How to find businesses to cold call: build the list, time the calls, follow the rules

To find businesses to cold call, choose one trade in one area, list every business of that type from Google Maps with its phone number and opening hours, remove duplicates, and call during the hours when the owner is there but customers aren't. A good list has more than a phone number: the hours tell you when to call, the website and reviews give you something specific to say, and the category keeps your script relevant. Most US business-to-business calls are outside the National Do Not Call Registry, but autodialers, prerecorded or AI voices and texts to cell phones carry real legal risk.

What makes a good cold-calling list?#

A good list is narrow (one trade, one area), current (the phone works and the business is open) and has enough context to open the call with something true. These are the columns that matter:

Owner names are useful but rarely on a Maps listing. If you need them, see how to find the owner of a business. Otherwise ask for the owner by role ("Who handles your marketing?"), which works fine on small-business calls.

How do I build a list of businesses to call?#

Build it from Google Maps, one trade at a time, then clean it before you dial.

1. Choose one trade and one area. Plumbers in three counties, or dentists in one metro. One trade means one script you can improve.
2. Search every term for the trade. "Plumber", "plumbing contractor" and "drain cleaning" are different Google Maps categories and return different businesses.
3. Search in pieces. One Google Maps search shows only about 120 results, so search by neighborhood or ZIP code. See why Google Maps stops at 120 results.
4. Export to a spreadsheet with the columns above.
5. Remove duplicate phone numbers. Multi-location businesses often list one central number. Keep one row per number so you don't call the same office five times.
6. Remove businesses that are closed or have no hours listed and no recent reviews.
7. Sort by fit. Put the businesses that match your best customers first: similar size (reviews), the services you help with (website), and areas you serve.
8. Add your do-not-call list. Anyone who has asked you not to call again comes off before every session.

When is the best time to cold call a business?#

Call when the decision maker is on site and not serving customers. That depends on the trade, so use the listed hours and test a few windows.

These windows are starting points from common practice, not measured results. Log every call with the hour and outcome for two weeks, then shift your schedule toward the hours where you actually reach owners. Mind time zones: a list that spans Eastern and Pacific time needs two calling blocks. For residential numbers, the TCPA rules bar telephone solicitations before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. in the called party's time zone; it's a sensible outer limit for any call.

Worked example: how many numbers do you need?#

Assumptions, for illustration only, not measured: you call HVAC contractors, dialing by hand.

At an assumed 40 dials an hour, 400 numbers is 10 hours of calling for about six meetings, and most owners you don't reach need two or three more attempts on different days. Replace every assumed rate with your own after the first week. The number that matters most is meetings per hour of calling, by trade.

What are the rules for B2B cold calling in the US?#

Most business-to-business calls are exempt from the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) and the National Do Not Call Registry, but the exemption has limits and the TCPA applies separately. This is a summary, not legal advice.

The FTC Telemarketing Sales Rule#

• The B2B exemption. The FTC says most calls between a telemarketer and a business are exempt from the TSR.
• Exceptions. Calls to induce the retail sale of nondurable office or cleaning supplies are not exempt. Calls to business lines that pitch employees products for their own personal use are not exempt either.
• Since 2024, no misrepresentations. The FTC's 2024 amendments, effective May 16, 2024, apply the TSR's ban on misrepresentations to all B2B telemarketing. Don't misstate who you are, what you sell or what it costs. The same amendments confirm the TSR covers calls using AI-generated or cloned voices.

The National Do Not Call Registry#

The FTC states that the Registry is for personal phone numbers and that business numbers aren't covered. Two cautions: many sole traders list their personal cell as the business number, and anyone can ask you not to call again. Keep an internal do-not-call list and honor every request.

The TCPA and FCC rules#

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, enforced by the FCC, has no general business-to-business exemption for these points:

• Autodialers and artificial or prerecorded voices to cell phones need the called party's prior express consent; for telemarketing, prior express written consent (47 CFR 64.1200(a)).
• AI voices. In February 2024 the FCC ruled that AI-generated voices are "artificial" voices under the TCPA, so the same consent rules apply.
• Texts. The FCC's do-not-call rules apply to telemarketing texts to wireless numbers (47 CFR 64.1200(e)). Don't send cold marketing texts to numbers from a business listing.
• Calling hours. Telephone solicitations to residential subscribers are barred before 8 a.m. and after 9 p.m. local time (47 CFR 64.1200(c)(1)).

