How to Get Past the Gatekeeper When Cold Calling
Part of being a freelancer is persistence: cold calling, checking up on a pitch, or setting up an interview with an important source all take a bit of determination to pull off successfully. But often, an obstacle lies in your way: someone who’s job it is to protect the person you need from such calls.
Previously, just a voice on the phone, today’s gatekeepers have a much wider reach: they filter phone calls and email, shield the recipient from tweets and other social media, and sift through their snail mail. But the result is still the same, they make it difficult for you to get through.
It can certainly be frustrating, but getting angry won’t further your career, nor will giving up completely. If you really need to get through to someone, try these ways to soften the gatekeeper:
- Stay polite: No matter how terse the gatekeeper may act, remain polite and unruffled. Eventually, he or she will feel guilty behaving nastily to someone with such good manners, and they’re bound to soften a bit.
- Get on their level: Verbally recognize that you know they’re just doing their job. Suggest that if they just pass along your message, or set up an appointment, you’d be happy to get out of their hair.
- Work with them: Ask how you can better accommodate them – when would they like you to call back? What is Mr. X’s preferred method to set up a meeting?
- Butter them up: A gift can warm the heart of anyone. Take advantage of a nearby holiday or seasonal specialty to break down barriers.
- Get personal: If you have a way with wit, try a lighthearted approach to warm your chilly reception. Or try to tap into a mutual interest or connection.
It’s frustrating to make repeated efforts to get through to someone, only to be shut down. Remember that showing your annoyance, either verbally or written, is seldom going to help your cause. If you feel like you’re about to burn a bridge, step away from the situation and give yourself time to cool off.
If the gatekeeper won’t budge, seek an alternate route: try to connect through someone else at that company, or hook up with your source through a professional organization. Or, wait a couple months, then try again. Perhaps a change in staffing or vacation will mix up the people you deal with. Finally, if nothing works, it may be time to put your energy elsewhere. Perhaps you’ll cross paths with this person informally some other time.
What successful tactics have you used to get past the gatekeeper and through to the person you want to connect with?
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I have never been comfortable with cold calling. It just doesn’t match with my personality. The cold shoulder and defensive attitude of the people answering the phone lower my energy. I rather perfer go to a networking or involve in any social media but cold calling is so out of my way and some how old school.
It is true that cold calling is so old school, but there is a reason why it is still being used – it works. Social media and other related marketing strategies may be effective in reaching prospects and decision-makers, but you still have to make a call if you want to have any chance of generating sales leads. Ideally, you should augment your networking skills with cold calling tactics.
I have worked as a “GateKeeper” in the past. I have to say that I learned alot from that experience.
Most people are calling a service/support number to try to help out with Web Design/SEO/Marketing and this is the wrong approach.
I would take your information and submit it up, where it would go in a “Never work with this person folder”
Make sure your calling the correct number, or following the correct steps to get in contact with the company.
Most of the time if your calling their Service/Support number your reaching a call center and your wasting upwards of 1 dollar a minute of their money while your on the phone, taking up the time of someone who is suppose to be helping their customers.
Really the wrong way to try to get work or network. If you hit a “GateKeeper” your probably calling the wrong place and likely to get blacklisted.
Having been a receptionist and a pa in various companies, I’ll let you into a little secret. It’s not the people who answer the phone who are the gatekeepers. In most cases they’ve announced your call to the person you want to speak to and that person has said “who?? never heard of him!” or “tell them no!” or “say I’m in a meeting or something”.
The best thing to do is ask them what their procedures are to introduce your services. Worst thing to do is come across as fake, over confident or seeming like you’re trying to butter them up.
I’ve been an Executive Assistant and had my share of cold callers and accounts receivable officers on the phone, next to rescheduling a meeting for the umpteenth time it’s possibly the least pleasant part of the job.
In addition to Code Monkey and Anon’s excellent points here are a couple from my experience:
Introduce yourself properly and clearly! I’m not going to talk to you or pass you on to my boss if I can’t understand you.
Don’t just launch into the spiel, it’s wasted on me, you’ll only have to repeat it if you get to speak to the exec.
Do *not* use my first name repeatedly through the call, it’s creepy and impolite because you don’t know me.
Don’t call back the next day if I’ve said to call in a week/month/six months.
If I’ve asked you to remove the phone number from your call list because we’re not interested in what you offer, do so.
When you’re on the phone with the gatekeeper, please consider they may have a 12 line incoming system to deal with, so they genuinely don’t have time to listen to your sales pitch.
I loathe cold calling from both sides of the fence. I hate making the calls and I hate receiving them. I think the suggestion to make contact via professional networks is excellent, you gain a legitimate entry point to your target so when you call the exec is more receptive. When the gatekeeper announces your call, the exec is more likely to say “Oh yes, I met him/her at such and such event last week, they said interesting things about , put them through”. And, Bingo! You’re in.
Having been the gatekeeper and the cold-caller, I believe cold-calling today is essentially like any other form of marketing. You know how you have to entice folks with a freebie online and offline – well, cold calling is not much different.
As the caller, when I started as a new freelance copywriter, I frequently got through the gatekeeper because I told the receptionist and the gatekeeper that I was offering to do a pro bono brochure, website critique, sales letter, etc. I told them the truth – that I was building my portfolio and asked if their employer would be interested in having one item crafted at no cost to them. I got a lot of Yeses,” along with email addresses and decision-makers’ contact names. Some of them became clients.
As the gatekeeper, when the receptionist told me the caller was offering a complimentary XYZ, I took the call. I would also hear my colleague do the same when she answered phone calls.
The idea here is that I was offering something for nothing or someone was offering me something for nothing, and it worked. Today, we have to do that with Internet marketing (e.g., download my free white papers or free webinar); offline retail (e.g., buy one get one free or some other severe discount); online blogs (e.g., download my free newsletter or weekly web design tips . . .).
This is what I think getting past the gatekeeper has come to.
Thanks for sharing!
Also, check out these tactics about approaching small vs. large companies: http://www.actimizer.com/blog-telephone-prospecting/posts/2012/june-%281%29/cold-calling-how-to-get-hold-of-the-decision-maker.aspx