Impact part: 4) Tell them that you're a business development consultant/SEO consultant/FB marketing consultant/SEM consultant or whatever it is… Since you're calling them in the midnight, no one would answer you, most of the time.

After telling them your name, business name, how they could contact you, and then you start to talk about Company Ehanson's rival business names, and then cut the phone of right after you mention a few names…

Say, if you're a website developer..

Example: Hey, I'm Aiden, I'm calling from AidenChong Marketing, and my number is 1-112-123-1234. I was just talking with a few companies, namely XXX, YYY, ZZZ, we were discussing about maximizing their website's monetization method and customer retention method. We were talking about you as well, and your website and we think that…… <here's where you cut it off>

Think about it for a second, what if you were the one who were being contacted? Don't you wanna know more about it?

I am sure I'd be calling back to ask for more information if there are people calling me and leaving me a voice mail like that.

You make it like it was being cut off because of a faulty connection of the phone line or whatever it is.

THIS, would get people to call you back, without any sweat…

Just a thought…

Aiden

Thanks
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WillDL

13 years ago

Originally Posted by AidenChong

Elliot,

It's me again

Here's a HIGH IMPACT kind of method you can try. I've yet to use it, but it's a great idea.

The Stalking part: 1) Try to check if the business has an answering machine, a voicemail or something similar.

The Ambush part: 2) If they do have that (most of the businesses do have that, in order not to lose track on any missed call), call them in the midnight. Essentially, you want them NOT to pick up the phone. Reason will be given later on.

The due diligence part: 3) Do your own due diligence on your targeted prospective clients, research about their stuff, and research on which part of their business that you want to target, and find out about its competitors as well.

For example, if you think that 'Company Ehanson' is not doing good in retaining its customers, but his rival company(ies) is/are doing good, then you can call them up at midnight, and then try to convey them about that.

The Ambush Impact part: 4) Tell them that you're a business development consultant/SEO consultant/FB marketing consultant/SEM consultant or whatever it is... Since you're calling them in the midnight, no one would answer you, most of the time.

After telling them your name, business name, how they could contact you, and then you start to talk about Company Ehanson's rival business names, and then cut the phone of right after you mention a few names...

Say, if you're a website developer..

Example: Hey, I'm Aiden, I'm calling from AidenChong Marketing, and my number is 1-112-123-1234. I was just talking with a few companies, namely XXX, YYY, ZZZ, we were discussing about maximizing their website's monetization method and customer retention method. We were talking about you as well, and your website and we think that...... <here's where you cut it off>

Think about it for a second, what if you were the one who were being contacted? Don't you wanna know more about it?

I am sure I'd be calling back to ask for more information if there are people calling me and leaving me a voice mail like that.

You make it like it was being cut off because of a faulty connection of the phone line or whatever it is.

THIS, would get people to call you back, without any sweat...

Just a thought...

Aiden

I wouldn't call back.

Two reasons:

1) Calling me from a faulty cell or poor quality VOIP line shows you haven't invested in a decent phone system. Comes across as very fly by night.

2) I would never, ever, do business with someone who was already discussing my marketing tactics with my competitors. Means you have a pre-existing relationship with them. The chance of you using my hard won and effective strategies or my all important sales data to help their marketing campaigns is unacceptable. I'm assuming the XXX, YYY, and ZZZ are my competitors.

That's just me. It might work on other decision makers.

As two the original question: It depends on the industry. 9:30-10:30AM is usually good for restaurants. The manager is usually in, the lunch rush hasn't started and they aren't cleaning up from lunch or preparing for the dinner rush.

Other industries, just think about when they are most likely to get customers. As a rule of thumb, don't call at lunch time. Most people are either busy because customers stop in on their lunch break, or not going to be paying attention because they are going to be thinking about getting you off the phone so they can eat.

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AidenChong

13 years ago

Hi WillDL,

Why do you have to call from a VOIP or faulty cell? Just calling from your office phone line, home phone line, or your business cellphone line would do. Did I mention that anyone has to be calling from lousy VOIP or a faulty cell, if I did, sorry for that. I didn't mean it.

Maybe the I was being a dumb, and English really isn't my first language, so sorry if I gave anyone an impression of that I'm going to discuss the my prospective clients' marketing tactics with their competitors. That was not what I meant.

I simply mean that if I were a website developer...this is what I would do below...

