As a salesperson, you might be wondering when is the best time to make sales calls. While you might be familiar with client meetings, cold calls, and presentations, you might not know exactly when is the best time to make a sales call that will help you close more deals and increase your revenue.
Some people say that the best time is during morning hours, while others claim that the evening is best. The truth of the matter is that it all depends on your industry and what works best for your clients! In this article, we’ll discuss some of the best times to make sales calls and how to create a winning sales strategy to close your next deal.
Spend Wednesdays and Thursdays Making Sales Calls
Regardless of the industry you’re in, the overall best days to call potential clients are on Wednesday and Thursday, according to a 2020 study. This is because these days are less likely to be full, allowing potential customers to have the time to listen to your pitch or give you time out of their day.
At the beginning of the week, workers are typically planning or trying to catch up on whatever was leftover from the week before. While the end of the week is usually spent finishing up tasks to leave for the weekend, meaning that they likely won’t want to spend time on the phone with a salesperson. The middle of the week allows for a sweet spot where you’re likely to have time to chat with your potential client.
Late Morning Between 10 am, and 11 am Is The Best Morning Time To Reach Prospects
While you might assume that contacting your client as soon as you get into the office will be the best time to make sales calls, the data says otherwise. The first part of anyone’s workday is usually spent settling in, catching up with coworkers, attending meetings, and answering e-mails, which is not the ideal time to speak with a salesperson.
According to RingDNA, the best time to make sales calls is between 10:00 am and 11:00 am. During this time, most workers are finishing up tasks before lunch or have already finished the most pressing issue of their day, making them more available to hop on a call or watch a presentation.
Late Afternoon Between 4 pm and 5 pm Is The Best Afternoon Time To Reach Prospects
If you’re unable to contact your prospects in the morning, you might want to consider the next best time to make sales calls, which is between 4 pm and 5 pm. This time is ideal because most people are finishing up their last hour of work and winding down on their tasks, making it the perfect time to hear from a salesperson.
The first few hours after lunch is usually focused time and will be spent on tasks that require attention and focus, meaning that you’ll have less of a chance to reach your prospect. Similarly, if an employee is working late, this is usually to catch up on work or get ahead on a future task, meaning they’re just as unlikely to answer or have time for a sales phone call.
Contact Leads Within The First Hour
If a lead reaches out to your company, it’s essential to follow up within the first hour to ensure that you close the deal. In a world where we thrive on instant gratification, potential customers want instant service and are looking for the fastest way to achieve their desired results. By answering their inquiry within the first hour, you demonstrate how speedy, and efficient your company is, increasing the chance that they’ll choose your company over your competitors.
Follow-Up Repeatedly
Do you stop following up with a lead after the first or second voicemail? If so, you might be losing out on a deal simply because you’re not repeatedly following up after initial contact. Potential buyers may be busy at your initial contact time, forget about your services, or not know enough about your company just yet to say yes. By continuing to show up, you’re giving potential buyers another chance to connect with your company.
According to Forbes, you should contact a lead at least four times. The key is to vary the type of communication so that your potential clients don’t become bored with your constant messages or accidentally screen them out due to excess voicemail spam. For example, you might start with a phone call, follow up with two e-mails, and finally, send a note through the mail.
9 Tips To Close The Deal
Knowing the best time to make sales calls and getting your client on the phone is only half of the battle. The next challenge will be convincing your client to close the deal and sign up for your product or service. So, how do you ensure you close the deal? Try out these tips to increase the likelihood of closing the deal.
Understand Your Product And Service Inside And Out
To best explain your product or service, you’ll need to understand what exactly it is that makes it stand out. You and your sales team should be able to describe the benefits of using your product or service in detail without needing a script. This means that there should be adequate time invested in learning about your product and its best uses so that you can adequately explain it to potential clients.
Ask Questions To Understand Customer Challenges
If you’re not asking questions to find out what specific challenges are stopping your client from signing up, then you’ll be missing a critical step in the sales process. Understanding exactly what is holding them back means that there’s more of an opportunity for your team to develop solutions and best practices with regard to using your product or service. In addition, your clients will feel heard by paying attention to their concerns rather than trying to sell immediately.
For example, you might ask questions like, “What’s your biggest problem in the X industry that you face every day?” or “Do you find it easy to accomplish x,y, and z?”
Offer A Free Trial Or Demo
A great way to close a deal is by offering your clients an opportunity to try out your service before actually purchasing it. Through this process, they’ll be able to test out how well your company responds and performs in their specific situation so that they’re not taking any risks just signing up without trying first.
By giving potential buyers free access, you provide them with the benefit of choosing your business over another competitor. This means they will feel that there is less risk if they want to sign on with your company.
Be Able To Answer Questions Honestly
Clients will be able to tell when you’re trying to sell them. Therefore, it’s best that your team are honest with their responses, even if it means they may not sign up immediately after the call is over. By being completely open and transparent about what you can offer in terms of products or services, potential clients will feel more confident signing on for your business because they know exactly what they’ll gain from using your product or service, instead of feeling forced into a sale.
Understand Your Competition And How You’re Different
To best win over potential clients, you should have a strong understanding of the other companies in your industry. This means that you’ll need to know what makes them different from you and how they might be better at serving their customers compared to your company.
You may even find it beneficial or necessary to invest time learning more about these companies so that when a client asks questions, you’re able to provide complete answers rather than just trying to sell immediately.
Customize Your Approach To The Specific Company Or Person
With some businesses, you’ll need to take more of a casual approach, while others may require a more severe and strict tone. To best appeal to your client’s needs, there should be an individualized plan in place for each potential customer. This means tailoring the sales pitch so that they gain from using your product or service as much as possible without feeling uncomfortable with their decision or wasting time on unnecessary steps along the way.
Practice Your Voicemails
Before you make your sales calls, it’s best to practice how you’ll introduce yourself and what you’re going for. This means making sure that the message is short and easy to understand so that potential customers will be able to respond best when they hear from you. Make sure to include who you are, why you’re calling, and how they can get in touch with you. Don’t go into a lengthy sales pitch. Instead, keep it simple to understand and make your potential clients want to call you back.
Make Notes During Your Conversations
This should be a no-brainer, but it’s best to take note of specific key points that are brought up during the conversation. This means taking down specific questions you were asked or any other important information so that your team can have an easier time making sales in the future. If the client mentioned anything particularly beneficial, this is also useful for determining how best to market yourself and your business moving forward, so potential customers will recognize what makes you better than others.
This will also help to ensure that you’re not repeating information or not understanding your customers’ needs. Remembering these details builds the connection you need with your clients.
Follow Up Via E-mail After Your Call
Once you’ve finished speaking with your potential clients, it’s best to follow up via e-mail so that they have a way of getting in touch with you if necessary. This means including all the critical information about what was discussed during the call and how best to contact you should any questions arise after reading over the information sent through e-mail or listening back to voicemails.
You can also include different options for them based on which best suits their needs at the time, whether this is by phone, text message, or e-mail. Whichever method works best for them will help ensure that as many people as possible can get in touch with your company when needed. You can also use this space to schedule a follow-up call or provide easy ways for your customers to purchase your product.
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