Dealing with Gatekeepers

I often receive questions about what to do with Gatekeepers or admin assistants. First, let me be clear that I am not into suggesting anything manipulative, demeaning or tricky to “get past gatekeepers”. Rather, use them as a source of information to move towards the decision maker

If you dial the contact direct and get an assistant or gatekeeper treat them like the decision maker. Use your planned opening lines and question. They will likely refer you to someone else in the organization or suggest that they leave a message for the decision maker to call you back if they are interested. Let’s look more closely at these scenarios.

Scenario 1: The gatekeeper refers you down in the organization.

You: “Thanks for the referral to Paul. I promise to call him this week” Typically the managers that I work with want to be involved in the final decision. Do you think this will be the case with (name)?

Gatekeeper: “Yes” (they say yes 99% of the time)
You: “Great, Thanks for your help. I’ll be sure to report back to (name) in a couple weeks to let him know what happens with Paul (name of the person the gatekeeper referred you to)”

Scenario 2: The Gatekeeper says “the decision maker will call you back if they are interested

You: Thanks for passing on the message for me. I appreciate your help. If I don’t hear from (name) in a couple weeks I will be sure to call and follow up directly”.

Dedicated to increasing your sales,

Colleen