by Kirby Hasseman
With all of the books I have read over the past several years, I find that I have been talking about one I read many years ago a lot. It’s a book by Seth Godin called “The Dip.” 
This short but powerful book starts with a simple premise. Whenever you start a new hobby, job, business (or whatever) your knowledge and excitement goes up initially. It’s new and exciting. You are learning and getting better every day. The trajectory of your knowledge and enthusiasm for the project are solidly up. Then, after time, you start to understand. You get better at the job. You become proficient at the hobby. Your improvement starts to slow down and it gets less exciting. The enthusiasm starts to taper off too. Then comes “The Dip.” This is the time that your enthusiasm goes down because you are not seeing significant improvements every day. You might be improving but it’s hard to tell. The routine you have worked to create starts to feel like a rut. Your new job, workout routine, business or hobby are not fun anymore. They become a grind. As Godin so brilliantly points out, this is when most people quit. On the other hand, those that stick to it through “the dip” are the ones who become experts in their respective fields. Those that “lean into the Dip” become those that we idolized in the first place. I think I have been talking about this book because it’s such a true metaphor for nearly any new adventure. If you are starting a workout plan, this is the 3rd or 4th week. You are sore…but not seeing the 6 pack abs. If you are in sales, this is when you have had a good start, but the phone has not been ringing. This is the business that is doing okay, but not lighting the world on fire…yet. You are in “the Dip.” And the Dip is the wrong time to quit. Lean in. Keep grinding. No one said it would be easy. They said it would be worth it. If you want to make sure you never miss a blog post or an update, please sign up for our VIP newsletter here.
by Kirby Hasseman
When you think of someone in sales, what comes to mind? If you are like most people you think of a high energy person that is bubbly and talkative. The stereotypical sales professional is highly charismatic and easily able to influence people to do their bidding. But in my experience, there is no one right way to succeed in sales. Certainly there are benefits to being an extravert. Extraverts like being around people. They feed off the energy of being in a group. If they are feeling down, getting in front of their customers and “being on stage” and get them up. These are certainly good for making sales calls. On the other hand, extraverts often need to be the center of attention. This makes them less likely to listen deeply. And the best salespeople know that they are not the center of the sales conversation…the customer is. You need to really empathize with them if you want to gain their trust…and help them. Introverts are often, by nature, better listeners. They are great at letting the customer be the center of attention. Because they are not talking, they can be more thoughtful with their questioning so they can provide fantastic sales solutions. But let’s face it, introverts can sometimes struggle with the “putting yourself out there” piece of sales. They can agonize over details before making a call and struggle with the energy to network. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. But I have seen both types of personalities succeed and fail (sometimes spectacularly) in sales. So what are some things that DO lead to sales success? Here are just a few that I have seen. Consistency of Effort: Many people in the sales profession have a roller coaster of results. They will have highs and lows. Some of that is unavoidable. But often that comes from a roller coaster of effort. They put in huge effort one day (or one week) and then fall off the next. The best salespeople and entrepreneurs do several pro-active things every day to create consistent results. Empathize with the Customer: If you want to create the best results for the customer, you really need to understand what they are going through. You need to understand what their pain points are, so you can best select a solution. As my friend Bill Petrie says, the best sales people act like a Doctor. They ask questions and find out the diagnosis and then prescribe a solution. Invest in Themselves: The best of the best in any profession keep learning. The best salespeople are no different. What books are you reading right now? If you don’t have an answer to that, you are not getting better. Listening to books and podcasts and attending education, help you get better. If you don’t do it, that’s fine…but just know that it’s a choice. The good news is, there is no one right way to succeed in sales. You can work within your own strengths to build a great business. You just have to be willing to put in the work. To make sure you never miss an update, make sure you sign up for our VIP newsletter here.
