The best time to call leads: how to find the hours when people pick up
Anyone who has made sales calls knows the feeling: on the same list, at one hour almost nobody answers and at another they pick up one after the other. There is an answer to "when should I call", but it is in your own data and not in a general table from the internet.
Why no single hour is right for everyone
Business owners pick up at different hours from employees. Consumers pick up at different hours from business customers. The industry matters too: a restaurant owner is free in the morning and not at lunch, and an office manager is exactly the opposite. Any general rule of thumb is a starting point, not an answer.
The number to watch: answer rate by hour
Answer rate is the number of calls that were answered divided by the number of calls made. When you work it out for each hour of the day separately, the picture clears up quickly. You do not need months of data: a few hundred calls spread across the day are enough to see a trend.
The outbound report of ENIGMA Voice Bot has a "Best hours to call" chart that shows, for each hour, how many calls were made and how many were answered, and names the hour with the highest answer rate.
How to run the test
- Week one: spread the calls evenly over all the hours you are allowed to call.
- End of the week: look at the answer rate of each hour, not only at the number of calls.
- Week two: put most of the calls into the three or four best hours.
- Keep measuring. Habits change between seasons and between audiences.
Not only the hour: the day, and the speed
Days of the week behave differently from each other, and they are worth checking too. But the factor that is easiest to control is speed: a lead who left their details an hour ago picks up far more often than one who left them a week ago. If you get new leads every day, call them the same day.
Retries
Most leads do not answer on the first try, and it does not mean they are not interested. Decide in advance on two or three tries, each at a different hour of the day. More than that starts to bother people and hurts the name of the business.
And the hours you must not call
The best calling hours have to sit inside the allowed hours. Many places restrict the hours of marketing calls, and common sense adds a few more: not early in the morning, not late in the evening, not on holidays. See the rules of automated calling.
Questions and answers
How many calls do I need to know the best hour?
There is no magic number, but with a few dozen calls for each hour you already see clear differences. With fewer, the differences can be chance.
My answer rate is low at every hour. What now?
Check the quality of the list (old or wrong numbers) and the number you are calling from. A number flagged as spam will not be answered at any hour.
Is it worth calling in the evening?
For consumers the evening is often a good time, as long as you stay inside the allowed and reasonable hours.
See it working on your own leads
ENIGMA Voice Bot calls the leads in your file, rates each one from 1 to 5 and keeps the recording and the transcript of every call.