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One of the most popular myths surviving from the old-school days of sales training is the idea that you will have a better chance of reaching business prospects if you try calling either early in the morning or in the late afternoon, after regular business hours have ended. The theory behind this myth is that, because the receptionist and other gatekeepers are gone, the business owner will personally answer the phone himself.

As a business owner myself, I can tell you that this idea is a ridiculous idea that will only waste your time and make you even more frustrated with cold calling.

First of all, this idea dates back to the seventies and eighties, before voice mail existed. In those days, a business owner would occasionally pick up the phone because it would simply go on ringing if he didn't. Nowadays, phones are forwarded to voice mail outside of regular business hours. They usually don't even ring at all.

Secondly, if a business owner is in the office early or late, it's because he's trying to get a jump on the day and be productive without anyone or anything else in the office to distract him. As a result, he surely isn't going to answer the phone, or for that matter, take the phones off voice mail so they will ring. Chances are, the phone on his desk is turned off during this private productive time. And if you do manage to get the owner on the phone when he doesn't want to be disturbed, you greatly increase your chances of annoying him with your cold call, even more so than cold calls already annoy people.

Finally, if your funnel is so empty that you are resorting to the before- and after-hours tactic to drum up new business, you need to step back and take a look at the bigger picture. If you're in that situation, you definitely are lacking an effective lead-generation system. If you had one you wouldn't need to cold call at all, let alone early and late in the day! Self-marketing is the answer ... trying to call a business owner at seven in the morning is not.