Sales: How To Get Around Any Gatekeeper

TweetDo you know what it feels like to be shut out by the gatekeeper?

If you have been in business for any length of time, I am sure you do.

I started a business in 2004 (that failed miserably) that required me to do a ton of cold calling.

[Well, required isn't the right word and I will tell you why in a second.]

Anyway, I would get in my car every morning with a map of all of the schools I was going to visit to sell my school fundraising program that I had developed.  My target was the principal of the school.  I would enter the school and would be instantly greeted by the School Secretary —– A.K.A.  —- THE GATEKEEPER.

“Can I help you?” the GATEKEEPER would say skeptically.

“I would like to speak with Mrs. Green.” I would say brimming with a confidence that only youth and two cups of coffee can muster.

“Do you have an appointment with Mrs. Green?” the GATEKEEPER would say furrowing her brow and suddenly appearing much more imposing to me than her 120 pound frame should.

“Not exactly.” I would say.

“What is this regarding?” the GATEKEEPER would say as though she had done this song and dance already 3 times today and a zillion times in her gatekeeping career.

“I have a fundraising program that I think would work well for this school.” I would say, hoping that this would allow me to evade her obvious next move that would put me in check mate.

“Mrs.  Green has appointments for the rest of today, do you have a business card or brochure that I could give to her?” the GATEKEEPER would say already moving on to her next task.

“Sure.” And I would hand over more literature that would likely be in the school recycling bin before I reached my car.

The Many Faces Of The Gatekeeper

The gatekeeper isn’t just the secretary that is blocking the bosses office.  It is also

• Voicemail (ever been dumped into voicemail when calling over and over again.  Good times.)
• Caller ID
• Email Spam Filters
• Pop-Up Blockers
• Tivo
• On Demand Movies
• iPod Music Listening

The gatekeeper is all of the things that you and I putting in front of us as barriers from the RELENTLESS advertising and sales onslaught.

You do it.  I do it.  Your prospects do it too.

Change The Conversation

When you cold call someone, run a radio spot or newspaper ad — you are trying to do what they taught us in MBA school.

• Offer a Product
• Give them a benefit
• Give them a Price
• Offer a Promotion
• Show them the Place to buy it

The ShamWow Mop holds 12x it’s weight in liquid.  It  is $19.95 and for the next 48 minutes you will receive a second ShamWow Mop free.  Order now by calling 800-555-5555.

Despite the fact that the ShamWow seems to be all the rage, this type of interruptive, 4P marketing conversation is disappearing before our very eyes.  I don’t think we quite comprehend yet the massive change that business is currently undertaking.

As Seth Godin says in Meatball Sundae:

“It’s human nature to think the future will be just like the present, except with cooler uniforms and flying cars.”

But the truth is that we need to change the conversation if we want to grow and sell anything in the future.

How can you cozy up to that prospect and get past the GATEKEEPER?

Easy peasy.  Just start creating marketing conversations that your prospect DESIRES.  Start creating content that matters to your prospects.  Start creating value for your customers using content that takes little financial investment and quite a bit of sweat to create.

Create articles, white papers, videos, infographics, blog posts, mp3 audio, tweets, facebook updates, picture galleries ——>  but make sure that they create VALUE for your prospect.

When you create value ——->  your prospect will seek out, share and interact with your marketing.  When this happens — you win.

What are your thoughts?  Does cold calling still work?  How do you get around the GATEKEEPER?  Does cold calling still work?

Tagged as: content, Getting The Sale