Dealing with Gatekeepers

Jun 21, 2024

Gatekeeper Do's and Don'ts 


'Getting past the gatekeeper' has been a thing ever since I've been involved in sales

Something that's even more important if we're thinking about selling at C-level

Ability to sell at a more senior level is getting increasingly important in today's environment

Getting access to them a key part of that 

Let's don the orange hat and consider some do's and don'ts

🟠 Orange Hat Thinking 🟠 

Working with gatekeepers 

❌ Don't think of them as a 'gatekeeper'

This promotes a negative psychology that you're going to try to brush them out the way 

What you do as a result probably won't work

❌ Don't use snidey little tricks. 

This is likely to p*ss them off

Ultimately it isn't going to help you in the quest to get access to the executive

❌ Don't be a knob 

This will p*ss them off!

Knobishness can be defined in multitude of ways 

If you need a lesson in this you probably shouldn't be selling


✅ Do think of them as someone that can help you

Use this mentality to guide how you operate

Be respectful and think how you can help them do their job

✅ Do get their title right

Many will be justifiably proud of being an executive assistant - EA 

Refering to them as a secretary or even PA is likely to annoy them

✅ Do remember that they understand what an executive is looking for

They're making decisions for them on a daily (hourly) basis, so will be able to judge how what you're proposing will impact the execs objectives

🔶 The execs objectives 🔶

Let that sink in 

They understand these

They are there to help them achieve them

They align all activity to this

Showing YOU understand and can align to them is your primary objective 

That's your key to success

Are you ready to increase your sales?

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