How to Beat Gatekeepers - 10 Top Tips

How to Beat Gatekeepers - 10 Top tips



- by Gavin Ingham



(c) Gavin Ingham. All Rights Reserved.

http://www.BookShaker.com







Have you ever made a call where you failed to get through to

the decision maker whether cold call or warm call? I bet you

have. I don't think there is anyone involved with sales who

hasn't! Well, these tips are for you. They can be used when

cold calling, warm calling or even calling your existing

clients! However you utilise them, they will help you to

effortlessly improve your call to client contact ratios...



1. Change "please" to "thankyou".



Change the word "please" to the word "thankyou". I know that

this sounds deceptively simple but it is one of the most

powerful techniques that anyone can teach. The reason for

this is that "please" is a request and "thankyou"

presupposes that the listener will take action.



"If you could let John know that it's Gavin, Gavin Ingham on

the line for him. Thank you."



Or



"Yes of course you can, I'm calling from Gavin Ingham Ltd.

If you could just let him know that I'm on the line. Thank

you."



2. Give information sparingly.



I have coached literally thousands of sales professionals,

made tens of thousands of calls and listened to thousands

and thousands more! One of the biggest challenges with

dealing with gatekeepers is that most callers give out too

much information!



Let's consider some of the most common objections from

gatekeepers... "He wouldn't be interested!", "Send some

literature through on that!", "We already have a supplier

thankyou!", "We're not looking at the moment!" and "We have

no budget at present!"



Think for a moment and tell me what all of these have in

common... that's right! They're all objections to

information that you gave the gatekeeper!



The less information you hand out, the more work the

gatekeeper has to do and the fewer the objections you

invite. What's more, if you give information sparingly you

often know what the next question or questions will be so

you can plan your answers carefully... remembering to finish

them with a polite, "Thank you!"





3. Answer only questions asked.



This builds on tip 2! A lot of salespeople answer questions

that they were never asked and thus create their own

objections. Give information sparingly and only answer the

questions asked. Don't be worried about repeating yourself

and remember... the answer to a closed question can be as

short as "Yes" or "No!".



4. Believe that you will be put through.



You get what you believe... you don't necessarily believe

what you get! What do I mean by that?



Well, think about it for a moment... If you believed that

most gatekeepers were difficult, aggressive and that you

were unlikely to get through how would you feel? Pretty

lousy I bet! You'd probably be saying stuff to yourself

like, "Why me?" and "This is doomed to failure!" More than

likely you'd get a bad result and when you did you'd say to

yourself, "See! Knew it!" Even if you got a good result

you'd note it down as "Well, that was just good luck!"



Conversely, if you believed that you were going to get

through and that you had the authority, importance and

seniority to be put through every time how would you feel?

Fantastic! You'd be saying stuff to yourself like, "I'm

going through!" and "Yes!". Chances are you'd get some

pretty good results but what's more important, when you did

fail you'd just say something like, "Well even a great cold

caller like me can't win them all!!!"





5. Transmit seniority.



Senior people get put through without getting beaten up by

gatekeepers. It's a fact of life. If gatekeepers beat senior

people up they'd not be long for their jobs so they cannot

afford to get this wrong. But they don't, do they!! How

come? Well, the answer's simple, senior people transmit

seniority by sounding senior. Simple as that.



Listen to directors in your business, listen to directors on

the phone and model their pace, tone, pitch, pauses and

emphasis. As a general rule senior people speak more s-l-o-

w-l-y so this would be a great place to start!



How will you convey seniority on the phone?



6. Create impression that you're known.



People who are known to decision-makers get through. You

don't ring up your friends and not get through so there must

be several things that go on at the start of the call that

suggest whether you're known or not.



Use of first name terms, not giving too much information and

sounding senior are some of the most important.



Another is using the PA's name. It's often worth finding

this out beforehand.



"Hello, Mary. I hope you're well today. Is John in the

office?"

"Yes"

"Great. Could you let him know that it's Gavin, Gavin Ingham

on the line for him thank you."





7. Use downward inflexion in your voice.



Up to 50% of cold calls have upward inflection on the ends

of sentences. This turns the statement into a question and

invites objection. It also sounds very unconfident therefore

not senior and more likely than not, a sales call.



By ensuring that your voice goes down at the end of

sentences you turn a statement into an order. Practise doing

this and still sounding polite...



"If you could just let her know that I'm on the line. Thank

you (going down)."



8. Use client's first name.



You'll have noticed this already in the short scripts that I

have used. First name terms implies you're known. It also

implies equality therefore senior. I often get asked about

this and I would highly recommend that prior to making a

cold call (in particular) you ring into the client and get

the names of both the decision-maker and the PA.





9. Pre-plan your approach.



Despite the fact that dealing with gatekeepers poses a

challenge for many salespeople, most do not take the time to

pre-plan their approach. If you think about it, there are

only a handful of responses that you can be given. The more

structured you are in your approach to this, the more

successful you will be.



If you get stuck with a certain response don't stay on the

phone and get confrontational! Thank the PA for their time,

finish the call and ask yourself, "What do I learn from this

and how will I deal with it differently next time?" When you

have an answer, write it down and go over it a few times in

your head. That way, next time you get into the same

situation you will be prepared with your more flexible

approach.



10. Practice with a friend.



Whilst the techniques in this article are simple they will

not happen as a result of you just reading the article. You

will need to review the article a couple of times and then

consider what you currently do and how you can improve it.



Once you get to that stage you will reap massive rewards if

you sit down with a friend or colleague and practice

together. That way you can have several "dry runs" before

you actually pick up the phone with your powerful new

techniques.



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Gavin Ingham specialises in maximising sales performance

under intense competition. Get Gavin's book acclaimed

book on selling, "Objections! Objections! Objections!"...

http://www.bookshaker.com/product_info.php?products_id=117

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