Talk about myself calling up a competitors of my prospective clients, and then talking about some mild topics on their website monetization method, and website customer retention method (which can be seen by browsing anyone or any company's website, if a company doesn't want others to talk about it or see it, why put it up online? Anyone can spy on them that way)...

So I am not soliciting that we have to go out to every business under a same niche and stir the pot and create wars and warfares or anything along the line.

I don't know how to word it in the right way.

In this case, it's just purely something like a web developer who is talking with a business's competitors about their websites' outlook, and then suddenly the said business's competitors mention about the business's website, and everything was cut off from that point onwards.

Something like a semi-cold calling method in this case, which is oppose to what I'm offering under my sig

Anyway, WillDL, your suggestion about the best time to call businesses seems reasonable!

Thanks for sharing!

Aiden

Originally Posted by WillDL

I wouldn't call back.

Two reasons:

1) Calling me from a faulty cell or poor quality VOIP line shows you haven't invested in a decent phone system. Comes across as very fly by night.

2) I would never, ever, do business with someone who was already discussing my marketing tactics with my competitors. Means you have a pre-existing relationship with them. The chance of you using my hard won and effective strategies or my all important sales data to help their marketing campaigns is unacceptable. I'm assuming the XXX, YYY, and ZZZ are my competitors.

That's just me. It might work on other decision makers.

As two the original question: It depends on the industry. 9:30-10:30AM is usually good for restaurants. The manager is usually in, the lunch rush hasn't started and they aren't cleaning up from lunch or preparing for the dinner rush.

Other industries, just think about when they are most likely to get customers. As a rule of thumb, don't call at lunch time. Most people are either busy because customers stop in on their lunch break, or not going to be paying attention because they are going to be thinking about getting you off the phone so they can eat.

Thanks
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WillDL

13 years ago

Originally Posted by AidenChong

Hi WillDL,

Why do you have to call from a VOIP or faulty cell? Just calling from your office phone line, home phone line, or your business cellphone line would do. Did I mention that anyone has to be calling from lousy VOIP or a faulty cell, if I did, sorry for that. I didn't mean it.

Maybe the I was being a dump, and English really isn't my first language, so sorry if I gave anyone an impression of that I'm going to discuss the my prospective clients marketing tactics with their competitors. That was not what I meant.

I simply mean that if I were a website developer...that's what I would do...

Talk about myself calling up a competitors of my prospective clients, and then talking about some mild topics on their website monetization method, and website customer retention method (which can be seen by browsing anyone or any company's website, if a company doesn't want others to talk about it or see it, why put it up online? Anyone can spy on them that way)...

So I am not soliciting that we have to go out to every business under a same niche and stir the pot and create wars and warfares or anything along the line.

I don't know how to word it in the right way.

In this case, it's just purely something like a web developer who is talking with a business's competitors about their websites' outlook, and then suddenly the said business's competitors mention about the business's website, and everything was cut off from that point onwards.

Something like a semi-cold calling method in this case, which is oppose to what I'm offering under my sig

Anyway, WillDL, your suggestion about the best time to call businesses seems reasonable!

Thanks for sharing!

Aiden

I said faulty cell or low quality VOIP b/c you mentioned blaming the message cutting off on a faulty line. I actually do get a lot of calls from people on Skype. They are invariably difficult to understand, and often cut off unexpectedly. Unless it is an international call, who I give a pass, the only thing I think is they can't afford a real phone line. I don't particularly want to do business with someone who can't afford a $49.99 a month unlimited cell plan. If they had the skills I needed, they'd have more money.

No that isn't always true, but it is what every decision maker will decide.

As for the other point, no your message didn't imply a lack of discretion. Personal injury law, which is what the firm I work for does, is a viciously cut throat field. There is a lot of competition, and yes, we are paranoid about it.

But, we have had other firms try sneaky things to try to find out the specifics of our advertising strategies. More than one person we've outsourced work to as told me they've been offered cash for whatever specifics they could give about our campaigns. It's one of the big reasons I was offered a full time job when I made a good pitch. As a policy, if a new contractor mentions working with, or talking to, a competitor we don't contact them again.

I wasn't trying to say anything about you. I was just explaining how that specific strategy would be perceived, by me, in my current job.

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AidenChong

13 years ago

Ah, I know what you meant now. The "cut off unexpectedly" part was actually a purposely-done-part. The reason I (and some others that I learned this from) doing that was that they want people to call back.. Those who call back, would be the valuable prospective clients. Not a client yet, but a prospective client which is worth to follow up.

