How to get around Gatekeepers?

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localdominator

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Nov 17, 2010
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www.trafixs.com
What I mean is how do you get around people that run interference for the owner of the company so you can actually get someone to buy.

Usually, if I can get to the owner it is about a 10 min conversation and I can close the deal, but going upstream is a pain in the rear.

Suggestions on how to get to the decision maker fast...:D
 


localdominator said:
What I mean is how do you get around people that run interference for the owner of the company so you can actually get someone to buy.

Usually, if I can get to the owner it is about a 10 min conversation and I can close the deal, but going upstream is a pain in the rear.

Suggestions on how to get to the decision maker fast...:D
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Calling at certain times of the day (early before anyone else arrives, lunch time, after 5pm), asking for the owner by name, then say they're expecting your call.

If the person asks who are you just say, he knows who I am.

Honestly, deception gets you past most gate keepers.
 
Yeah this isnt one of those usually warriroforum posts that I think deserved a lashing......

But i guess its been a tough week for you .hack?

Anyways OP...follow the lead of Soupy.

You NEED to know the decision maker's name and sound like you EXPECT to speak with him, and make the gatekeeper question her/his authority. If you can make that person doubt their authority and feel like they are preventing something important....you are well on your way to getting the decision maker on the phone 1 to 1
 
lol warriorsforum. thanks.

anyway,

what I have found is that once I get one owner, he or she knows a handful more and I have got a lot of referral biz that way. I am trying to get some larger clients now that have say 50+ locations and looking for some input from you experts :)
 
Find out where he lives and show up at his house on Sunday. If you get lucky, you'll get to go to a 49ers game and do some serious networking.
 
I have considered having someone be my personal assistant that can cut through the crap and get me on with the person I want, and have her schedule calls for me so I can go round closing.
 
DrewClement said:
You NEED to know the decision maker's name and sound like you EXPECT to speak with him, and make the gatekeeper question her/his authority. If you can make that person doubt their authority and feel like they are preventing something important....you are well on your way to getting the decision maker on the phone 1 to 1
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Very easy in concept, but much harder in execution when they can hear your voice if you slip up and try to correct yourself when you realize you slipped up. On the other hand, the tone of your voice and elevated speech at certain points to emphasize something is also going to work to your advantage.

Before you call, do your research and learn about the person you want to reach. Most people trying to get past the gatekeeper don't do this. You might even want to research the gatekeeper too. As you said, you're targeting an owner with 50+ locations and who also has contacts, so it's worth your time to get this right.

When you call, you better have a good strategy for how you'll deal with different situations. Are you going to play on having met the owner in passing at say... their kid's sports game or dance recital and following up with them? If so, you better know if the owner regularly attends those events.

If the gatekeeper gets a little skeptical, how are you going to handle it? It's good to know about them too so you can sound more credible and act like the owner mentioned them and their personality in passing to you in the past.

There's lots of ways to tackle it and it takes practice to switch tactics in mid conversation on the phone since you can't see their facial expressions.

The key to getting in to talk to the owner and selling a story is to not commit to something. You want the person to know just enough to assume something. When they assume, there's doubt about if they were right or not in having met you in the past. That lets you in.

You want them to remember you like Zed from Men in Black said:
You'll not stand out in any way. Your entire image is crafted to leave no lasting memory with anyone you encounter. You're a rumor, recognizable only as deja vu and dismissed just as quickly. You don't exist; you were never even born. Anonymity is your name.
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After you're in, sell them and leave a lasting impression. They won't question it.
 
Reason for the post in the first place was this:

I have a client who owns a chain of dentist/ortho/periodontist locations (12). Once I got to speak with him he was sold on the idea real fast. His secretary on the other hand was a pain in my ass from day one. She was the one who did everything humanly possible to kill the deal. Once I got around her it was easy. I ended up getting the owner's cell # when she was out sick and then got him directly and closed.

Now I am looking to talk to someone he knows and do a similar thing but the company has it's dir of marketing, dir of IT, both which I have on board, but same thing again, getting to the very top.
 
localdominator said:
Now I am looking to talk to someone he knows and do a similar thing but the company has it's dir of marketing, dir of IT, both which I have on board, but same thing again, getting to the very top.
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You have two people who the owner trusts excited about doing business with you. Why don't you use them? Have one of them send the owner an E-mail or put you on a conference call with him and the director you've already spoken with.

It sounds like you're making this harder than it has to be.
 
I've owned my own company for 23 years and the idiots that call always are convinced all they need is 10 mins of my time. I wouldn't give 'em 10 seconds.

There is NO product in the world that I need that is sold to me via some cold-calling salesman. Period. It's 2010 for goodness sake, who buys something from a stranger that calls on the phone or knocks on the door?

Businesses who think it's 1983, that's who.

Get real.
 
creativepart said:
I've owned my own company for 23 years and the idiots that call always are convinced all they need is 10 mins of my time. I wouldn't give 'em 10 seconds.

There is NO product in the world that I need that is sold to me via some cold-calling salesman. Period. It's 2010 for goodness sake, who buys something from a stranger that calls on the phone or knocks on the door?

Businesses who think it's 1983, that's who.

Get real.
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Yes. Phone sales is dead. You should all give up now! There is absolutely no money to be made by calling business owners!:action-smiley-052:
 
creativepart said:
I've owned my own company for 23 years and the idiots that call always are convinced all they need is 10 mins of my time. I wouldn't give 'em 10 seconds.

There is NO product in the world that I need that is sold to me via some cold-calling salesman. Period. It's 2010 for goodness sake, who buys something from a stranger that calls on the phone or knocks on the door?

Businesses who think it's 1983, that's who.

Get real.
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HAHA who the hell is this guy?

+REP thanks for the lolz.
 
Gate Keepers?

Backup to front office
Attach chain to door/gate
Floor it
They come a runnin'
Profit???


Your sn seems deceptively fishy starting a thread like this. I smell a whorrior.
 
I called business owners off of D&B lists, pretty much one of the hardest things to do.

When I would call I would give the secretary the impression that I knew the owner. Either we were friends or associates,

I basically would convey by the tone of my voice that I was a person who didn't need to talk to a secretary.

Call would go something like this,

if the name on the list was Timothy

Secretary answers

Tim Please?
I would say it in a rush and pretend like I knew him, not hi how are you.

She'd say who's calling
I'd give my real name,

She'd say what's this in reference to?

I would say something like the manning documents, which basically was a mailer we would say we sent.

If I was calling for SEM I would say the SEM stuff I sent over, he should be familiar.


You have a much better chance of getting through this way.
 
creativepart said:
I've owned my own company for 23 years and the idiots that call always are convinced all they need is 10 mins of my time. I wouldn't give 'em 10 seconds.

There is NO product in the world that I need that is sold to me via some cold-calling salesman. Period. It's 2010 for goodness sake, who buys something from a stranger that calls on the phone or knocks on the door?

Businesses who think it's 1983, that's who.

Get real.
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Dude your out to lunch...telesales still is a multi billion dollar industry, you need to buy a clue!
 
creativepart said:
I've owned my own company for 23 years and the idiots that call always are convinced all they need is 10 mins of my time. I wouldn't give 'em 10 seconds.

There is NO product in the world that I need that is sold to me via some cold-calling salesman. Period. It's 2010 for goodness sake, who buys something from a stranger that calls on the phone or knocks on the door?

Businesses who think it's 1983, that's who.

Get real.
Click to expand...

dude you are absolutely retarded please leave this forum.
 
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