The Best Time to Call Small Business Owners

The same script can go great at 7:30 in the morning and terribly at noon. When you call matters almost as much as what you say, because small business owners aren't sitting at a desk waiting for the phone. They're on a roof, behind a chair, in a kitchen, or driving.

The general rule: call when they're between work, not in the middle of it. What that means depends on the business.

Trades: early morning and late afternoon

Plumbers, electricians, roofers, HVAC techs, painters, landscapers and general contractors usually start early and are on job sites most of the day.

Good windows:

• Early morning, before the first job. Many trades are up and organizing the day around 7 or 7:30. A short call then catches them before they're on a ladder.
• Late afternoon, roughly 3:30 to 5:30, when jobs wrap up and they're driving back or doing paperwork.

Avoid:

• Mid-morning through early afternoon, when they're most likely mid-job.
• Right at quitting time on Friday.

Expect a lot of voicemails with trades no matter when you call. That's just how their days work. A good voicemail helps; see the voicemail script.

Restaurants, cafes and food trucks: between the rushes

Restaurants have the most predictable schedule of anyone, and it's very unforgiving if you get it wrong.

Good windows:

• Mid-afternoon, roughly 2 to 4, between lunch and dinner. This is usually the best time by far.
• Mid-morning, before lunch prep gets intense, for places that open for lunch.

Avoid:

• 11:30 to 1:30 (lunch rush)
• 5 to 8 (dinner rush)
• Friday and Saturday evenings, completely

Food trucks often post their schedules online. Call on days they're not out serving, or in the morning before they head out. The restaurant guide has more on this industry.

Bakeries and coffee shops: late morning to early afternoon

They start very early and the morning rush is busy.

Good windows:

• Late morning, after the breakfast crowd thins
• Early afternoon on weekdays

Avoid: first thing in the morning and weekend mornings.

Salons, barbershops and nail salons: slow weekdays

These businesses are booked by appointment, so it's less about the hour and more about the day.

Good windows:

• Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, which are often slower than Fridays and Saturdays
• Right at opening, before the first client sits down

Avoid:

• Saturdays
• Evenings, when many are busiest with after-work appointments

For storefronts like these, walking in during a slow stretch can work even better than calling.

Dentists, chiropractors and other offices: mid-morning or mid-afternoon

Professional offices have a front desk, so you'll usually reach a receptionist first. The goal is to reach someone who has a minute.

Good windows:

• Mid-morning, after the opening rush of check-ins
• Mid-afternoon

Avoid: the first half hour after opening, lunchtime (often closed or short-staffed), and the last half hour of the day.

Ask the receptionist when the owner or office manager is usually free, and call back then.

Gyms and fitness studios: mid-morning and early afternoon

Gyms are busy early morning and after work.

Good windows: mid-morning and early afternoon on weekdays.

Avoid: early morning and evening class times.

Cleaning services, pet groomers and other service businesses

These vary, but many work a regular daytime schedule out in the field or with appointments.

Good windows: early morning or late afternoon, like the trades.

Avoid: midday.

Days of the week

Some loose patterns that hold up across a lot of businesses:

• Monday morning is often hectic: catching up on the weekend, scheduling the week. Later Monday is usually fine.
• Tuesday through Thursday are reliable for most businesses.
• Friday afternoon owners are often wrapping up or already mentally done.
• Weekends are usually off-limits for trades and offices, and the busiest time for restaurants and salons. Avoid them.

Times that are always a bad idea

• Before 7 a.m. or after 8 p.m. local time, regardless of the business. It's intrusive, and many places have rules about calling hours.
• Holidays and the days right around them.
• During obvious local events, like a big storm, when trades are slammed with emergency work.

Stick to normal business hours as your outer limit, every time.

Check their time zone

If you're calling outside your area, check where the business is. A 4 p.m. call from your end could be 7 a.m. or 1 p.m. for them. This sounds obvious until you make the mistake once.

Find your own best times

Everything above is a starting point, not a rule. Your area, your trade mix and your own schedule all change things. The best way to know is to track it.

In your call sheet, note the time and day of every call and whether you reached a person. After a few weeks, look at the pattern. You might find that your landscapers pick up at 7:15 and nobody answers at 7:45, or that a certain bakery always picks up at 1:30.

Then plan your calling blocks around what your own notes say.

Make every good window count

When you've got a good window, be ready:

• Previews already built for the businesses you're calling
• The script open (the cold calling script works well)
• Your list sorted by who should be called in this window
• Follow-ups due today at the top (see the follow-up guide)

Don't spend a good calling window building previews or looking up phone numbers. Do that the night before.

Rover helps with that prep. It builds the preview and writes the script for each business ahead of time, so your calling block is just calling.