By Bill Farquharson, Sales Vault. Read Bill’s tip below or watch Bill here.

Good morning!

Darth Vader is holding a meeting with his stormtroopers, explaining how they are going to board Princess Leia’s ship and retrieve the stolen plans for the Death Star. Everyone is good with the plan until he adds, “You guys go first. I’ll be right behind you.”

Wait, what?

Since September, I’ve been working with a sales team, helping them to prospect for big fish. All but one of them are legacy reps with an ample book of business. They barely have enough time to keep up with their existing work, much less apply and track the step-by-step, week-by-week process designed for them.

You might expect, as I did, some dissension.

But here we are weeks later and they have largely kept the pace with zero complaining.

Why?

Well, first, they are consummate professionals. They have strong character and a commitment to their company. But there is another factor: When the plan was first announced, their just-as-busy (if not more) company president/owner added, “…and I’ll be doing it, too.”

And that made all the difference.

You want more sales, managers and owners, so you do what everyone does in that situation: you tell your salespeople to get out there and sell something. Here’s the problem with that approach…

The rep(s) might show some initial enthusiasm, but that will quickly wane without one key factor:

Selling by example.

What a difference it makes when the boss makes a personal commitment to join the sales charge. It doesn’t need to be in equal proportion, but if you, the manager, establish sales activity goals of your own and agree to the same kind of accountability as your sales team, you will find a much higher level of enthusiasm and participation.

Sell. By. Example.

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