Power HoursBefore we go further, if you have not read Seth Godin's Linchpin; Are You Indispensible? go for it! Insightful, energizing and inspirational. With this book, you can start anywhere - we recommend beginning with the chapter on Resistance.

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For most of the summer, we've been hammering on the theme of managing your calendar for purposes of outbound client and prospect contact. Getting through all of the noise and those immense internal and external distractions.

Here's another idea – Power Hours:

Block the calendar for the entire team - and yes, this includes owners and managers at all levels. Starting from what could be possible; can the entire team be simultaneously focused on making outbound contacts for one hour per week? That's together as a team. We're not suggesting that this take place in the same room, although we've seen that as well.

Make this real simple: "Each Thursday from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m., we're having an enterprise wide power hour of contacting our prospects, clients, lead sources, agents, brokers, wholesalers, distributors, etc."

Before you ask: what do you consider a contact? We've become more liberal in our advancing years and will accept out bound contacts that include phone calls, emails, faxes, text messages and communication via social media sites. We will still not accept contact by telepathy!

The power hour is not a substitute for your routine contacts already underway; this is an "all hands" project that will result in new sales, better retention, early warning of existing accounts in jeopardy, renewing old relationships and strengthening new ones. Hey, it might even improve morale and create camaraderie within your firm - who couldn't use more of that in these times?

Human nature being what it is, we'll usually start with the easiest people to contact. That's fine, go for it. As the weeks go by, you'll have to dig a bit deeper for the next round of folks to contact.

We promise you this, after three months of Power Hours, you will think that you've always done it this way and that you invented this yourself. This is how professional adults learn to incorporate a new idea into day to day routines. Make this a new routine.

Now it's time to negotiate with your resistance. Go ahead, take a leap and commence the Power Hours with your team.

...and read Seth Godin's Linchpin - start with the chapter on Resistance.

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