The safe default for a cold list: dial by hand, use a live person, no prerecorded messages, no texts without consent.

State laws#

Some states have their own telemarketing laws, registration requirements or rules on automated calls that go further than federal law, and some require every party's consent before you record a call. If you call into several states, check each one or ask a lawyer. Outside the US, rules differ: the UK's Corporate Telephone Preference Service lets businesses opt out of sales calls, and Canada runs its own National Do Not Call List rules.

Google's Maps Platform terms also restrict scraping and building lists from Maps content. That's a contract issue, separate from telemarketing law and from whether the data is public. See is scraping Google Maps legal.

What should I say? A cold call script#

Keep the opener short, say why you're calling them specifically, and ask a question that's easy to answer.

"Hi, is this {{business}}? ... My name is [Name] with [Company].
I'll be quick. I work with {{category}} businesses in {{city}} on
[one specific outcome, e.g. booking more maintenance calls in
the slow months].

I saw you've got {{reviews}} reviews on Google, so you're clearly
busy. Who handles that side of the business? ... Is now a bad time,
or do you have two minutes?"

If they're not interested:

"No problem. Should I take you off my list, or is it all right to
check back in a few months?"

If they say take me off, do it before the next call and don't call again. Write down what each person says; the objections you hear most often are your next script edit.

If you'd rather not build call lists by hand, Leadraft finds every business of a trade in the area you choose, with phone, hours and review columns, and never charges for businesses outside your area or in the wrong trade. Try it on the free plan, see how local sales teams use it, or look at sample exports for plumbers, HVAC contractors and restaurants.

FAQ#

How do I find businesses to cold call?#

Pick one trade and one area, search Google Maps for every business of that type, and export business name, phone, hours, website, category, rating and reviews to a spreadsheet. Remove duplicate phone numbers, sort by fit, and call during each business's quiet hours. A few hundred well-chosen numbers beat thousands of random ones.

Is it legal to cold call businesses in the US?#

Generally yes. Most business-to-business calls are exempt from the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule and the National Do Not Call Registry, which covers personal numbers. Exceptions: calls selling nondurable office or cleaning supplies are covered, and since 2024 the ban on misrepresentations applies to all B2B telemarketing. Autodialed or prerecorded calls and texts to cell phones need consent under the TCPA. State laws can add more. Get legal advice for your situation.

Do I need to check business numbers against the Do Not Call list?#

The FTC says the National Do Not Call Registry is for personal phone numbers and business numbers aren't covered. But many small businesses list an owner's personal cell as the business number, and some states have their own rules, so honor every request not to be called again and keep an internal do-not-call list.

What is the best time to cold call a small business?#

When the person who decides is there and not busy with customers. For trades that's often early morning before crews leave or late afternoon; for restaurants, mid-afternoon between lunch and dinner; for offices and clinics, mid-morning or mid-afternoon. Use the business's listed hours and test times on your own list.

Can I use an autodialer or text messages for B2B cold outreach?#

Be careful. Under the TCPA, calls made with an autodialer or an artificial or prerecorded voice to cell numbers need prior express consent, and telemarketing ones need prior express written consent, whether or not the person is a business. FCC rules apply the do-not-call protections to texts to wireless numbers, and the FCC has said AI-generated voices count as artificial voices. Dial by hand unless you have consent.

Sources#

1. Federal Trade Commission, Complying with the Telemarketing Sales Rule (B2B exemption; nondurable office and cleaning supplies; calls to employees).
2. Federal Register, Telemarketing Sales Rule final rule, 89 FR 26760 (April 16, 2024; misrepresentation ban extended to B2B calls, effective May 16, 2024).
3. Federal Trade Commission, National Do Not Call Registry FAQs ("Business phone numbers and fax lines are not covered").
4. 47 CFR 64.1200, Delivery restrictions (autodialed and prerecorded calls to cell phones; calling hours; texts to wireless numbers).
5. Federal Communications Commission, FCC Makes AI-Generated Voices in Robocalls Illegal (Declaratory Ruling FCC 24-17, February 2024).
6. Google, Google Maps Platform Terms of Service.
7. Leadraft, Lead fields reference (phone, phone_type, hours and the rest of the lead record).