What Do I Mean by That?
Salespeople often get into a situation where they create the gatekeeper because they have a single point of contact. They simply don’t have any other options. They’ve created one person inside that account who either can prevent them from getting too powerful or prevent them from getting anywhere else in the organization. They’ve done no other research and built no other relationships. More importantly, however, that is something we can absolutely control.
Don’t Create Gatekeepers in the Organization
Not creating gatekeepers sounds simple, and it is. All you need to do is make sure that you’re building out a matrix of relationships inside the account. Don’t allow yourself to fall into the trap of a single point of contact. Take an inbound lead, rather than just calling that one individual back. Research them on LinkedIn and build out multiple contacts. Research them on their website as well and reach out via email to other individuals inside the organization. Constantly encourage your contact to invite others to meetings, demos, and discussions. If you build out several contacts in the buying process, you will never have a gatekeeper. This is because you will always have someone to call. Not only will this help you close deals faster and with a higher probability, but it will also help you retain and grow those customers for life.
[…] but can see you in that sales call, you’ll drive up engagement and closing ratios. One of my clients has been executing this engagement strategy for years and is outperforming everyone in the industry […]
Love the idea of having several contacts in one organization. QUESTION: I deal mostly with a VP (and her Director of HR). I’ve met the President once or twice and are connected on LI. Would it be advised for me to reach out to him just to ask how things are going? Or would the VP view that as me jumping over her? I don’t want to jeopardize my already-solid relationships with the VP and HR.
Afternoon, Colleen
I’d like to know how you would approach contacting someone else in the organization without offending the person you are working with.
I’ve though of reaching out to praise the individual you’re working directly with but any other suggestions you may have would be greatly appreciated.
There are a few options. 1) try connecting with them on Linked In. 2) Tell your one contact “I’m going to be calling X, do you want to be included in that meeting?” 3) ask yourself, why would you contact be offended and does that matter? IOW – if your contact is offended but they are not the decision maker, does it matter? 4) Say to the person you are working with “I know that X is going to want to have a say in this. Should we invite him to the call?”