Getting Past the Gatekeeper
| Category: Selling Techniques | Date: 2001-06-01 |
Abstract: Making contact with the organization decision maker can be a game of cat and mouse. This article shows cold callers how to work with or circumvent the gatekeeper when approaching the decision maker.
All the sales techniques are worthless unless you get to communicate with the decision maker. Unfortunately, there is usually a buffer or filter between you and the decision maker. That person, whether you call him or her a secretary, assistant, or even a Gatekeeper, has the ability to keep you from talking to the right person.
The gatekeeper is the most dangerous person to your success because he or she cannot say "yes," but can say "no." It is their job to screen calls. Your objective is to impress upon the gatekeeper the importance of your call; still, make sure that you give the absolute minimum amount of information required to talk to the decision maker.
Getting past the gatekeeper is similar to football plays.
THE RUN UP THE MIDDLE
This is your most direct approach and when done properly, usually your most effective approach. The reason for its higher rate of success is that in a "run up the middle" you have more of the "verbal" blockers helping you. Your offensive line helps you bob and weave your way to the goal. Remember, never sell your product or service the "buffer" or "filter," only sell them on putting you through to the decision maker.
The key point to this move is that you do not want to put yourself in a vulnerable position of selling your product or service to a secretary. Since the secretary is not the decision maker, you are wasting your time and you put yourself in a position of never being able to get through.
A good screener asks you many questions to get as much information as he or she decides whether to allow you to talk to the boss. It is like an oral game of tennis with you serving and the secretary returning the volley with a question.
Asking questions to control the conversation works in reverse when you are talking to the gatekeeper. You want very little information from the gatekeeper, but you do want him or her to take a specific action. That action taken is that you are put through to the decision maker.
When talking with the gatekeeper, you respond to a question, but follow up with a command. Then you use the question to confirm that they understand your command.
Secretaries know that part of their job is to screen calls. Often they do not feel they have done their job suitably unless they ask some questions. The degree that screeners feel you must be screened often depends on the wishes of their decision makers. It is important to remember that you should not volunteer any more information than the absolute minimum needed to satisfy the filter's question.
They feel that the more questions you are asked, the better they are doing their job. Therefore, the secretary often asks you more question's despite how trivial some of those questions may be. It's only after these secretaries feel that they are doing their job properly, and assuming you gave no information that causes them to not put you through to the decision maker, do you stand a chance of getting through.
Finally, never lie. If you lie to a secretary, you lose all your credibility. I know that some sales people have used some tall tales to get through to a prospect. You are much better off when you are not lying. Yet, you can provide just the bare minimum amount of information. The less information they have the better your chances of getting put through to the prospect.
Keeping all this in mind, here is an example of a conversation between Marc Walker, a seasoned marketeer, and a seasoned gatekeeper:
"Mr. Smith's Office."
"Did you say that this is Mr. Smith's office?"
"Yes, I did."
"Great! With whom am I speaking?"
"This is Stacy."
"Oh, Stacy, this is Marc Walker calling for Mr. Smith. Please put me through."
"And who are you with?"
"I'm with SMI. Please tell Mr. Smith I'm holding long distance for him."
"Is he expecting your call?"
"I don't believe we have set up a specific time, but please let him know I am on the line."
"And what is it regarding?"
"Let Mr. Smith know that I have the answers to the marketing questions. He is supposed to be in, isn't he?"
"Does he know you?"
"You know, I don't think we have met personally, Stacy, but I do have that information for him so please let him know I've called. Okay?"
When Marc called, he tried to get the name of the gatekeeper, and you will notice that he used it a few times throughout the conversation. People love to hear their own name. It does help to break down some of their resistance.
Also notice that Marc gave the very minimum information in answering to each of her questions. By allowing her to ask a lot of questions, she feels she did her job of screening him properly. At the same time, Marc did not put the conversation in jeopardy by giving her enough information to make a decision not to let him through.
THE END RUN
Sometimes you just cannot get past the Gatekeeper so it becomes necessary to try to run around the defensive line. Here are a couple of ways to work around the gatekeeper when it is reasonably certain you will not get through. Some business people have direct lines. Try calling the receptionist first and asking for your prospect's extension number and you might bypass the gatekeeper all together.
Another end run approach is to call a different department than the one you want. Say, for example, you want to call Mr. Jones in accounts payable and cannot seem to get past the gatekeeper. Try calling someone in shipping and ask for Mr. Jones. They will tell you that you have reached the wrong department. Ask them to transfer you directly to Mr. Jones's office. They sometimes have a corporate directory with all the extension numbers and can put you right through.
THE REVERSAL
Call the office of someone higher up in the organization. If you are trying to reach the Executive Vice President, for example, then call the Chief Executive Officer's office. The CEO's secretary will inform you that you have reached the wrong office and usually offers to transfer you to the right party. A call transferred from the boss's office stands a little better chance of getting through.
THE QUARTERBACK SNEAK
Try calling very early in the morning. Often, busy executives get to the office by 6:00 or 7:00 in the morning, long before their secretaries show up. And when their phone rings there is a very good chance they will answer the phone themselves. This also might work at lunch time, after work and on weekends. At lunch time, you may be fortunate to have a substitute secretary filling in for the regular one while he or she gets something to eat. The fill-in filter is usually much easier to get through.
Have fun using these proven techniques, and let us know about your success!
About the Author
Jeff Slutsky is the President of Streetfighter Marketing which specializes in teaching business people how to advertise, market, promote and increase sales on a shoestring budget. Jeff is a highly sought after professional speaker, consultant and author of three audio learning series including Street Smart Tele-Selling and How To Get Clients. For further information send e-mail to streetfitr or phone 1-800-SLUTSKY (1-800-758-8759). Write to Streetfighter Marketing, 467 Waterbury Ct., Columbus, OH 43230.
