wahmsales profile picture
wahmsales profile picture

wahmsales

SDR

WR Officer
Politicker
Arsonist
+8

Pitch the gatekeeper?

I've been having trouble bypassing gatekeepers of certain industries and I mentioned it to my boss.


He suggested that I say to the gatekeeper something like "I'm looking for the person who handles _____, I'm assuming that's you?" to make them feel important, and then pitching them, instead of trying to get around them. He thinks the GK will then direct me to the decision maker.


I don't know about this. Would love to hear the war room's thoughts.



How do you get past the gatekeeper?

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🔎 Prospecting
📞 Cold Calling
13

15 comments

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CoorsKing
WR Officer
6
Retired King of the Coors Knights
I always get their name. You will inevitably be calling back, when you know it will be them you can open with "Hi <name>..." it catches them off guard and disarms them a bit.

Next - @funcoupons (I think) posted a thread about this a few weeks ago - I just am very blunt "Hi <name> can you pass me through to <prospect's first name>, thank you!"

You make it sound like they know you and are expecting the call. 
chubbspeterson
Politicker
2
Business Development
Love these... also when they ask "who's calling", I say "<Name>, with <company>, how are you?"... the how are you seems to work well, they'd rather pass me through than wonder, "oh shit, am I supposed to know who this is?" 
jefe
Arsonist
1
🍁
I've had pages and pages of first names written down. Too often they go in one ear and out the other.

But everything stated by @BigMeech and the @funcoupons thread he mentioned is definitely on point.
Kinonez
Celebrated Contributor
6
War Room Enthusiast
I keep it short and simple, greet the GK, ask for who I'm calling and only if the ask, I'll tell them why. 
hh456
Celebrated Contributor
3
sales
That's actually great, get them to be like, 'oh no that's not me, you may be looking for Tim?'

When I get a gatekeeper I do the ol party crashing technique, "Tim Smith please." or "Uh yeah, Tim please." and then I'm silent.

Sometimes it works to just have the confidence and they'll transfer you to their phone.

Another trick I use if I am having no luck is I call and specifically ask for their voicemail, "Hey its Grizzle I'm calling Tim back, can you transfer me to his voicemail please? I am about to step into a meeting but need to leave him a quick message. Thanks."

Lastly, I press numbers or try another department. If numbers work, I can get a directory, try to find his extension. If I know they have a live line, I'll call operations or something random and be like, "Huh? Dave, no I'm looking for Tim, sorry I pressed the wrong extension." and sometimes they'll go, 'ok no worries here you go'.

Many ways to pierce the veil of gatekeeping.
CoorsKing
WR Officer
3
Retired King of the Coors Knights
I like the call back approach - they always follow with "well why dont you call his cell?" to which I reply: "He asked me to call the office line in case he is busy so I can leave a VM"
hh456
Celebrated Contributor
3
sales
yeah, getting screened isn't the end. just gotta keep trying.

gatekeepers conflate their position with the decision maker. usually the decision maker will hear you out, just gotta get to them.
CuriousFox
WR Officer
3
🦊
If I am in person I always write their name down on the back of a biz card then enter it into the notes section in SFDC later. Then I slide a small pack of post it notes or a few gel pens as I say, "Thank you for all of your help today." That move has never failed me.
goose
Politicker
2
Sales Executive
I like the personal approach. “You probably get a ton of calls so I’ll be brief…”
BillyHoyle
Tycoon
2
Senior Account Executive
It definitely depends on the size of the company. With larger companies I've had some success with a somewhat shady strategy...

Call into department I need to sell into, tell / ask the GK or a random IC the following...

"I'm reaching out from [x company], someone from your team submitted a request for information in regards to our [x solution] but had only left me a generic [email protected] email address. Do you happen to know who on your team may have done this or who handles things like [x iniativies]."

Don't feel awesome about it, but works pretty much every time.
Gyro25
Notorious Answer
1
Account Executive
I usually just tell the gk that *prospect name* and I had an email exchange and is expecting a call from me or that he asked me to call him to a x time. Haven't heard a no from it yet. Whether or not prospect picks up is a whole other question.. Lol
SADNES5
Politicker
1
down voters are marketing spies
The whole "who's calling"

It's X Y. 
Oh, do you know him?
No I am trying to know them though, which is why I am calling vs emails. I hear s/he's a straight shooter and wants to get to the point, they don't waste time with fluff emails. I'm looking for two minutes for an intro.
ATX_Seller
Opinionated
1
Cat Herder
Friendly & transparent is the move here. Pepper in a lil self-deprecation too. 
beachNsales
Politicker
1
Sales Manager
Be friendly. Part of their job is to keep you and other cold callers out. With a tough gatekeeper, I've had success sending a $5 giftcard for coffee. We use giftly.com 
cw95
Politicker
1
Sales Development Lead
Well, the gatekeeper may sometimes be the person ya speak to. When they say ‘oh yes urgh email us’ give them context (a little bit) and make it sound like you’re the don - e.g. I’m just ringing cos you’re on this or that and do this and that and blokey is the right person to speak to’

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