A Prospecting Technique That Bulldozes Gatekeepers
There’s a lost art in prospecting that I think many sales professionals could benefit from right now. We’re in a global recession and prospecting is how we will maintain and grow our sales numbers.
Ye Ol’ Gatekeeper
Unfortunately, once we identify a qualified prospect and a decision maker, we have to get past the gatekeepers. Gatekeepers have evolved; they are very sophisticated these days. Below I’m going to provide a three point sales tips process to bulldoze those gatekeepers out of the way.
The irony is that this technique has its roots in old school prospecting sales tips. It used to be called front door cold calling. I’m talking about the kind of cold calling that doesn’t use a phone or email. You’re going to literally walk in the front door and prospect. This is known as premise cold calling these days.
Back To The Future Sales Tips
1. Leave a message letting the prospect know you’re going to physically drop off some relevant information for them. Be sure to tell them exactly (i.e., date/time) when you’ll be there to leave this material and that you’d like to give it to them personally.
2. Show up at their facility at the precise time you specified in your message. This gives you an answer if the receptionist asks, “Is he/she expecting you?” You can simply say that you had told the decision maker you had scheduled this time to drop off some materials. Then the receptionist can provide a legitimate reason why you want to meet the decision maker. You have also been building mind-share with the prospect during this process. Being there and showing up on time is already making you stand out from the crowd.
3. If you aren’t able to meet with the decision maker while you’re at their premise, leave the material and continue to try to contact them later. There is a heightened probability that the decision maker will now take your call. Your site visit represents an effort and interest beyond just leaving a voice mail message or email. Ensure that you have some hook as to why they should be interested in you and your company when you eventually get in contact with them. A hook could be a value added service that you believe might benefit them, one their current provider doesn’t offer.
Sales Blog Wrap-Up
These aren’t rocket science sales tips. It’s nothing more than an old-fashioned cold calling technique that’s been dressed up a bit in this sales blog. Try it and let me know your results. Are you bulldozing past receptionists and assistants? Remember, now more than ever, we need to demonstrate finesse, thinking and creativity.
©2010 Scott R. Sheaffer
Related posts:
- Why Your Prospecting Efforts Bomb
- A Great but Infrequently Used Objection Handling Technique
- A Simple, Effective and Classy Cold Calling Idea
Tags: Prospecting, prospects
We'd like to hear your feedback on this post - feel free to comment below!
January 30th, 2009 at 8:56 am
Trying to trick the gatekeeper( I don’t like that label) will often times back fire and blow up in your face. It’s better to make friends and treat them like you would the prospect. After all their the person who can get you an appointment with their boss.
January 30th, 2009 at 9:42 am
Couldn’t agree more, Jim, and was going to make the same point. Gatekeepers (I don’t like the term either) get treated like poorly by almost every salesperson that calls. Rather than being accepted as part of the sales process, they’re treated as an annoying and unnecessary hurdle. Nobody likes being treated like an obstruction to be bulldozed (sorry, Scott).
Think about why gatekeepers exist: to protect the time of your prospect. Part of their job description is “keep people from wasting the boss’s time so that he can concentrate on whatever it is he does.” When you sneak around a gatekeeper, you expose yourself to a negative perception. I’ve taken calls from salespeople who talked their way in and then walked right to my gatekeeper and chided them for not intercepting the call.
I’m not saying you have to close the gatekeeper, but I’ve found recently that honesty goes a long way. Asking them for their help getting in touch with the boss works wonders. So does acknowledging their role in conserving the boss’s time. It helps transmute your exchange from a cold business conversation to a more human one where both parties stop playing the parts of robots and become people again.
January 30th, 2009 at 9:49 am
Ditto to that Chris.
January 31st, 2009 at 6:23 am
i don’t normally comment on these things, but did the other commentors even READ this post? there is nothing in there that is deceptive to me. he is telling the dm exactly what he’s going to do and does it, same with the receptionist/assistant. the rest is up to the prospect and dm. if this kind of thing makes you queasy, then you are in the wrong profession – really. dm’s assistants are sick of account managers trying to be their ‘friend”.
i’m an account director for a fortune 500 company and have basically used this same process for large ops where i haven’t been able to get through. it works (about 50% success rate in getting to the dm) and i hope you haven’t discouraged other am’s and ad’s from breaking out of the ’same ol’ same ol” which isn’t working so well anymore. what do you have to lose if doing what everyone else is doing isn’t working and you’re not making any headway with the op?
January 31st, 2009 at 7:57 pm
I have to say that I agree with Azelle. The other individuals that commented give me the impression they didn’t get past reading the title. I’ve been in sales/marketing for 30 years and don’t see this as manipulative or improper.
February 1st, 2009 at 9:47 am
last 2 comments got it right
February 2nd, 2009 at 8:44 pm
Sales tips like this are part of the job – whether or not you agree with the term ‘gatekeeper’ and ‘bulldozing’ or not, the article is correct in saying that this is nothing more than a creative form of cold calling. It is important to think outside of the box and smarten up old favourites. Thanks for the tips and the informative article.