I’m often asked the best times to make cold calls. Here’s how I respond.

Particularly if you are calling C-level executives, try calling when their gatekeepers are not there. Try 7am before the gatekeeper arrives, at lunch time when the gatekeeper is gone and after 6pm. Executives don’t become executives by working nine to five.

If you’re calling business owners, additionally try Saturday mornings. (You’ll pretty much catch me in the office.) Worst case, when you leave a message, they’ll realize you’re like them and working hard to get ahead.

In virtually every business, there are better times than others, and they vary. When I first got in the sales training business, I convinced myself that all sales managers were in sales meetings every Monday morning until one Monday I didn’t have anything else to do and started making calls. Much to my surprise, senior sales managers are very available on Monday mornings because their minions are all in those pipeline review sessions, not them. Keep track of the times you call and success you have. You’ll find patterns.