by Kirby Hasseman
Let’s start this post with the premise that this is true: If you want to get better and grow, you should read (or listen to) books. If you don’t buy that, then you probably should not read any further. But if you do accept that premise, read on. Over the last few years, I have worked to grow myself by reading hundreds of books. It started as a one time goal, and became a bit of a lifestyle. Have I read bad books? Sure. But for the most part, I am able to pick one or two ideas (or at least reminders) out of almost every business and personal development book. But every once in a while, I come across a book that really gets me. These books often inspire me to change…or simply do more. I love it when I get one of these books…and recently I had a string of several in a row that were fantastic. So if you need some inspiration and motivation, here are 3 that I highly recommend! The 5 Second Rule, by Mel Robbins:go get this book Finish, by Jon Acuff: I really like Jon Acuff. He is a great writer and speaker. So I always enjoy his books. But I really liked his tactical advice on getting to “the gift of done.” Early on in Finish, he talks about where most of us get derailed when working on a new goal. We start on the fitness routine and do well for 5 days, then we miss…and we quit. He reminds us that the secret to success is what you do “the day after perfect.” If you have ever had problems finishing your goals…go get this book. The Motivation Myth, by Jeff Haden: Wow! I was prepared to like this book because I love Jeff Haden’s articles on Inc.com and Linkedin.com. But I was not ready to be fired up like I was. Jeff not only blows up the myth that we need a lightbulb moment or firewalks to be motivated. But he also digs into the way successful people set goals (and then forget them)…and how they create daily activity to build their own motivation. Awesome book. I was able to get an advanced copy…so pre-order this book now…and then read it! These are just a few books that have fired me up in 2017. Run out and get one or more of these to get yourself ready to rock. And never miss an update by signing up for the HMC VIP list here.
by Kirby Hasseman
Each week Kirby will dig into a word that will help in personal development, sales, and growth. The weekly word is designed to be short and sweet, and provide a quick lesson that will help you grow each week.
The Hasseman Marketing weekly word this week is SCOREBOARD. In this video Kirby asks us this questions….If or when you walk up to a park and see a group of kids playing basketball, can you tell if they are keeping score or not? The fact is, you probably can. You can tell this because people act differently when a score is being kept. The effort is higher. The action is more intense. At Hasseman Marketing, we like to have a SCOREBOARD. We like the power of challenge. We keep track of the things that are most important to us and to our team. We got this concept from The Four Disciplines of Execution: Achieving Your Wildly Important Goal. This is a great book you can check out for yourself here. This week Kirby encourages us to measure the things that matter to you and to keep a compelling SCOREBOARD that everybody can see. Want to keep up all the time? Make sure to join our VIP List! Our VIP’s get an email with the latest content…and other special offers as well. Join here.
by Kirby Hasseman
If you have never been shopping in Mexico, the experience can be initially jarring. As you walk down a street (in a tourist area) you have person after person after person come up to you and beg you to come into their store. They might entice you by telling you their merchandise is totally different (which at a glance you can see is not true). They sometimes compliment you and tell you how their items will match your beauty. My favorite is the juke where they pretend that you know each other (they will notice your armband and say they work at the resort you are staying). You have to admire the hustle. On the other hand, after 50 people come up to you saying the same exact thing, you get really good at tuning them out. You get really good at saying no. You might even get a little more comfortable being rude. They have trained you to mistrust them. And by hustling through the marketplace, you might really miss some good things. It’s a shame, really. But it’s just too much. Though we might think that this is just “the culture,” I think all of us do this a lot in sales. We engage with prospects on a very crowded street (of competitors) and try to convince them why we are different, or better. We might make claims about our goods and service. We might pretend to be impressed with them. Heck, we might even pretend we know them. But we don’t spend nearly enough time trying to make our offering be better, or different or more valuable. On that very same street, a small bar and restaurant has an acoustic band. They are playing cover songs, but playing them really well. They have live music. And on street where there is activity galore, they are the only ones offering this value for free. Here are two questions: As a shopper, where are you most likely to stop? And as a business, how can you add that real value to make you stand out on a very crowded street? To make sure you never miss an update, please sign up for our VIP list here!
