I hope I'm not bringing back bad memories from the 1970s, but the Hustle is something we should all be doing, especially when you work in sales.  My wife and I recently had the wonderful pleasure of shopping for new kitchen appliances.  We went to quite a few different stores, looked at quite a few different brands, and finally settled on a particular appliance.  We decided to buy at a particular store. Our prime reason for making our decision was the salesperson we encountered.  She was unbelievable.  She was full of energy, willing to take the time to listen to us to hear what we were specifically looking for, and she Hustled until she found exactly what we wanted.  She put together a great package for us with a great price.  She not only gave us a good discount, but also pointed out that a sale was coming up in another week and a half.  She said, if we can wait until then to make the purchase, we could save even more money.  Great! 

Since this particular store was one of the big-box chain stores.  Just for the fun of it, we decided to check at another location to see what they had to offer.  The contrast in salespeople was really interesting at the second location.  The salesperson acted like they can hardly be bothered to talk to us when we ask questions about the merchandise.  We got halfhearted responses, and when we asked about pricing and any upcoming sales events, the salesperson just took a quick glance at their calendar and said no.  So we found it interesting that even though it was the same chain store you could buy a package of appliances for much less money in one location than you  could at the other.  The difference, I have to assume that it's the salespeople.  One was willing to really Hustle for us while the other salesperson acted like they couldn't be bothered.  So you tell me who gets the sale; the person who works for it, or the one who just goes through the motions.  We gave the sale to the person who showed the Hustle. 

So the next time your sales are down and you think the market might be bad or business is slow, most likely the problem isn’t the marketplace.  It just might be time for you to do the Hustle.