What Time of Day is Best for a Sales Call?

This story is fresh, because the call in question was this morning, a particularly dreary Monday morning. 9.30am.

The call was scheduled, and it was inbound. I have yet to find anyone who wants a 9.30am Monday morning cold call. But I’ll continue to work to find them.

Something that I have been working on since 1st February, a face-to-face appointment. Now scheduled, and confirmed for 2 weeks time. And qualified. There is business here.

There is not much I can give away in terms of industry of my client or the customer I spoke with on their behalf. This is all fresh and exciting. But my client is a start-up small business, with an enviable client list, and a track record for solutions and delivery. However, not a service you are likely to google to find, and not a straight forward pitch. The company I am talking to on their behalf, is a large multi-national, in a highly regulated sector.

Sales reminds me every day, that there are key ingredients to success, and this story illustrates a lot of them. So much so, that I am documenting the path to the appointment here as a reminder to myself, and possibly to encourage anyone looking through their prospect list on a Monday morning.

The key ingredients for Success in Sales

A great product/service, tenacity, respect, succinct communication, timely follow-up, and listening.

The Path – From a Cold Call to the Appointment

1st February – List of key companies per sector sourced online.

5th February – Initial call to main company number for email address for the right contact in each company

5th February – First email to sent directly to the contact I have. Short – some background on client company and website link

8th February – Call to main company number and left details for a call back

27th February – Call to main company number, declined the offer to leave details, but said I’d follow-up by email. New email with video link for this specific target market

8th March – Call to main company number. Will she know what it’s in connection with? Through to voicemail. Message left for a call back

29th March – Through to voicemail and details left with reception

4th April – Reviewed full prospect list. Decision made to send one final email to this contact before removing from list. The reasons for this are that my phone number and query is logged every time I call. I know that the contact has received my messages, but I have phoned more often than emailed.

17th April – A change in subject line to keep it very specific, and some personal contact in the email. Very little detail. I got a response to this email. An initial call scheduled for lunch-time the following day

18th April – First direct conversation with the potential customer. Very warm. She mentioned the number of times I had tried to make contact, and due to year-end commitments was unable to get back in touch. But certainly a service of interest, and had intended to get in touch with me as soon as year-end was complete. Call went well. I was asked to follow-up with a one-pager on everything we discussed. Follow-up written and sent that day. Note to ask for acknowledgement of document and to agree next steps. No response – 4 day Bank Holiday Weekend

24th April – I sent email asking if file had been received and to agree follow-up. Immediate response – follow-up call Monday 29th April 9.30am

29th April – Some definite requirements discussed. But risk that follow-up would be pushed out. A requirements document being suggested. I offered a face-to-face meeting with my client. More can be agreed and clarified in person, than in sharing documents. Agreed – scheduled, confirmed.

In this case it was 5 calls and 3 emails before there was any meaningful contact with the potential customer. An additional 3 emails and 1 call before the appointment. Total 6 calls and 6 emails.

But every call and email was different, and targeted, until the right one resonated.

There is real opportunity here, and the hardest work on the selling side is done.

Sales is never easy, and the reminders of the work involved are important so that next time around you’ll make the 6th call, send the 6th email, and make the connection with the right person. This could be a Monday morning at 9.30am or a Thursday lunch-time before a 4 day bank holiday weekend.

A reminder to never give up. (SalesLab.ie)