When should you call a sales prospect? Is there a certain day that your sales team is likely to be more successful in reaching prospects? Best time of day? How quickly should your sales staff attempt to contact prospects?
InsideSales.com’s CMO Mick Hollison shared insight into these questions in a webinar late last year that discussed strategies to accelerate sales. Now, other companies may have different data based on their target market, but Hollison provides a starting point for new companies and businesses revamping their sales processes.
Hollison’s team found that the most promising days of the week to initiate contact were Wednesday and Thursday. But even more important than a specific day was the time of day.
“Time of day to make contact makes a big deal in the success,” the CMO said. “The best times to contact [a prospect] are between 8-9 a.m. and 4-5 p.m. in that time zone.”
Here’s his chart of success:
The most startling information Hollison shared dealt with the impact of immediacy. While he echoed the emphasis of a tailored message that his co-presenter Lori Wizdo stressed, his experience also demonstrated the importance of an immediate response to sales prospects.
“Contact rates dropped drastically after just five minutes,” Hollison explained. The window of opportunity businesses have to connect with customers is very tight. He added, “While a lot of companies think they do this very well, most respond on average within 48 hours.”
Looking at his chart, it seems that responding to sales prospects within 48 hours isn’t going to set up your company for success.
However, if you miss the boat with the initial contact of a prospect, hope is not lost.
“Great persistence when reaching a contact is every bit as important as immediacy,” Hollison explained before disclosing that he found it took between six and nine call attempts to successfully reach a prospect.
Bonus tip: If you have a national customer base, Hollis recommends rerouting the calls through local numbers. He’s found that his team has higher success rates when the prospect sees a local area code on their phone.
What metrics about contacting sales prospects do you find useful?
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