There are two times of the year when people are more open to change than any other—the beginning of a new year and the beginning of a school year.

Vacations are over and people are getting serious about their work again. Carpe diem! Make sure you are rolling out an important standard of performance in the few weeks following Labor Day. Choose wisely, as this time period creates exponential performance possibilities.

Consider rolling out a "Break Preoccupation with Rate" standard with training and mystery shopping to get all your people past the order-taking habit... forever! That is always a great post-Labor Day rollout to keep people on their toes about what really matters.

Whatever rollout you choose, make sure it is a key strategy that moves ahead your ability to create more profit regardless of the economy. If the double dip has begun, make sure your people know that you did NOT sign up for another recession, thank you very much. This is your time to out-execute and pick up market share and high-profit accounts from competitors who don't seem to realize that hard times are for pulling ahead.