Simple Cold Calling Tips to Get You Past the GateKeeper

Your sales team fears one person more than any other—the gatekeeper. These holders of all marketing prospects can put a halt to your marketing strategy faster than you can say “hello.” As cold callers in London, we have tons of experience dealing with gatekeepers. While cold callers in the UK have to deal with slightly cold and direct gatekeepers, there are ways to navigate their barriers.

If you’re having trouble getting past the gatekeepers for your business, then it might be time to consider for some pro guidance. After all, your success as a marketer relies on your ability to get around these people to the decision makers.

So let’s take a look at a few simple tips that can help you and your team get around these gatekeepers.

 

Tip #1. Don’t view the gatekeeper as the enemy

It’s fairly common to view a gatekeeper as an enemy. While it might be true these people do determine the success of your call, that doesn’t mean you should feel like you’re going to battle every time you pick up the phone. In fact, doing this could dampen your skills and offset your likelihood of success.

Instead, it’s better to be friendly, polite, and courteous. Be professional and think about your business’ reputation. If you do you have a far better chance of getting past them to the decision maker at their company.

 

Tip #2. Look at the gatekeeper as a prospect.

Another tactic you can take is to view the gatekeeper as a potential gatekeeper themselves. Change your perspective and you might enjoy serious results. Take advantage of what they have to say and guide the dialogue back to where you want it to be. Tell them about all the good stuff your company does to encourage them to see you for what you do best. Doing so might help you get your foot in the door. You’ll also want to ask them to look up your company so they can learn more about what you do—which should be a good sales tactic that leads to more discussion.

 

Tip#3. Don’t waste your sales strategies on the gatekeeper.

While it is okay to encourage the gatekeeper to connect with your business, be careful not to try too hard to sell to them. They don’t make purchasing decisions. If you waste your time discussing your company with them you could miss a chance to talk to the person who does make the purchasing decisions. Keep your sales goals up front so you don’t spend time talking to a gatekeeper who has no pull over their organization.

Gatekeepers are typically secretaries or junior officers who have the power to control the time of the person who makes decisions.

 

Tip #4. Never lie to them.

Don’t think you can get around gatekeepers with dishonesty. That’s probably the worst move you can make.

Gatekeepers are used to dealing with people like you. They know what you want and they aren’t naive about your tactics. If you lie to them and end up getting caught, it could damage your business reputation. This, in turn, can reduce your prospects with their company.

Your team, or you, should be skilled enough to get past the gatekeeper without lies. If you do want to navigate a particularly difficult gatekeeper, a good tactic is to simply send an email to the decision maker beforehand and let the person know you are trying to follow up on your communication. That’s honest and could get you a conversation with the actual decision maker.

 

Tip #5. Learn their first name.

The best cold callers in London are on a first name basis with gatekeepers. They get to know who they are, and even some of their dislikes if available. A good route to take is to view them as a potential new relationship. Talk to them like a person you want to get to know. Ultimately you want to win them over and make them want to say good things about you and your company to decision makers.

 

Tip #6. Call when they aren’t there.

Of course, if you’re having a particularly difficult time of it, you can always call on off hours to avoid gatekeepers altogether. The morning time, lunch breaks, and even late evenings are great times to call if you want to catch decision makers without the gatekeeper around. You might still reach an office secretary but that person is far more likely to connect you with the person you want to pitch.

 

Tip#7. Be patient

At the end of the day, cold calling is a waiting game. Don’t be afraid to be rejected on the first go. If you can stay patient you will be rewarded. The vast majority of sales actually happen on the 12th call, not on the first. So take that approach to get the best results.

If you want to partner with one of the best cold calling companies in London, we’d love to help. We can help your company get past the gatekeeper right away. Reach out to us today for more information.

 

 

 

How Successful Cold Callers Avoid Common Pitfalls

As cold callers in London, we know what it takes to get real results from your investment in cold calling. We use strategies and tools to get the job done correctly.

For the average businessperson, cold calling is the most dreaded task in the office. It requires connecting with people who don’t necessarily want your product to offer them a service they’ve never heard of. As you’d imagine, it requires sensitive handling for the best results.

If you’re thinking about investing in cold callers in the UK or if you’ve recently sought out cold calling companies in London, you’re in good company. While there’s plenty of reasons for using professionals, one of the biggest is to avoid making mistakes. And here are just a few examples of those mistakes and how successful cold callers navigate around them.

They Learn how to Pronounce Names Quickly

Few things are worse than to be called by a stranger and have them mispronounce your name. If you have a hard to pronounce name, you’ve probably experienced this issue once or twice. You probably also know how it makes that person lose credibility in your eyes. Pros avoid this issue by contacting someone from their company first to see how their name is pronounced.

They Listen and React Patiently

Instead of blowing past objections like, “Now is not a good time to talk,” professional cold callers in the UK are respectful and listen to what people have to say. If they get this response, they take a step back and patiently ask when a good time to talk would be. When the person gives that time, they follow up courteously. Impatience can do very little to gain prospects. Cold calling companies in London who know what they’re doing, always listen and remain patient.

They Speak Like a REAL Human Being

Some folks like to follow a script. While that can be beneficial for some people and in some circumstances, it doesn’t play well with cold calling. As cold callers in London, our callers never use a script word-for-word. Instead, they focus on being a real human being and chatting with prospects as a real person would. It is far more successful.

Cold calling is complicated, but avoiding common mistakes is one of the most important things professionals can do. Securing the lead and making the sale is the end game, and that can only be done with the right strategy.