Working as a freight broker or agent you might have made sales-related calls, so needless to say you should be aware of how difficult it is to get around the gatekeeper. The gatekeeper is an employee who sieves and routes the incoming calls to persons, who are in charge of decision-making. This role is typically taken by a personal assistant or a junior member of the company team.
Look below at seven possible ways to get around the gatekeeper:
1. Collect some sales data. Get any information that could increase your chances of making a deal.
2. Avoid selling to the gatekeeper. This person has no time for reasoning about your sales offer, so don’t waste yours as well.
3. Be friendly with the gatekeeper. Bear in mind you establish rapport and relations with him. Use communication for drawing the sales analytical data.
4. Make use of their intelligence. The gatekeeper is a pathway to the person you are willing to get in touch with.
5. Tell the truth, be honest. Never get round the gatekeeper by deceitful ways. That goes without saying.
6. Try to call outside business hours. Time slots earlier 8 am and past 5 pm may be the most productive to get through to a person who otherwise is not available.
7. Always call people by their first name. It facilitates building connections to people and increases your trust credit.
Extra advice!
8. Find support in other departments. It is easier to reach the person in charge when you are introduced from within the company. So, if whenever you call you are transferred to voicemail, try to be put through to the sales team. By asking them questions you prepared in advance do your best to establish mutual understanding and collect the needed sales analytical data.
9. Try to get connected via top management. If you simply drop in a freight brokerage or a logistics company, most likely you won’t gain much of it. You’d better strive to call the CEO of the logistics company or the head of the department expecting them to further put you through to their affiliates, which, being able to identify the caller, can’t possibly reject calls from higher authority.