The following is based on a true and documented story.

A few years back I worked for a sales organization. We worked hard all week long to make sales with the leads they provided.

I really put in a lot of time. The job had its highs and lows. My best week ever was just over $4,000, but there were many weeks where I made $0.

One day I got a phone call from a man in town that ran a smaller sales floor. At the time they only had 3 sales reps, but were producing almost half of the sales volume as our sales floor of 60 sales reps.

The man said that 2 of his sales reps were going to be out of town the next day and they needed someone to take their appointments. I said I would show up.

I showed up the next day and saw that they had put 11 appointments on my schedule.

I dialed the first name on the list at the scheduled time and followed the sales script. I was delighted to see that I was moving smoothly through the close after just twenty minutes. I put the client on hold and transferred him to the secretary to process the details. My commissions were just over $200 for that call.

I returned to the provided work station and called my second appointment. Same result!

I followed the process of their system through the 11 appointments they had given me.

I had a no-show for one of the appointments. I decided I might as well call my final appointment a half hour early. I made 10 sales with 11 leads in 5 hours and earned personal commissions of over $2,000 that day!

Their system was so much better than what I had been using.

Nobody had to twist my arm to not show up at my other job on Monday. My best week ever at my other job was a little more than $4,000. That became my new average income per week at this new place! I even had a record week of over $7,000.

I could have saved myself six years of frustration.

But this story is not about me. I had proven in the 6 years prior that I was not as effective. I share this story to show you the power in having the right system in place.

The things I learned at the new place were very effective. I have found that they can be applied to the home business industry just as successfully as a professional sales floor.

Here is what I learned about how this new place did things differently.

1. All sales calls were from leads where the prospects were existing customers. We knew the prospects were excellent candidates for our services because they had already proven it by making a previous purchase.

2. The only time I called a client was when I was keeping a pre-scheduled appointment. The system involved appointments being set at thirty minute intervals throughout the day. Prospects were told to be waiting and ready at the scheduled time, and be prepared with writing utensils and a computer with internet if available. This was invaluable as a time saver for sales reps, but it did something even more important.

The fact that there was a scheduled appointment that the prospect was expected to make postured the sales rep into a position of authority. It put the prospect in a different mindset where they were ready to learn and be open-minded to the presentation. Instead of mentally preparing sales objections, they focused on the features and benefits of the services. When it came time for the invitation to buy, they were ready to move forward.

So what does this story mean to you and your business?

1. Find ways to spend more of your time working with prospects that are existing customers. They can be your customers, or you can piggy-back off of the credibility of someone else and work with their existing customers.

2. Get an appointment setter. You can hire an appointment setter, or have a partner or spouse do the job. You might make an agreement with a co-worker or team-mate where you share leads and set appointments for each other.