:To contact see details below.
streetfitr@aol.com
http://www.streetfighter.com
All the sales techniques are worthless unless you get to communicate with the decision maker. Unfortunately, there is usually a buffer or filter between you and the decision maker. That person, whether you call him or her a secretary, assistant, or even a Gatekeeper, has the ability to keep you from talking to the right person.
The gatekeeper is the most dangerous person to your success because he or she cannot say "yes," but can say "no." It is their job to screen calls. Your objective is to impress upon the gatekeeper the importance of your call; still, make sure that you give the absolute minimum amount of information required to talk to the decision maker.
Getting past the gatekeeper is similar to football plays.
THE RUN UP THE MIDDLE
This is your most direct approach and when done properly, usually your most effective approach. The reason for its higher rate of success is that in a "run up the middle" you have more of the "verbal" blockers helping you. Your offensive line helps you bob and weave your way to the goal. Remember, never sell your product or service the "buffer" or "filter," only sell them on putting you through to the decision maker.
The key point to this move is that you do not want to put yourself in a vulnerable position of selling your product or service to a secretary. Since the secretary is not the decision maker, you are wasting your time and you put yourself in a position of never being able to get through.
A good screener asks you many questions to get as much information as he or she decides whether to allow you to talk to the boss. It is like an oral game of tennis with you serving and the secretary returning the volley with a question.
Asking questions to control the conversation works in reverse when you are talking to the gatekeeper. You want very little information from the gatekeeper, but you do want him or her to take a specific action. That action taken is that you are put through to the decision maker.
When talking with the gatekeeper, you respond to a question, but follow up with a command. Then you use the question to confirm that they understand your command.
Secretaries know that part of their job is to screen calls. Often they do not feel they have done their job suitably unless they ask some questions. The degree that screeners feel you must be screened often depends on the wishes of their decision makers. It is important to remember that you should not volunteer any more information than the absolute minimum needed to satisfy the filter's question.
They feel that the more questions you are asked, the better they are doing their job. Therefore, the secretary often asks you more question's despite how trivial some of those questions may be. It's only after these secretaries feel that they are doing their job properly, and assuming you gave no information that causes them to not put you through to the decision maker, do you stand a chance of getting through.
Finally, never lie. If you lie to a secretary, you lose all your credibility. I know that some sales people have used some tall tales to get through to a prospect. You are much better off when you are not lying. Yet, you can provide just the bare minimum amount of information. The less information they have the better your chances of getting put through to the prospect.
Keeping all this in mind, here is an example of a conversation between Marc Walker, a seasoned marketeer, and a seasoned gatekeeper:
"Mr. Smith's Office."
"Did you say that this is Mr. Smith's office?"
"Yes, I did."
"Great! With whom am I speaking?"
"This is Stacy."
"Oh, Stacy, this is Marc Walker calling for Mr. Smith. Please put me through."
"And who are you with?"
"I'm with SMI. Please tell Mr. Smith I'm holding long distance for him."
"Is he expecting your call?"
"I don't believe we have set up a specific time, but please let him know I am on the line."
"And what is it regarding?"
"Let Mr. Smith know that I have the answers to the marketing questions. He is supposed to be in, isn't he?"
"Does he know you?"
"You know, I don't think we have met personally, Stacy, but I do have that information for him so please let him know I've called. Okay?"
When Marc called, he tried to get the name of the gatekeeper, and you will notice that he used it a few times throughout the conversation. People love to hear their own name. It does help to break down some of their resistance.
Also notice that Marc gave the very minimum information in answering to each of her questions. By allowing her to ask a lot of questions, she feels she did her job of screening him properly. At the same time, Marc did not put the conversation in jeopardy by giving her enough information to make a decision not to let him through.
THE END RUN
Sometimes you just cannot get past the Gatekeeper so it becomes necessary to try to run around the defensive line. Here are a couple of ways to work around the gatekeeper when it is reasonably certain you will not get through. Some business people have direct lines. Try calling the receptionist first and asking for your prospect's extension number and you might bypass the gatekeeper all together.
Another end run approach is to call a different department than the one you want. Say, for example, you want to call Mr. Jones in accounts payable and cannot seem to get past the gatekeeper. Try calling someone in shipping and ask for Mr. Jones. They will tell you that you have reached the wrong department. Ask them to transfer you directly to Mr. Jones's office. They sometimes have a corporate directory with all the extension numbers and can put you right through.
THE REVERSAL
Call the office of someone higher up in the organization. If you are trying to reach the Executive Vice President, for example, then call the Chief Executive Officer's office. The CEO's secretary will inform you that you have reached the wrong office and usually offers to transfer you to the right party. A call transferred from the boss's office stands a little better chance of getting through.
THE QUARTERBACK SNEAK
Try calling very early in the morning. Often, busy executives get to the office by 6:00 or 7:00 in the morning, long before their secretaries show up. And when their phone rings there is a very good chance they will answer the phone themselves. This also might work at lunch time, after work and on weekends. At lunch time, you may be fortunate to have a substitute secretary filling in for the regular one while he or she gets something to eat. The fill-in filter is usually much easier to get through.
Have fun using these proven techniques, and let us know about your success!
About the Author
Jeff Slutsky is the President of Streetfighter Marketing which specializes in teaching business people how to advertise, market, promote and increase sales on a shoestring budget. Jeff is a highly sought after professional speaker, consultant and author of three audio learning series including Street Smart Tele-Selling and How To Get Clients. For further information send e-mail to streetfitr or phone 1-800-SLUTSKY (1-800-758-8759). Write to Streetfighter Marketing, 467 Waterbury Ct., Columbus, OH 43230.
:To contact see details below.
streetfitr@aol.com
http://www.streetfighter.com
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