How do you get past the "gatekeeper" when trying to get into a company to find a person?
What should you say to get around the gatekeeper at a company without being deceitful? How much information should you reveal to the gatekeeper? How should you introduce yourself to the passive candidate when you call? What is ethical in sourcing and what isn't?
Answers (70)
Robert J
Program Manager | Sr. IT Specialist | IT Architect
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Well first of all, who is this "Gatekeeper" of which you speak? If you need to contact someone at a company - contact them. I personally call them and say, "I'm looking to reach...", or some such. If I find their eternally busy, I'll get their email and send them a note. If they don't respond, I'll continue until one avenue of communication or another opens.
Most people - do not have "gatekeepers". That's a misconception. If you have something to say to someone, there are ways to locate them and say it. Do your research, and communicate.
Tony S
CFO - Venture Capital
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Work on getting a better referral into the company so the gatekeeper's role is reduced.
Greg B
Dir Franchise Development, Solar Universe; COO, GolfTraxx
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Hey JB -
Forget trying to do it yourself! Use a name generator who provides the name, the title, the email address & a direct dial number. Worth every dime for very senior level searches.
Links:
Suggest doing some research on the company via ZoomInfo or another source and find out the name of someone you would like to speak with rather then just a title (or doing a cold call) and then contact that person directly. Ask them for assistance in connecting with the 'correct person who handles"....
Kenneth K
Freelance Business Consultant ► Hawaii / Philippines ► All points between ► klkodak[at]gmail.com
In order to get around the gatekeeper, it is critical to know the script almost all gatekeepers employ. Gatekeepers are taught to answer the phone in a very specific way, and the script pattern they use is designed to get as much information from the caller in order to make a decision about who to let through and who to block. Great gatekeepers are trained to block everyone unless they make a compelling argument for why they should be let through or the person they support has specifically indicated a caller should be let through.
I prefer the honest approach... tell them openly and honestly why you want to contact the decision maker. Gate-keepers usually appreciate it when they can be spared "the dance" and there are no ethical issues in being honest. Also, be as interested in them as the person you are trying to contact - you never know what helpful information they will give you if you take the time to learn about them.
I know at my company one of my coworkers just tells the "gatekeeper" that it is a personal business call, because it is, it doesn't involve them, just your contact and how it will affect his/her life. I have gone into several companies and most people that I've come across have a teenager or someone who is still in college as their "gatekeeper" and it just trying to make ends meet, they haven't been real picky and they are nothing to be afraid of.
These questions can easily be answered with 5 to 7 years of intensive on the job training.
In short, you should know a lot more about the company your attempting to penetrate then the individuals who are trying to screen you out.
Hi JB,
Long time no chat. While I am not a Recruiter I would imagine that stating your name (no title) and requesting to speak with your 'target' regarding an important personal matter should suffice. It's vague enough to where you wouldn't actively lie to the 'gatekeeper' while achieving your objective.
Just a thought...
Greetings from Austin!
Manuel
The greatest single piece of sales advice I have received with regards to dealing with "gatekeepers" is to ENGAGE them rather than trying to "get past" them in the initial call. As sales people, when we view receptionists or exec assistants as obstacles, they FEEL like obstacles and automatically do their best to, well, guard the gate!
On the other hand, when using language such as "I'm hoping you can help me" and implying that you can help her boss and that if she helps you she can share in the glory, I have been much more successful in receiving help to connect with the correct C-level individuals. (You might not even have the correct target on your list- the gatekeeper will know if you let them help!)
Also, don't make the mistake of overlooking the fact that in larger businesses, depending on the product or service you are selling, that "gatekeeper" might actually be your decision-maker! Dismiss them and lose the sale.
My 2 cents, hope its helpful!
Clarification added September 19, 2007:
*it's not its, sorry.
Become good friends with the Receptionists of the companies you're trying to get in to - takes time, but is absolutely worth it. Amazing what information people share with the Receptionist....
Depending on the Gatekeeper, they could very well be your friend in getting in. Never treat them like a "Gatekeeper".
Treat them exactly like the end person you want to talk to and believe you me, they will respond accordingly..
Remember that when you call an organization, you are a customer, client, potential partner, investor, or a sales guy... They don't know that, so remind them that you could be any one of these .. :-)
Good Luck and Good Selling..
The best approach is to be upfront about your intentions. Although I am not a recruiter, I do cold call companies from time to time to discuss product ideas and/or business opportunities.
There are many ways to contact people within a company, and most often people are willing to help you if you are up front about your intentions and you demonstrate genuine expertise/interest in their industry.
The key to making and developing new contacts is your own credibility.
Sarah M
National Merchandise Coordinator at M.O.M. for America
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If you have tried all the other suggestions, using zoominfo etc call during lunch, early in the am or after hours when someone else maybe answering the phone.
Gatekeepers can be a valuable ally, as senior admins often have insight into the structure of their organization and know who to call, how to reach them, and for what. If you can befriend the front desk admin or the secretary to an exec, you'll find a whole new source of information, and a pathway to the right people. Whether the calls are aimed at recruitment or sales, a step forward on the right foot with the admin staff can get you where you're going a whole lot faster.
