How to make gatekeepers your ally

No matter how skillfully a telemarketing campaign is devised, it will certainly fall flat if sales representatives can’t get through gatekeepers. In marketing terms, gatekeepers are those individuals who call the shots on putting through any unsolicited call or message to the decision-makers. Gatekeepers can be receptionists, personal assistants, secretaries etc. For that matter, getting past gatekeepers is an essential every telemarketer has to fulfill in order to make anything of their campaign.

It has been noted that gatekeepers often have an inimicaldisposition towards all the unsolicited selling attempts. However, their unfriendly and unresponsive attitude can be changed if you inadvertently turn them into an ally. After all, gatekeepers are human too and their conduct can be changed and managed by employing a good strategy.

In this blog, we will try to discuss some strategies that can help marketers turn gatekeepers from adversaries into allies. Let’s see how.

Sound confident, friendly, and honest

It is really important to sound authentic and confident if you are trying to establish an unsolicited marketing and selling contact and have to deal with a gatekeeper first. Studies have suggested that telemarketers have 20 seconds on average to make their first impression on the people on the other end of the line.

Ask the name of the gatekeeper and greet him/her in the most natural way possible. Using worn-out and clichéd salutations don’t work when you are dealing with gatekeepers. One must try to converse in an authentic manner without faking too much of the mannerisms. Through having a friendly conversation with the gatekeeper, you might get past the barrier to the decision-makers.

Extend the conversation

People only get friendlier when a conversation has more substance. It is an important aspect that many novice telemarketers forget when they interact with gatekeepers. In the hurry to reach decision-makers, they subconsciously try to shorten the conversation with gatekeepers. Keep in mind that it can’t work like that. Extend the conversation with the gatekeeperto make him/her more familiar with you.

One of the basic things you can do to pull this off is to only ask open-endedquestions. Since such questions can’t be answered with simple yes or no, the gatekeeper will be forced to give you a detailed reply. From his/her answers, you can find additional themes to build the conversation. Often these extended conversations soften gatekeepers and they put through the call.

Avoid desperation

There is no way you can turn someone into an ally by getting desperate. Sounding desperate or making it obvious in your conversation only puts off the person on the other end. Same goes for the interaction with gatekeepers. Therefore, telemarketing calls lingered with desperation mostly end up futile.

Like you, gatekeepers are also doing their job. So, make sure that you are treating them with all the respect. Calling them bytheir first name and keeping the conversation more personalized will help in alleviating their mood and turning them into your ally.