So that's why I said, it can be called from the company line, or home phone line or a detectable mobile phone line.

Ok thanks for sharing about your personal experience as well.

It's really an interesting insights from you.

Thanks for that.

Aiden

Originally Posted by WillDL

I said faulty cell or low quality VOIP b/c you mentioned blaming the message cutting off on a faulty line. I actually do get a lot of calls from people on Skype. They are invariably difficult to understand, and often cut off unexpectedly. Unless it is an international call, who I give a pass, the only thing I think is they can't afford a real phone line. I don't particularly want to do business with someone who can't afford a $49.99 a month unlimited cell plan. If they had the skills I needed, they'd have more money.

No that isn't always true, but it is what every decision maker will decide.

As for the other point, no your message didn't imply a lack of discretion. Personal injury law, which is what the firm I work for does, is a viciously cut throat field. There is a lot of competition, and yes, we are paranoid about it.

But, we have had other firms try sneaky things to try to find out the specifics of our advertising strategies. More than one person we've outsourced work to as told me they've been offered cash for whatever specifics they could give about our campaigns. It's one of the big reasons I was offered a full time job when I made a good pitch. As a policy, if a new contractor mentions working with, or talking to, a competitor we don't contact them again.

I wasn't trying to say anything about you. I was just explaining how that specific strategy would be perceived, by me, in my current job.

Thanks
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blissk

13 years ago

I don't worry too much about timing. As long as I am able to connect and have a meaningful dialogue - will connect with the decision maker eventually. Treat the gatekeeper like gold and like a decision maker and you will be surprised at how receptive they will be to connecting you to the right person.

-Anand

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rushindo

13 years ago

Originally Posted by blissk

I don't worry too much about timing. As long as I am able to connect and have a meaningful dialogue - will connect with the decision maker eventually. Treat the gatekeeper like gold and like a decision maker and you will be surprised at how receptive they will be to connecting you to the right person.

-Anand

Exactly. Gatekeepers are your best friend. Just go back to middle school. For those who were not brave enough to approach someone they liked, they approached their friend first. Same thing.

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rushindo 13 years ago

I don't post much, but the OP's question is the reason why I like calling businesses with dedicated gatekeepers (e.g. assistants, secretaries, etc). Yes, I actually like gatekeepers.

For the most part, I don't have to worry about if the business is "too busy" because part of the gatekeeper's job (sometimes their only job) is to answer phones, schedule appointments, answer questions, etc.

The OP's concern is the reason I chose to call businesses with gatekeepers. It sucks to only be able to call businesses one hour after they open, or one hour before the close, or whatever. That significantly cuts down on how many businesses I can call. Forget that.

Knowing how to talk to gatekeepers is another issue. But I love gatekeepers. I don't know what the fuss is all about in the sales world. It's like wanting to meet a girl (or guy) when you were younger and talking to his or her friend first before making your move.

Brandon
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Nic Lynn

13 years ago

Monday thorugh Wednesday, either just prior to or just after closing time.

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70chevelleSS

13 years ago

You're really over complicating things if you are worried in the beginning about the right time to call a business. You are thinking too much here. The best approach is to gather a good list, and hammer that list day in, and day out, until you get through to a person that can make a buying decision. Persistence is the answer, not time. You will run into plenty of rejection, but outside sales is always just a numbers game. The more dials you make, the more sales you will make, period. Obviously you have to have your pitch down, put persistence,agressiveness and refusal to accept no as a final answer will make all the difference in the world to you.

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AidenChong

13 years ago

Originally Posted by 70chevelleSS

You're really over complicating things if you are worried in the beginning about the right time to call a business. You are thinking too much here. The best approach is to gather a good list, and hammer that list day in, and day out, until you get through to a person that can make a buying decision. Persistence is the answer, not time. You will run into plenty of rejection, but outside sales is always just a numbers game. The more dials you make, the more sales you will make, period. Obviously you have to have your pitch down, put persistence,agressiveness and refusal to accept no as a final answer will make all the difference in the world to you.

The right time to call do play an important role, in some cases...

However, you're 100% right about the cold calling part...

Look at what John Durham has mentioned in this thread: http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...d-calling.html

To me, it's not the coolest way, but it's surely one of the best way to get businesses, if you can handle the rejections

Aiden

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