There are many negative feelings that come up surrounding the word “gatekeeper”. The fear of being rejected before having an opportunity to talk to the decision maker can be debilitating to new salespeople. There are many sales professionals online offering advice, and many of them claim to have ways to avoid the gatekeeper or build a relationship with the gatekeeper. Some of this may be good advice, but avoiding them is hard to do, and building a relationship with a gatekeeper in the initial calls can be time-consuming.
Having confidence that you know what you’re doing and have the right to talk to the decision maker is what is actually needed to get through to the right person. Turn the gatekeeper into an advocate by knowing who the decision maker is and how you will help them.
Business Calling
The gatekeeper is doing their job by making sure that the decision maker isn’t bogged down by calls all day long. They typically don’t know about any of the products or services that the decision maker purchases. What they do know is that anyone calling should be screened to make sure the decision maker isn’t unnecessarily inconvenienced.
Before you make your call, you need to know which department you need to reach, and ideally, which specific person you need to speak with. Do your research. For business-to-business sales, you need to know what the company does, which department your product will service best, and who the key people you need to speak to are.
If you’re selling internet service, for example, and you need to speak with the CIO to get approval for them to switch to your service, then you will need to know who the CIO is, who the IT manager is, where their business locations are, and which location is the headquarters or where the IT department works. If you don’t have any information, you can be creative by asking the gatekeeper a couple of questions before asking for the person you need. Being short, direct, polite, and conversational will help develop a relationship with the gatekeeper. The relationship needs to be friendly, but not a friendship.
Asking this person about the aspects of the business they know best will help them feel included and respected. Ask how their internet service is, and does it take the IT department more than 2 hours to solve their IT issues. Use understanding words to encourage them to give you more information. Thank them whenever you call.
For example:
You: “Hi, this is Sarah from X company, please connect me to John…”
Gatekeeper: “He’s not in.”
You: “I understand, thank you. Is the IT department located where you work?”
Gatekeeper: “Yes, they work here.”
You: “Is Joyce the IT manager?” (Use LinkedIn to find the IT manager’s name to build familiarity.)
Gatekeeper: “No, it’s Adam.”
You: “Oh, I haven’t met Adam yet. Please connect me to speak with him.”
Gatekeeper: “I won’t be able to do that, he’s in meetings all day.”
You: “I understand. Does he have an assistant or support person who works closely with him?”
Gatekeeper: “No.”
You: “Thank you, I appreciate your help.”
End the call here and call back in two days to try again. This time, if the right people aren’t available, try asking the gatekeeper some open-ended questions. Ask how long they have worked there, then ask what sort of challenges the IT department has. Ask how their internet service is performing, and even ask if they ever have problems with the service. Be polite and don’t take too much of their (or your) time. Keep trying, and make sure you’re also emailing the decision makers for an extra in. Add everyone from the company who is a key player on LinkedIn, and keep working on that relationship. The gatekeeper will become your advocate when they learn that you’re a real person and might be a source of help for their business.
Consumer Calling
When calling customers or consumers as opposed to businesses, the tactics are similar. It can be a bit tricky to get to the right person in this field too, but it’s not too difficult to qualify the people you’re talking to once you reach someone by phone to find out who the real decision maker is. Once you find out, you just ask for that person the next time you call.
For example, you’re a real estate firm with some properties to sell, and you have a bunch of nice apartments and a list to call. Call the first number and introduce yourself.
“Hi, I’m Seth from X Properties and I have two questions for the homeowner.”
Right away they will say, “Oh, that’s my dad”, or “My husband”, or “We aren’t interested”.
Reply with, “Thank you, I’m sorry to intrude on your home time, but I just have two quick questions to ask and it would help me out if they could talk to me. Is he/she home?”
If they say ‘no’, find out when they will be home, and call back then. If they aren’t interested, ask what they are not interested in. Let them talk, and then go back to your question about if they own their residence, then ask when they are available for a 10-15 minute call.
Be polite, but also keep pushing until you get to the person you need to speak with. Remember, the gatekeeper doesn’t have the authority to tell you ‘no’, only the decision maker does. They are just doing their job, so be nice but firmly state that you need to talk to the right person. Doing as much research about the decision maker and any additional key people or stakeholders will help you get through to them.
Legitimize yourself with information and connect on social media for extra help. Look for social media platforms that they don’t seem to use often for an opportunity to send a message and stand out from others trying to contact them. Be creative and have fun with it; do not be discouraged and it will all work out!
Check out the post Getting to the Decision Maker
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