Handling those pesky Gatekeepers, or Gatekeepers can be your friend (Part 1 of 3)
What is the best way to handle Gatekeepers? (Part One of Three)
Contrary to what most sales people think, their number one responsibility is not to keep us out! Their number one responsibility is to protect their bosses. On the surface you might think that includes a line in their job description that does say ‘keep sales people out’, but their real job is to help their boss be successful and in the right circumstances we can help them do that. Since more people (including us) want more of the bosses’ time than there is time available, good gatekeepers are invaluable in helping their bosses’ sort through what can actually help them do their job better and what won’t or can’t.
So what’s the moral of the story? Help the gatekeeper understand how you can help their boss do their job better. Now I’m also not naïve enough to think that all gatekeepers are created equal, so here are some rules of thumb for working with them:
- Don’t ever lie to (trick) a gatekeeper to get through to their boss. You may get the first meeting set up, but if the gatekeeper and the boss compare notes, you’re toast. Even if you get to keep the meeting, your trust factor is gone, so you might go merrily along in a buying cycle only to lose the sale at the end.
- Always ask for voicemail the first and second time and leave your own message. That way it won’t get filtered and restated by the gatekeeper unless necessary. You never know what people take from what you say. (Remember the kid’s game of telephone?)
- Use your standard ‘curiosity’ voicemail message if you must leave a message with the gatekeeper and use the concept of ‘Pattern Interruption’ to keep the gatekeeper from deep drilling you on the reason for the call.
- Make their job easier and more pleasant, so get to know them. Be one of the people that light up their day and treat them like a sale. You may very well have to ‘sell’ them on the value you’ll bring to their boss before you get to their boss.
- Always make sure to get their name and make a note of it for future calls
- On the third attempt, you should be on a first name basis so ask for their help instead of asking for voicemail or just leaving another message with the Gatekeeper. Ask them what the best way is to get five minutes (an appointment making call) of their bosses’ time to set an appointment. They will either tell you how to do that (best time to call, send an email, they’ll set it up for you, etc.); or they’ll tell you you’ll not be getting by them. They may really grill you as to what the benefit to their boss would be. Use the same approach you’d use with their boss.
- The result is that you’ll know that they’ll help you with the proper incentive (how you’ve helped others like their boss in the past), or you’ll know to use the ultimate ‘handle the gatekeeper’ rule…call when they’re not there.
Next week we’ll talk about how the concept of ‘Pattern Interruption’ works and in week three, we’ll talk about creating effective voicemails.
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