The Gatekeeper Isn’t Your Mother

Unlike any other sales strategy, getting past the gatekeeper requires assertiveness and gumption. Other than calling during off-hours or hoping the gatekeeper will be cashiered, there is no easy high percentage way to end-run the gatekeeper. No other hurdle in sales provides more frustration and lost opportunity.

However, there are some crafty and effective ways to greatly increase your odds. These tactics and strategies are risky and don’t always work. They are designed to really push the envelope and require drastic, out-of-the-box thinking. They aren’t for the faint of heart or for cautious, risk-averse salespeople. Before these tactics are discussed, let’s go through some general rules and tenets that one should be aware of and adhere to:

• The gatekeeper isn’t your mother. Don’t feel compelled to answer their questions and kowtow to them. This isn’t the time to be wimpy. Break their pattern of asking questions and they will surely crumble.
• They blatantly lie: “We aren’t interested”; I’ll give him your name and I’m sure he'll call you back”; “he’s not in”; or “he’s on a long conference call and he’s busy.”
• Your phone call is the most important call they will receive today. Take on this position to solidify your will.
• You deserve a fair shot of at least talking to everyone once to see if you can help them or if they have problems.
• Take on a tonality of subtle frustration and annoyance; you are slightly mad at the gatekeeper.
• Don’t answer their questions. As soon as you do, you are dead in the water. If you answer their questions, respond to a question they didn’t ask to sustain your momentum and tie them up.
• Take on the posture that the more questions they ask, the more upset you’ll become.
• You immediately identify yourself as an unwelcome and intrusive peddler or solicitor when you are upbeat and overly friendly. Most salespeople sound like they just won the lottery or just got back from their honeymoon.
• The more negative and tense you are about making cold calls the easier it will be for the gatekeeper to identify you.
• Use first names only.
• The gatekeeper easily identifies salespeople because they usually fold after the third or fourth tough question posed to them.
• Gatekeepers are undermining your goals and your productivity.
• Have the correct pronunciations of their name or their nicknames. These are easily found on their voice mail message.
• Talk first. It creates a sense of urgency, makes you look important and is pseudo-intimidating in a non-threatening way.
• Be polite with an edge.
• Don’t be the stereotypical overly nice Mr. Nice Guy by overly validating the gatekeeper.
• Gatekeepers have the power to say no but not yes. They are power hungry or stroke deprived. For some gatekeepers, this is a power play. Gently put them in their place.
• Take on the posture that you are a very busy, slightly impatient, no BS professional, highly compensated and “don’t mess with me” executive.
• Use silence as an offensive tool. Nature abhors a vacuum.
• Prey on the gatekeeper’s two biggest insecurities: they were impolite to an important person or customer and they didn’t let someone through that they should have.
• Be as familiar as possible in tonality and speech.
• Salespeople who say “um” before they start a sentence announce to the gatekeeper, “I’m a salesperson.”

As with anything in sales, the most efficient and effective tactics are the ones that require the most skill and finesse. I’ll outline the advance tactics first and progress down the ladder to the intermediate and beginner levels.

Advance Level

Gatekeeper: “Good morning, ABC Company.”

Salesperson: “Is John there?”

Gatekeeper: “May I ask who is calling please?”

Salesperson: “Sure, you can.” or “Please do.”

Gatekeeper: “Your name please?”

Salesperson: “Rick.”

Gatekeeper: “Where are you calling from?” or “What’s your company’s name?”

Salesperson: “Chicago; it isn’t long distance.” or “Company?” or “Myself.”

Gatekeeper: “What is this about?”

Salesperson: “Please tell him Rick Farrell is on the phone. That should be fine.” or, “When we speak, he’ll know why.”

Gatekeeper: “Will he know what this is regarding?”

Salesperson: “Yes, Rick Farrell.” or, “I sure hope so or we are both in trouble.” or, “I told you when we speak he’ll know.”

Gatekeeper: ” I need more information to put you through.”

Salesperson: “Is there a problem? If not, please put me through. I’m sure you can appreciate that I’m busy.” or, “Just put me through for no other reason than me telling him you deserve a raise.”

Here are some more advanced tactics with a slight twist:

Gatekeeper: “Mr. Smith’s line.”

Salesperson: “Did you say that this is Jim’s office?”

Gatekeeper: “Yes.”

Salesperson: “Who is this please?”

Gatekeeper: “This is Marsha.”

Salesperson: “Oh Marsha. This is Rick calling for Jim. May I speak with him?”

Gatekeeper: “Your company?”

Salesperson: “I’m with SDI (instead of full company name.) Kindly tell Jim I’m holding for him.”

Gatekeeper: “Is he expecting your call?”

Salesperson: “We didn’t set up a specific time or appointment, but if you could let him know I’m on the line that would be appreciated.”

Gatekeeper: “Does he know you?”

Salesperson: “We’ve spoken before.”

Intermediate Tactics

Gatekeeper: “Who’s calling?”

Salesperson: “It’s Rick for Todd. He’ll know what it is about.”

Gatekeeper: “What company are you with?”

Salesperson: “BSI.” (use initials)

Gatekeeper: “What’s this about?”

