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Fanatical Prospecting — Chapter-17: The Secret Lives of Gatekeepers
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17 The Secret Lives of Gatekeepers I am the Keymaster . . . Are you the Gatekeeper? —Ghostbusters Last week while I was training my new assistant and reviewing her responsibilities, she asked me how she should handle calls from salespeople. The look on her face told the story. Dealing with salespeople was a task she didn’t consider pleasant. It made me think about the ongoing tug-of-war between sales professionals, who are trying to get in the door, and the gatekeepers assigned the duty of keeping them at bay. The reason I have a gatekeeper is there are so many people vying for my time, if I didn’t have one I would never get my job done. Her most important job is to protect my time. Unfortunately, that puts her in the unenviable position of saying no to salespeople. 193
Salespeople hate gatekeepers. Sometimes to the point that they become so frustrated with gatekeepers that they experiment with tricks that, too often, make them look foolish. These schemes, regrettably, negative impact both parties, which is why so many gatekeepers, like my assistant, would rather have their teeth pulled than deal with a salesperson. The reality, though, is you are going to have to deal with gatekeepers often. There is just no way to avoid it. So is there a secret? I know you are hoping I’ll say yes, but the answer is no. There are no secret techniques that will get you past gatekeepers. There are, however, strategies that will give you an edge when dealing with gatekeepers. To leverage these strategies, it is critical to understand that gate- keepers are people just like you. Step into their shoes. They have emotions, worries, and motivations and, like you, a boss and a job to do. Because of this, your success in getting through the gate depends on a combination of good manners, likeability, and people-savvy. Seven Keys for Dealing with Gatekeepers
- Be likable. Project a positive, cheerful, outgoing personality. Be polite and respectful. You are guaranteed to fail with gate- keepers if you are rude, pushy, and ill mannered. Always leave them with a positive impression of you and your company.
- Use please, please. In his book The Real Secrets of the Top 20 Percent, the author, Mike Brooks, advises that the “single most powerful technique” to get past gatekeepers is to use please twice. For example, when a gatekeeper answers the phone you might say, “Hi, this is Jeb Blount from Sales Gravy. Would you please connect me to Mike Brooks, please?”
- Be transparent. Tell the gatekeeper who you are—your full name and the name of your company. Full disclosure makes you sound professional and worthy enough to pass through to the boss. 194 Fanatical Prospecting
- Connect. Gatekeepers are people just like you. And like you, they like people who are interested in them. If you speak to a particular gatekeeper often, be sure to ask about how they are doing. Learn to listen to their tone of voice and respond when you hear something amiss. Ask questions about their family and their interests. There are gatekeepers I deal with on a regular basis who I know better than the boss. When I call, I will often spend more time talking to them than to my client. Because of these strong relationships, they take care to ensure that I get on calendars.
- Hold the cheese. Never use cheesy schemes or tricks. Tricks don’t work. They harm your credibility and you’ll end up on the gatekeeper’s do-not-talk-to list, which means it will have to snow at the equator before you get through. Be honest about who you are and why you are calling and ask for what you want. You may not get through the first time, but your honesty will be appreciated and remembered, which will play a huge role in opening the gate in the future.
- Ask for help. Sometimes an honest and authentic plea for help will get a gatekeeper on your side. Sprinkling in a little humor can also make a difference. Once I walked into a business, attempting for the umpteenth time in a row to get an appointment. The receptionist looked up at me and said, “Are you back again? I thought I told you that we are not interested!” I responded with a smile, “I just came by to see you because I hadn’t gotten quite enough rejection today to fill my quota.” With that she laughed. It opened up a conversation where I was able to explain that I really needed some help. She made a call to the DM and I got a meeting.
