– Today I’m gonna talk about particularly how to deal with the gatekeeper, okay? So I’ve got three tips for you today. They’re pretty simple, but they are important, nonetheless. So let’s get right into it.
1. You have to be professional and speak with competence. If you’re saying “ums” and “uhs”, they’re gonna sniff that out. Also, if you simply don’t sound important because you’re not speaking competently, you’re gonna have a problem getting past that gatekeeper. So number one, speak with confidence, okay?
2. Get the person’s name. So many times, I see sales people in call centers or just entrepreneurs or maybe individual sales reps, they’ll screw up because they don’t get the front desk person’s name, that gatekeeper, right? So now when you do the follow up call, like when you call them the second, third, fourth, fifth time, you’re not sure who you’re talking to or if it’s the same lady, right? So we’re gonna use a guy’s name here. Bob. Bob is the gatekeeper. And so when I call and it’s ring, ring, ring, “Hey, thanks for calling ABC supply company, this is Bob.”
I’m gonna say his name back to him, “Bob?”
…and he’ll go “Yeah?”
So now, that helps me remember it, but I’m also writing it down because now when I call the second time, the third time, the fourth time on the follow-up side, when they answer the phone and say thanks for calling ABC supply company, this is Bob. I can say, “Hey Bob, it’s DJ again, how are you doing?” Right?
And maybe if he answers the phone he says, “Thanks for calling ABC supply company, How can I help you?”
I can say, “Is this Bob?”
“Oh yeah? Who is this?”
So having that person’s name is a little more connection that you can have when you make that sales call. So speak their name, write their name down is tip number two.
3. Be professional. You know, there’s this fine line that you have to walk between by being assertive so that you can get past the gatekeeper and then being a complete ***hole that the gatekeeper’s never going to help out in a million years. So, you have to walk this fine line of being professional. You know, be respectful it’s still a human being. You still need to talk to them in a way that you would talk to any other professional.
By doing these three things, it can help you overcome your fear of cold calling. It can help you get past gatekeeper. It can help you make more sales.
Here’s to your success.
