I am going to shock some of you who follow my blog and I may even lose some of you, but did you know there was a time before the Internet, iPhones and laptops and some of us actually lived and worked, during those days. In those dark ages, there were set times where commerce actually occurred and we were expected to work those set hours. However, in today’s’ technological global world, all of that has changed.
There are no longer any set times for commerce and therefore, by that simple fact, our work hours have changed dramatically. However, what we need to discover is, have we changed to meet the needs of the people who we need to communicate with? In other words, did we come out of the ‘dark ages’?
What are you doing at 7:00 am? Myself, I deal with business owners and Presidents of companies and many times, if not every day, I am on the phone talking to someone at that hour. Why? The main reason is that it meets their schedule and when they get to work, they are immersed into their obligations and responsibilities of the company to the point that talking about coaching and training will distract them from those functions. After all, one of the value components that I have is to make their people more efficient, effective and productive. Would I not break that value if I was to make them less efficient, productive and effective?
Another reason that I love the early call, is that I have them fresh without anything else that may be distracting from the conversation that we need to have.
How do I get them to agree to the early call? It’s a lot easier than you may think; I ask! You would be surprised by how many are shocked that I would do this outside of the ‘normal business hours.’ I can’t also tell you how many are so thankful that I would do the early call. Also, for those that have yet to be comfortable doing cold calls, which we can easily solve in The Action Suite, and are uncomfortable dealing with the infamous and notorious ‘gatekeeper’, they are not at work this early. Most executives will pick up the call if there is no one else there to take it.
Here is another question to ask yourself; what are you doing after ‘work’? Again, there are times where I have contacted people as late as 7:00 pm. Why? Again, for the same reasons why I arrange 7:00 am calls? There are no distractions, they can focus on what we need to talk about. In other words, we are both relaxed and can have an effective, efficient and productive call.
Also, are you really using these evening hours to your benefit? I tend to go to different networking meetings or regular ones that have proven to be productive for me. I do NOT sit around all evening watching TV. If your business is reliant on meeting new people and businesses, then, the question becomes, why are you not at these networking events?
These are just two different times for doing business. How about mid-morning, lunch and mid-afternoon? More business is conducted during a coffee or lunch than at an office today. Make sure that you have a clear agenda, as your time will be limited and in their control. You control the environment and that is that it is outside their workplace; therefore, eliminating the distraction and focus on what you want to accomplish is increased.
Yes, work does get done between 9 and 5, but business can be more effective, efficient and productive before and after those hours.