- Change the game. Sometimes the best strategy is to sidestep the gatekeeper. This can be accomplished in several ways: ■ Call early or late. The boss tends to be in the office earlier than the gatekeeper and stays later. ■ Leverage social. Few people allow their gatekeeper to have access to their social inboxes. Sending a LinkedIn InMail, for example, allows you to move right past the gatekeeper. The Secret Lives of Gatekeepers 195
■ Meet them in person. Attend conferences, networking events, civic clubs, charity events, and trade shows where your prospect hangs out—no gatekeepers there. ■ Send an e-mail. An e-mail may allow you to skip past the gatekeeper. ■ Send a handwritten note. In today’s digital culture, hand- written notes sent via snail mail get through. If your note is sincere and funny, and if you add something of value (note: a brochure is not value) or congratulate your prospect on an achievement, there is a very good chance that you will get a response. If the gatekeeper, usually a receptionist or lower-level blocker, is unwilling to give you the name and contact of the decision maker and you are unable to find the person through an online or social search, try these three hacks. The Calling-Other-Extensions Hack Evan was at a loss. He needed to contact a high-level buyer located in the headquarters of one of the largest U.S. grocery store chains. He faced two major challenges: He didn’t know the buyer’s name (or have any contact information other than the main phone number), and he didn’t know the title of the person. All he knew was that there was “someone in corporate who made those decisions.” He’d tried calling and asking for the “person who makes decisions on broadband services,” but that had gotten him nowhere. No matter how many times he asked or how much he pleaded, he hit a wall over and over again. “I’m sorry, sir, we don’t give out that information,” “No, sir, I cannot connect you if you don’t have a name.” Frustrated but determined, he kept at it. He called stores, did online searches, combed LinkedIn, and slowly but surely began to 196 Fanatical Prospecting
string small clues together. He narrowed his search down to a handful of possible titles but was still missing a name. He finally got a break when, out of desperation, he started calling random extensions. On one of those calls, a friendly person gave him a hand. That yielded another clue: “Yeah, I think a guy named Jack over in IT handles that.” “Thanks for the information. Do you know his last name or extension?” “Sorry, I don’t, but I can transfer you back to reception and maybe they can help you?” Evan’s heart sank. So far reception had been his Waterloo. He’d crashed and burned on every call. When reception answered, he said, “Hey, I was talking to Dale Jones in purchasing and he was transferring me to Jack in IT, but somehow I ended up with you. Would you mind sending me over?” “Hmmm,” said the receptionist, “I’m not seeing a Jack. Did you mean Zack Freedman?” Boom! He had a name. “Yes, sorry about that. I thought I said Zack.” “Okay, no problem. I’ll send you over now.” “Before you do, would you mind giving me Zack’s extension just in case we get disconnected?” “Sure, it’s 5642. I’m transferring you now.” Evan ended up in Zack’s voice mail but eventually got through and established a relationship and a beachhead with what became his largest customer. The Salespeople-Help-Salespeople Hack Two weeks ago I ran across a prospect that was a perfect fit for my business. I’d learned that they were hiring 30 new sales reps. They were going to need someone to help them source, hire, and train all those new salespeople, and I figured it should be Sales The Secret Lives of Gatekeepers 197
Gravy. Unfortunately, I had no idea who the decision makers were at the company. I called the phone number on the website and after finally getting past the lengthy automated message, I ran headfirst into a rude and brutal gatekeeper who refused to give me any information. I did a search on LinkedIn and Google but came up empty. I tried once more to plead my case to the gatekeeper, and after she hung the phone up in my face—mid-qualifying question—I was right back where I started: basically nowhere. That was when I used one of my favorite sales hacks for reaching hard-to-reach prospects. I dialed the main number again. The automated message said, “Press 1 for the sales department.” I pressed 1. Two rings later an enthusiastic voice answered the phone: “This is Mike. Can I help you?” I responded, “Hi, Mike, my name is Jeb Blount. The reason I’m calling is I’m trying to reach the person in your company who buys training programs. I wasn’t having much luck going through the switchboard and I figured as a fellow salesperson you could relate and might give me a hand.” Mike was instantly empathetic. He replied, “I know what that’s like. I’ve been having the same problem all morning. The person you are looking for is Jean. She’s our VP of Sales. The best way to get her is on her mobile phone. Hold just a second and I’ll get it for you.” Mike and I shot the breeze for a few more minutes, commiser- ating about gatekeepers. He also gave me the scoop on why they were growing, the sales role they were hiring for, and complained about the nonexistent sales training program. My very next call was to Jean, who answered the phone on the second ring. Mike’s information proved very powerful in helping me relate to Jean’s issues. After a 15-minute conversation, Jean agreed to a next appointment and promised to include her company 198 Fanatical Prospecting
president. That meeting went well and opened the door to a formal proposal. The salespeople-help-salespeople hack is an awesome secret weapon. It has worked for me time and again when I’ve had a hard time getting to the right people in prospective accounts. It’s effective for several reasons: ■ Most sales organizations pick up their phones, so there is a high probability that you will have the opportunity to speak to a live human being. ■ Salespeople tend to know who’s who in their organizations and how to get in contact with those people. ■ Salespeople help other salespeople because they have stood in your shoes. They know what it is like to hit a brick wall. If you are honest, polite, and respectful and bring a little humor and humility with you, they’ll often open doors that would have been very difficult to open on your own. The Go-Around-Back Hack If you are prospecting in person and the receptionist refuses to give you any information, try going around back. Often there are people there loading and unloading, on breaks, or walking to their cars. If you approach them in a transparent, nonaggressive way, sometimes they will give you information or even walk you in to meet the decision maker. Note: Do not try this if there are security guards or other measures present with the express objective of keeping unauthorized people, like you, out. Persistence Always Wins There are always going to be decision makers and contacts who are hard to reach. Always. Very often these are conquest, strategic, and The Secret Lives of Gatekeepers 199
high-value prospects. The prospects that every sales rep in your industry wants to set an appointment with. The more valuable the business opportunity, the more likely that the prospect will be walled in by gatekeepers. These prospects drive you crazy. You can’t seem to find the name of the right person to talk to. They don’t answer the phone, are always in meetings, don’t return calls, don’t respond to e-mails, don’t accept connection requests on LinkedIn, and never fill out lead forms. These hard-to-reach contacts always seem impossibly elusive. Welcome to the real world. It takes hard work and a whole lot of persistence to get to some contacts and decision makers. Just remember. In sales persistence always wins. Always. 200 Fanatical Prospecting