Freelancer cold calling: Best days, best times

Dr. Freelance: Thanks for your recent post on cold calling for freelancers (and the recommendation for the Well-Fed Writer, which I plan to read). However, I am at a loss as to when it’s best to make the calls. Can can suggest a day of the week as well as time of day that would increase my odds of success?—Warming Up to the Idea

Warming Up: My personal experience has been that early mornings (8-10 a.m.) and midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) are the cold calling best days and times. Mondays are a bust because potential clients are getting their weeks started, and Fridays are no good because their brains are elsewhere—and mine is, too! I like morning calls because I’m a morning person; so, it facilitates connecting with a like-minded soul.

I did a bit of research, and found that the science backs me up, and adds a couple of additional strategies. This article from Sales Machine, “What’s the best time to cold call?” cites a study done by Dr. James Oldroyd from the Kellogg School of Management, who analyzed more than a million cold calls, made by thousands of sales professionals inside around 50 companies.

His conclusions about cold calling best days and times:

• Thursdays and Wednesdays are far and away the best days to call.
• Interestingly enough, Tuesday is the worst. (Contrary to my anecdotal experience.)
• 4-6 p.m. is the best time to call, followed by 8-10 a.m.
• The worst time span is 11 a.m-3 p.m.

I did come across one article that advised calling at 11:59 a.m. with a very brief “Magic Minute” call. The author’s reasoning is that you’re catching a prospect when she’s stopped working and is therefore receptive to a call. Haven’t tried that one, but may be worth an experiment!