Salesperson: “I’m calling him back.” (Notice I didn’t say I’m returning his call. There is a big difference.) or, “I have no idea. I was hoping to find out when we talked again.”

Gatekeeper: “Will he know what this is about?”

Salesperson: “Tell him Larry Letterer referred me from Acron. (make up a fictional name and company. This will get you in 25% of the time.) Then tell the prospect, “Larry Letterer suggested I call you but he wasn’t 100% sure you’d remember him. He’s a client of ours.” Then go into your script. You’ll find 90% of the time the prospect won’t bat an eyelash.

Beginner tactics

Gatekeeper: “May I tell him whose calling?”

Salesperson: “Please do. I’d appreciate that.”

Gatekeeper: “Your name?”

Salesperson: “I’m Rick Farrell.”

Gatekeeper: “What’s this about?”

Salesperson: “I have a note in front of me now to call him. I was hoping he could tell me what it is about. I’m curious what this is about.”

Gatekeeper: “I’ll put you through.”

Prospect: “Dave Smith.”

Salesperson: “Dave, this is Rick Ferrell. I just got back from being on vacation for 3 weeks and I’m embarrassed. I must confess I’m at a loss as to the origin of this message that I have in front of me requesting me to call you. Since your name isn’t familiar to me, as a courtesy I thought I would call you back to figure out what this was about.”

Prospect: “I have no idea.”

Salesperson: “I was afraid of that. I wasn’t sure if you called us or you were referred to us by one of our clients. We generally only work off of referrals here. Is it possible you went to a trade show or conference and stopped by our booth and dropped your card off? Maybe you sent in one of those silly bingo cards from a trade magazine when you were flying last? Or you responded to an Internet offering?”

Prospect: “No,” he responds, now slightly irritated.

Salesperson: “Since neither of us have an idea how I got your name, let me tell you, if it is ok with you, what we do and you can tell me if it makes sense for us to talk any further.”

Here are some other beginner tactics to use on gatekeepers:

• “I know you haven’t met me and I know your boss is very busy. I also know I have something very worthwhile to give him that will help him run his business more efficiently and he would want you to provide me with an opportunity to talk to him.”
• “I know, from having my own gatekeepers, what your job entails. I know it’s tough for you to decide who he speaks to. I also recognize that he is very busy and I wouldn’t want to waste his time any more than mine, but believe me, what I have to say will be well worth his time and I know he will appreciate that you gave me that chance to speak to him.”
• “I’d rather discuss it with him personally if you don’t mind. Thanks.”
• “I’m sure you are overwhelmed with calls like this with salespeople wanting to get through to your CEO. Let me tell you why I called and you can tell me if it makes sense for you to put me through. He’ll only be interested in talking to me if he has problems in the following areas…” Then enumerate all the pains.

The following are additional tactics to get past gatekeepers that are zany and fun to try. Don’t take all these ideas literally. Use them as concepts to mold your own ideas. Keep in mind that anything you say that projects familiarity will put you in a stronger position. Only a close friend or acquaintance would say the following absurd things:

• “I’m calling to tell him we found the head of his 2 wood on the 4^th hole in the woods. I’ll never invite him again.”
• “Is he napping?”
• “Does he make new business calls for your business? I just got back from being on vacation for 3 weeks. I hope this is important.”
• “I suggest you don’t tell him, I’m with the IRS.”
• “Is the overpaid and underworked John Smith in?”
• “Is Mr. #1 in? Tell him #2 is on the phone.”
• “Don’t tell him for crying out loud that it is his bookie.”
• “If I were his therapist, I don’t think he’d want you to know. Could you put me through?”
• “Can you tell him who’s calling? Sure, but I’m afraid it would ruin the surprise. Let’s not.”
• “Can you tell him who’s calling? That won’t be necessary in this case.”
• “I’m at the airport and I’m waiting to board. I have to turn off my phone in 60 seconds.”
• “Can you ask who is calling? I’m afraid you can’t without upsetting me. And you don’t want to do that.”
• “Who’s calling? That won’t be necessary because I’m in a hurry. I’m on a conference call.”
• “Who’s calling? I’m not at the liberty to share that with you. Maybe next time when I come in the office.”
• “This is Baron Von Staatsburg calling.”
• “Who’s calling? Trust me, you don’t want to know and he doesn’t want to know either.”
• “What’s this about? That’s what I want to know from him. Maybe he’s trying to sell me your products. I hope not. I’m not in the market.”
• “Is the rich and famous Dave Smith in?”
• “Is big bad Billy in?”
• “Who’s calling? Tell him it’s George W. Bush.”
• “What company am I with? I’m with myself.”

End-running gatekeepers requires tact, finesse and willingness, in some cases, to really push the envelope. What will help you stick to your guns is the knowledge of all the lost opportunities that you’ve missed because you were never given open access to highly guarded and protected executives. Once you get though to these highly prized individuals you are in prime position because they are difficult for your competition to reach. By taking on a position of importance, familiarity, immediacy and not being subservient, you’ll break the patterns of gatekeepers and greatly increase your conversion rate of getting through to inaccessible prospects.