It’s Wednesday – Is This the Best Day for Calling on Leads? NO!

Every salesperson schedules prospecting calls. If you have a choice, what day of the week is more productive than others? In a study sponsored by InsideSales.com and conducted by Dr. James Olroyd of MIT, Thursday is the best day of the week to call new prospects.

Tuesday is the worst day to call. In fact, calling on Thursday will give you a 49.7 percent better chance of reaching a prospect when compared to calling on Tuesday. Dr. Olroyd examined three years’ of data provided by six companies that generated and responded to more than 15,000 Web leads and more than 100,000 phone calls.

WHAT IS THE BEST TIME OF THE DAY TO CALL A PROSPECT?

Calling early and calling late in the day is more productive than calling during the dull period between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. The research showed the best times to call: 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

What’s interesting is that the early bird who calls between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. doesn’t get through to the prospect, but staying after 5 p.m. and calling until 6 p.m. will give you a definite edge over your competition.

How fast should you respond to Web leads?

Here is the best part of the research: The faster you respond to online leads, the more chances you’ll have of converting the lead into a qualified prospect.

The odds of contacting a lead decrease by more than 10 times in the first hour. The lesson: Call online leads within the first five minutes. Why? The prospect’s mind is still connected to your information universe. After an hour has passed, the prospect’s mind is already focused on other tasks.

The lesson: You snooze, you lose. Speed is the ultimate competitive advantage for turning leads into opportunities. For more interesting research sponsored by InsideSales.com, go to http://www.insidesales.com/research_papers.php

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Comments

[Charles Stanley]

Hello,

I don't have research of back my claim, but my gut feeling based upon 21 years in the Army and 10 in industry is to take action ASAP! In this case the issue is to respond to intersted parties quickly.

As stated in your article, you snooze, you loose :-)

Sincerly,
Chuck Stanley

[steven tilk]

Is there evidence or studies that show thata Mondays and Fridays are the worst day to make sales appointments?

[Michael Damphousse, Green Leads]

Gerhard,
I go back to this report every few months and always find tidbits of goodness. In fact, your article inspired me to write a blog post on it as well. This one is just an interesting observation on what the average work day should be for an outbound marketing telephone rep.

Lead Generation Tip - Take 3 Hour Lunches
http://www.damphousse.org/2009/09/lead-generation-tip-take-3-hour-lunches.html?sellingpower