What is the best time of day to call sales leads?

The hour that lead answers. I've read the studies, and every one of them crowns a different hour measured on someone else's list. A roofer and a dentist pick up at completely different times, so I rotate three call blocks a day across the first five days and write down when each lead answered. Three weeks of your own notes will tell you more than any chart.

What hours are you legally allowed to call sales leads?

The federal rule under the TCPA is 8 AM to 9 PM in the lead's local time, and some states cut that window tighter, so check yours. That's their clock, so if you're in Ohio calling California your 9 AM is their 6 AM. I keep my own calls between 8 and 8. A legal call at 8:45 at night to someone putting kids to bed still goes about how you'd expect.

How many times should you call a new lead in the first week?

I call 2 or 3 times a day for the first five days, and the times move every day. Day one is 9, 12 and 5. Day two is 10, 1 and 6. Day three is 11, 2 and 7. Day four is 8, 11 and 3. Day five is 10:30, 1:30 and 5:30, all in the lead's time zone. One voicemail a day, on the first attempt, and let the other two ring out.

How long should you keep calling a lead who doesn't answer?

Out to day 31 at least. After the five-day sprint, my leads get one more call on each of days 8, 10, 15, 21, 28 and 31, at whatever hour I haven't tried on them yet. The lead who answers on day 21 was never going to answer on day 2. They weren't ready, and the follow-up is what makes you the one they call when they are.

follow-up · prospecting ·Oct 30, 2026

The Best Time to Call Sales Leads (And the Rotation I Use)

by Drewbie Wilson

You've called this lead three times this week. Three voicemails... three nothings.

So you do what every rep eventually does. You open a search for the best time to call sales leads and hope someone out there has found the magic hour.

I've read those pages. Every one of them crowns a different hour, and every one of them measured a stranger's list, in a stranger's industry, with a stranger's number lighting up the screen. Your leads weren't in any of those studies.

I rotate through the whole day on purpose, and I write down when people pick up. That's the whole method, and the exact rotation is below so you can run it Monday.

Key Takeaways

The best time to call a sales lead is the hour that lead answers, and you only learn it by calling at different times and keeping score.
The federal rule under the TCPA is 8 AM to 9 PM in the lead's local time, and some states cut it tighter. I keep my own window at 8 to 8.
Days 1 through 5, call 2 or 3 times a day on a rotation: 9, 12 and 5 on day one, then 10, 1 and 6, then 11, 2 and 7, then 8, 11 and 3, then 10:30, 1:30 and 5:30.
After the first week, one call on each of days 8, 10, 15, 21, 28 and 31, at whatever hour you haven't tried on them yet.
Log every attempt. Three weeks of your own notes beat any study written about someone else's leads.

Is there a best time of day to call sales leads?

The biggest thing that decides whether a lead picks up is whether they know who's calling. I laid that out in how to get leads to answer the phone, and nothing here changes it. A number they recognize gets answered at 9 in the morning and at 4 in the afternoon. A number they don't gets ignored at both.

Once they know your name, though, the hour still matters. It decides whether the phone's in their hand or sitting in the truck while they're up on a roof.

And the hour that works is different for every lead. A roofer and a dentist are reachable at completely different times of day, and you don't know which one you've got until you've tried a few.

The best time to call a sales lead is the time that lead answers, and you find it by calling at different times and writing down what happened.

What hours can you legally call a lead?

Before you build any rotation, there's a fence to know. The federal rule under the TCPA (the Telephone Consumer Protection Act) is 8 AM to 9 PM in the lead's local time. It's their clock and their time zone. Some states tighten that window, so check yours before you set the blocks.

I keep my own calls between 8 and 8. A call at 8:45 at night to someone who's putting kids to bed is legal, and it still goes about how you'd expect!

If you're in Ohio dialing a list in California, your 9 AM is their 6 AM. Build the rotation on their clock, every time.

The call rotation I use for days 1 through 5

Drewbie Wilson at a wooden desk with a phone to his ear, eyebrows raised mid-sentence, lead sheets fanned out behind him with a red check mark on the front one — Three blocks a day, a different hour every day, and the sheet gets a check when they pick up.

A new lead gets 2 or 3 calls a day for the first five days, and the times move every day so you're never hitting the same wall twice. This is the exact rotation I use, in the lead's time zone:

Day 1: 9 AM, 12 PM, 5 PM
Day 2: 10 AM, 1 PM, 6 PM
Day 3: 11 AM, 2 PM, 7 PM
Day 4: 8 AM, 11 AM, 3 PM
Day 5: 10:30 AM, 1:30 PM, 5:30 PM

Look at what one week covers. First thing in the morning, mid-morning, lunch, early afternoon, after work and into the evening all get a shot, and the half-hour slots on day 5 catch the people who are always in a meeting on the hour.

Those three calls a day are blocks on my calendar, the same way I laid it out in the daily process from list to booked appointment. I don't consider something a priority unless it's on the calendar.

Run your whole list through the same rotation and the blocks are where your 100 attempts come from. That's the 100/10/2 standard: 100 attempts, 10 serious conversations, and 2 closes or 2 deals added to the pipeline. The rotation's how the first number gets hit without you thinking about it.

What to do when the rotation hits voicemail

A lot of those dials are going to ring out. That's fine... the rotation is built for it.

Leave one voicemail a day, on the first attempt, and make it the short one from the sales voicemail that gets a callback. Under 20 seconds, with one reason to call back. Let the other two attempts ring and hang up. Three voicemails in a day from the same number reads like desperation, and desperation doesn't get callbacks.

After the second call of the day, send a text. Call twice, then text, so your name shows up in two places on their phone by lunch. The follow-up text templates post has the exact ones.

And when they do call you back at 4:15, write that down. You just learned something no study could've told you.

Days 8 through 31: the follow-up calls most reps never make

Day 5 ends, the lead's still quiet, and that's where most reps file them under dead.

Mine get one more call on each of days 8, 10, 15, 21, 28 and 31. The hour on those days is whenever, and I mean that. Pick a block you haven't tried on them yet, or the one they texted back from.

Years ago, back in the insurance business, I had a lead that came in before the agency had even opened its doors. He got a letter from me every other month for more than four years. Then one day he walked in with the whole stack of them, and his policies were written an hour later.

Four years of letters is a long rotation. Thirty-one days of calls is nothing next to that, and the lead who answers on day 21 was never going to answer on day 2. They weren't ready yet. The follow-up is what made you the one they called when they were.

Write down the hour they answered

Diary of a Damn Closer paperback lying at an angle on grey weathered deck boards, black cover with gold title and the Call The Damn Leads box — The hour they picked up goes on paper, so it's in your hand the next morning.

Every attempt in the rotation gets one line: the day, the time and what happened. Rang out. Voicemail. Wrong number. Picked up, call back Thursday.

Do that for three weeks and you'll have your own answer to the question you searched for today, built on your list and your leads. Maybe your roofers pick up before 8 and your office managers after 4. Three weeks from now you'll know, in your own handwriting.

That's why I built Diary of a Damn Closer. It's a daily page for your attempts, your conversations and your closes, so the hour they picked up is on paper and in your hand the next morning. Signed paperback, $30.

A notebook from the gas station works too, if you'll open it every morning.

Pick the row you haven't run on them yet. Put the three blocks on tomorrow's calendar, in their time zone, and CALL THE DAMN LEADS!