Get Past the Gatekeeper and Win Sales Opportunities

In today’s business climate, salespeople are finding it harder and harder to reach decision makers and connect with new customers. Many businesses are putting up barriers designed to keep strangers, spammers, scammers, and, of course, salespeople out of the workplace.

Getting past the gatekeeper is the first challenge and sometimes the most daunting. Most salespeople know that the receptionist, or gatekeeper, has been specifically trained to keep you from talking to or even getting close to the decision makers. With their stealthlike phone abilities, they hold the key to your success or failure in their hands, and their job depends on it. They are great at what they do, and if you think you can fool them, you are dead wrong.

You must start by changing your mindset around the gatekeeper. It’s not about how to get past the gatekeeper it’s about how to work with the gatekeeper. Your only job is to engage them and convince them that your message has value. Work with them and they will work for you.

Working with the gatekeeper is what separates the sales superstars from the rest of the pack. It takes resourcefulness, persistence, creativity, and a willingness to try different approaches. Here are a few strategies:

• Engage, not evade: Do not ever resort to lying about why you are calling or use tricks or gimmicks to get past the gatekeeper. They have heard it all. If you cannot get through to the decision maker, engaging the gatekeeper ensures a positive and friendly attitude toward you when you call again. It is highly unlikely you will become best friends, but building a relationship and an authentic rapport will make the person want to help you. Like it or not, some gatekeepers are now part of the sales process, one of the decision maker’s most trusted advisors. You must “sell” them and stop looking for ways to get past them.
• Get to the point: One way to ensure your calls will go nowhere fast is to try too hard to engage in small talk by asking them how they are doing, did they have a good weekend, or are they having a great day. You are wasting their time and perhaps your only opportunity. Everyone else who is calling asks the same lame and time-wasting questions. The biggest mistake you can make is not quickly getting to the point of your call. They are busy and do not have time for chit-chat.
• Do not script, plan: Know what you want to say and say it with precision. Do not use a script on gatekeepers; they will hear the scripted tone in your voice. Instead, plan how you will approach them and what approaches you might take depending upon the range of responses they might make. Plan your responses to key objections but leave yourself room by improvising the dialogue.
• Give them the benefit of the doubt: Most salespeople assume that a gatekeeper does not have the time, judgment, or influence to help them and therefore ask immediately for the decision maker. Huge mistake. Treat every gatekeeper with courtesy and respect. Doors will magically open for you if you do.
• Be upfront: Value their time; it’s just as important as the decision maker’s. Explain to them upfront what you are calling about and why you think it will add value. Don’t hang up and try again if your target is unavailable; it is disruptive and dismissive. Plus you may waste an opportunity. 
• Ask them who else is involved: Gatekeepers know everyone and they know who you should be talking to. Ask if you are targeting the right person. Do they know anyone else who might be of assistance? Who should you talk to first and why? Who is the ultimate decision maker? 

Gatekeepers can either be your friend or your enemy. If they see you as just another annoying salesperson, you will stand little chance of getting the decision maker to take your call. If they like you and see you as a persistent salesperson, they will give you respect and put your call through. Remember, they decide if you get through the gates or not. Everything depends on your approach. It’s not what you sell, it’s how you sell.