In sales, you'll find many of your prospects have raised a lot of defenses because of bad salespeople. Bad salespeople can be greedy, taking advantage of their prospects.
Often, those of us who actually want to have a real conversation can run into those defenses intended for bad salespeople.
One of the areas you can run into those defenses is with gatekeepers. When you call to talk to a prospect, and their receptionist won't put the call through, you've been stopped by the gatekeeper.
There are a few strategies I've found that work well with gatekeepers, depending on your world.
First, call as high up as possible.
If you can get through the gatekeeper by never having to deal with the gatekeeper, that's the best way to do it. And there are lots of ways to do that today.
If your prospect is the VP of marketing, but you can't get past their gatekeeper, reach out to the CEO through LinkedIn. He can then introduce you directly to the VP of marketing, bypassing the gatekeeper completely.
Second, don't act like a salesperson!
When you act like a salesperson, you'll get treated like a salesperson. A bad one, that is.
There are three types of calls most gatekeepers deal with: personal, clients and potential clients, and sales.
If you say, "Is Mr. Jones in," it's an indicator that you're probably a salesperson. If you mispronounce names, it's an indicator that you're probably a salesperson. Just sounding a little bit familiar with your prospect can often move you out of that category.
Finally, utilize redirection.
If something seems important, and the gatekeeper doesn't know how to deal with it, they'll redirect you to someone they think can help.
If you ask questions the gatekeeper can't answer, you'll get redirected. If you give them important information that they don't know how to deal with, you'll get redirected. If you have a sense of urgency, you'll get redirected.
A key part of doing sales right is the opportunity to have a brief conversation with your prospect to see if you could be a good fit or not. Using one of these three methods can help you have that conversation.
Crandall is the Principal of Sandler in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He works with business owners and motivated individuals to create and implement Professional Development Strategies to foster the growth of individuals, teams, and organizations.
