Cold Calling US and UK Clients from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh: A Playbook for Agencies
When to call the US and UK from PKT, IST and BDT, how many calls a day, a script that works for IT services, and the rules to respect.
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B2B cold calling still works for software houses and agencies in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh that want US and UK clients, but only when the basics are right: calling during the prospect's office hours, from a number they recognise, to a list that fits your service, with a short script that earns a second conversation. This playbook covers each of those, with the exact calling hours for your time zone.
Why cold calling still wins clients for agencies
Most US and UK business owners get dozens of cold emails a week and answer almost none. A phone call is different: it reaches a person, and in two minutes you learn whether there is a need, a budget and a decision maker. For a software house that sells projects worth thousands of dollars, a handful of good conversations a week is enough to fill a pipeline. The agencies that do well treat calling as a daily routine, not a campaign they try once.
When to call: the hours that matter in PKT, IST and BDT
Call business owners between 9am and 5pm their time. Late morning and mid-afternoon tend to be best; avoid the first hour of the day and lunch. Here is what those office hours mean where your team sits.
November to early March (US on standard time, UK on GMT):
| Prospect office hours (9am–5pm) | Pakistan (PKT) | India (IST) | Bangladesh (BDT) |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK | 2pm–10pm | 2:30pm–10:30pm | 3pm–11pm |
| US East Coast (New York, Florida) | 7pm–3am | 7:30pm–3:30am | 8pm–4am |
| US Central (Texas, Chicago) | 8pm–4am | 8:30pm–4:30am | 9pm–5am |
| US West Coast (California) | 10pm–6am | 10:30pm–6:30am | 11pm–7am |
March to early November(US daylight saving time, UK British Summer Time): Pakistan, India and Bangladesh don't change their clocks, so every window above starts one hour earlier. For example, the US East Coast becomes 6pm–2am in Pakistan. The US and UK change their clocks on different dates, so for a week or two in March and in late October or early November one of them is shifted and the other is not. Check before planning shifts.
A practical shift for a team in Lahore or Karachi: UK calls from 3pm to 7pm, then US East Coast and Central calls from 7pm to 11pm or midnight. That covers the two biggest markets without overnight work. Leave the West Coast to one night caller or skip it.
Who to call: building a list that fits your service
- Pick one niche per list."Dental clinics in Texas without online booking" converts far better than "US small businesses". The narrower the list, the sharper the pitch.
- Call the decision maker's line. For small businesses that is often the main number and the owner; for larger firms, find the head of marketing, operations or IT.
- Look for a visible problem. A slow or dated website, no mobile site, poor Google reviews, an app with bad ratings. Your call opens with what you noticed, not with what you sell.
- Keep the list in a CSV with phone, name, company and website columns. Most lead tools export this, and the callmins Auto Dialer imports it directly.
What to say: a cold calling script for IT and marketing services
Scripts fail when they sound read. Use this as a structure and say it in your own words.
- Opener (10 seconds)."Hi Sarah, this is Ali from Bright Pixel. I'll be brief: I was looking at Smile Dental's website on my phone and the booking button doesn't work. Is that something you're aware of?"
- Reason (15 seconds)."We build and fix sites for dental practices; most of our clients are in the US. The ones who added online booking got more appointments in the first month." Only claim results you can show.
- Question."How do most new patients book with you at the moment?" Then listen. The aim of the first call is a conversation, not a sale.
- Ask for a small next step."Could I send a two-minute video showing what I found, and we talk for fifteen minutes on Thursday?"
Handle the common brush-offs calmly. "Send me an email" means "I'm busy": agree, and ask one question that makes the email worth opening. "We have a developer" is often true; ask what they would change if the developer had more time. "Where are you based?" deserves a straight answer. Plenty of US companies work with teams in Lahore, Bengaluru and Dhaka; what they want to hear is how you handle time zones and communication.
How many calls a day, and what to measure
With a dialer that moves to the next lead automatically, one caller can make 60 to 100 dials in a four to five hour shift. Track three numbers per caller per day:
- Dials: effort.
- Conversations: calls where you spoke to the right person.
- Meetings booked: what actually pays.
If conversations are low, fix the list or the calling hours. If conversations are fine but meetings are low, fix the opener and the ask. Reading call transcripts each week shows exactly where calls go wrong.
Your phone setup: local caller ID and a team wallet
Prospects in the US answer US numbers. Give each caller a US +1 number ($2.00/month, no setup fee) or a UK +44 number for British lists, and call from the browser. On callmins, calls to the US cost about 1.68¢ a minute, paid from a prepaid wallet with no per-seat fee. A company accountputs the whole team on one wallet and shows the manager each caller's calls, talk time and transcripts. The cold call dialer guide walks through the setup step by step.
Rules to respect when calling the US and UK
- US:business-to-business calls are allowed, but many small business numbers are owners' mobiles. Check the National Do Not Call Registry for those, don't send pre-recorded or artificial-voice calls without consent, and call only during reasonable hours.
- UK:don't make sales calls to businesses registered with the Corporate Telephone Preference Service (CTPS), or to sole traders on the TPS, unless they've agreed to hear from you.
- Everywhere:say who you are and which company you represent, honour "don't call again" straight away (mark the lead as Do not call), and tell people if calls are recorded or transcribed.
This is general guidance, not legal advice. If calling is central to your business, check the current rules for each market.
Common questions
What is the best time to cold call US businesses from Pakistan?
Call between 9am and 5pm in the prospect's own time zone, avoiding their lunch hour. From November to early March that is 7pm to 3am Pakistan time for the US East Coast and 10pm to 6am for the West Coast. From March to early November, when the US is on daylight saving time, each window starts one hour earlier in Pakistan.
What is the best time to cold call UK businesses from India?
UK office hours, 9am to 5pm, fall between 2:30pm and 10:30pm India time from late October to late March, and between 1:30pm and 9:30pm from late March to late October, when the UK is on British Summer Time.
How many cold calls should one caller make a day?
A focused caller with a dialer usually makes 60 to 100 dials in a four to five hour shift. Expect most to go unanswered; what matters is the number of real conversations, and from those, booked meetings. Track all three every day.
Is cold calling businesses in the US and UK legal?
Business-to-business sales calls are allowed in both countries, with rules. In the US, check the National Do Not Call Registry for numbers that may be personal phones, and don't use pre-recorded or robocall messages without consent. In the UK, don't call businesses registered with the Corporate Telephone Preference Service (CTPS) or people on the TPS. Always identify your company, and stop calling anyone who asks you to. This is general guidance, not legal advice.
Should we call from a Pakistani, Indian or Bangladeshi number?
Use a number from the prospect's country. A US +1 number ($2.00/month, no setup fee on callmins) or a UK +44 number gets far more answers than an international number, and prospects can call it back.
The short version
- Call during the prospect's office hours: UK in your afternoon, the US East Coast in your evening.
- One niche per list, and open with a problem you noticed.
- Measure dials, conversations and meetings for every caller, every day.
- Call from a US or UK number, and respect the do-not-call lists.