So I received an email yesterday that went something like this - "our industry is in shambles and yes our sales people are struggling in this economy there is no way we can do anything as far as helping them right now".

And if the industry was thriving and their people were doing great I suppose they would do something? Of course not! Is it possible that some people just don't believe in the idea of getting help at all? Is it especially true that when discussing their sales arm they are even more sensetive to it? I ran a successful sales team for years and if anyone had asked me if I needed help I might have said no as well - but in retrospect, looking back and knowing what I know now, that wasn't 100% true.

So sometimes what we say isn't entirely true. Sometimes we are parroting or resisting change. Maybe our ego won't allow us to open up. Perhaps we would rather deal with the pain of the current dilema rather than the discomfort that comes with change. I don't know but I do know this-

Now is the time to help your sales force. They are getting beat up, they are hearing excuses, they are frustrated, their weaknesses are being magnified by this economy, they are starting to believe that nothing can be closed and certainly not quickly and if you don't help them through these times - they will probably start to believe that you don't care.

Napoleon won his troops over early on - not by being a great strategist - but by making sure his men had boots, bullets and food. He paused his campaign and stalled on specific orders to make sure these needs were taken care of. The result - an army that was loyal and that followed him to the gates of hell and back. If you want loyalty and determination from your sales group help them when they need it - not when you think "why not, there's nothing else going on". Give them the Boots and Bullets to get the job done!