A mediocre salesperson tells a prospective customer what will happen “if” the customer places a deposit. But the highly successful salesperson talks about what will happen “when” or “once” the customer provides a deposit.

The so-so salesperson may ask the prospect a couple of questions about why the person needs the product of service for sale. But the top-notch seller knows it’s important to ask dozens of questions about the prospective customer’s wants and needs.

Those were a couple of the pointers author and sales trainer Laura Laaman provided to more than 100 businesspeople who gathered at the Westchester Marriott Tarrrytown yesterday for a seminar called “How to Recession Proof Your Sales in any Economy.”

Many of her tips related to “cold calling” — the practice of calling people a salesperson has not met to drum up business.

When calling a business, the salesperson should see the receptionist who answers the phone as a resource, she said. She said the salesperson should ask the receptionist’s name and then provide his or her own name. The salesperson should ask for the person within the company with the authority to talk about a deal, perhaps the person responsible for increasing sales, she said.

It’s also important to ask the receptionist for the person’s e-mail, extension and proper spelling of the person’s name, she said.
A polite tone is essential, she said.

“You should be gushing over her (the receptionist),” Laaman said.

When trying to reach an executive, a salesperson may have to get past an assistant whose job it is to screen the executive’s phone calls, she said.

She suggested that when the assistant answers the phone, the salesperson should say the executive’s name and nothing else, followed by the word please. When the assistant asks who’s calling the salesperson should say his or her name in an authoritative tone, Laaman said. Often, that will get the assistant to put the call through, she said.

Laaman, a Connecticut resident, said she began as a salesperson at age 16 when she worked for her family’s furniture business.
Sales, to me, was always a very honorable profession,” she said.

But she said she realizes not everyone sees the nation’s 16.2 million salespeople as anything other than a pack of pests.

“If we were professional athletes, we’d retire after two years for the amount of abuse we take on,” she said.

Among the other tips Laaman offered were:

• Try to make 10 sales a call each day before 10 a.m.
• Radiate enthusiasm. When someone asks how you are, don’t respond with the perfunctory “I’m fine.” Try something like “I’m great, “I’m terrific,” or “I’m excellent,” she said.
• Spruce up the way you speak about the service you offer. For instance, a financial planner shouldn’t start an introduction by saying “I work for …,” she said. The planner should start with something like “I create wealth …”
• Exercise, associate with positive people and keep your mind sharp — possibly by playing chess.

Other speakers at the seminar included motivational coach, comedian and author Fran Capo; Jim Kwik, a memory and speed reading specialist from White Plains; and JC Doornick, a Harrison chiropractor.