In regards to ethics, my personal beliefs are grounded in honesty. Although some clear initial hurdles by lying or bending the truth, I firmly believe that an overall approach based on developing trust fosters a long-term business relationship and will be apparent throughout the entire sales or recruitment cycle from the initial call to the close. Not that delicate situations don't require the mastery of a light touch, a proper turn of phrase, or the use of general ambiguity - but I've found that truth (even if vague) is the best tool.
William U
Finding, attracting and engaging talent for brands that want to make a difference in the market and community.
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Hi JB!
Maureen Sharib is the best at this...
Cheers -
Links:
I agree with Brittany and Uri (above)... invaluable! But it doesn't always work, you have to learn to read people and be able to instantly reprogram your response according to the personality you have on the phone. Many "gatekeepers" wouldn't make friends with a little fluffy bunny let alone you. While you're experimenting, the before hours/after hours phone system approach can save you some anxiety. You've got to ease into it and find the "you" on the phone that works, it becomes second nature. Of course, doing your research to find specific contact numbers help for higher level execs but when your after low/mid level direct dials can be minimal or non-existent and you are forced to deal with the ever present "gatekeeper"
It depends whether you're trying to biz dev a new client or source a candidate.
If you're on a biz dev trail, then it's relatively straightforward. Do some research, get a name and email address, and send some sort of short marketing email (max 5 lines), asking whether you can have a few minutes of their time at 3.30pm (or whatever). Then (unless he's told you to go away) call at 3.30pm and tell the gatekeeper that you've scheduled a call at this time. At the very least they'll confirm with the boss, and if you don't get through then, well it probably ain't gonna happen anyway.
For candidates, I find that the more networking you do, the more likely you are to get a direct line.....
Joshua L
Senior Recruitment Professional
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There is no best answer here except a general one since each specific case will demand that you take a catered approach to that situation. Some of the folks already provided some pieces to the puzzle. Take the honest approach, I am all for that. Do your research, definately. Try to be creative, off business hours and lunch. It's all of the above and more. Think of the modern interview. After a while, it gets easy to detect the phonies. Good luck.
John T. Sloan [LION] S
MyLink500, TopLinked.com (john.t.sloan@lmco.com) (3150+ connections)
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Hi gatekeeper, this John Sloan with Lockheed Martin. Can you put me through to someone in your contract administration office? What's this in reference to? A contract you all hold that we are interested in bidding on.
Simple as that........don't ask how, just do it....practice makes perfect just like in everything else. Tell the truth and see if you can get what you want. If that doesn't work....try another route but don't compromise your integrity for the company you currently work for............that's not why they hired you. Names sourcing or executive recruiting is such a niche because everyone is afraid that they will get shot down.............you act like this is the only way in...the only person who can hand you the keys to the kingdom....they aren't............there is always more than one way or gatekeeper to talk to ...........just don't ruse. You will regret it in the end.
John T. Sloan [LION] S also suggests this expert on this topic:
Ben R
Marketing Specialist
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Doing your research to know who you’re talking to and Jigsaw.com may be another tool for you to do that. But the best I have found to "get past" is to make them laugh. Talk to them like a person who knows that sitting on the phone all day is not what life is meant for. When you show them that you’re human and you know they are too, it will get easier.
I tell the gate keeper the truth. When that fails I send her some flowers and ask for her help in setting up a 10 min meeting with her boss and that has worked well for me.
Jim F
Business Development "Rainmaking" Consulting IT cme4dp (at) aol dot com open to contacts LION Toplinked.com MY500.com
What you are missing is that the answer is literally right in front of you. LinkedIn is the answer to gatekeeper avoidance. The key to gaining admission into a client company who could benefit from your product/offering/service(s) is a champion. If you have a network of some size you can locate the individuals inside an organization (In my case Chief Knowledge manager of Chief data architect and focus your efforts in his/her direction. If you miss with one individual and the company is of a certain size you probably have 2 to 10 more options. This is where bigger is better. LinkedIn is a miracle tool to get your message inside a new client firm. It also helps to have a quality solution to offer. Plus a goodly percentage of the "gatekeepers are LinkedIn people also.
Jim Fenton
www.neosllc.com
Joseph K
Director of Sales & Business Development - Global Immigration Processing + Technology = VISANOW
1. Call before or after the gate keeper is there
2. Zero out on voicemails - use automated systems to transfer to target OR use other people (even other Admin's) to locate target
3. Call people close (in vicinity and above in hiearchy) to target
4. Find/ask and use direct dials of target
5. Find/ask and use email address of target
And finally
6. If the gatekeeper is there, be direct and be honest
Alejandro C
International Executive and Consultant, focused on high-technology Sales and Business Development
Nowadays less and less people rely on gatekeepers. Nevertheless, I have found interesting cases, especially in the International world, where such species still thrive:
1. The formal gatekeeper. Usually an assistant with strongly delegated functions, including the bouncer role. My best advice would be to consider him/her as the first relationship to make. Keep in mind that this person´s job is to actually facilitate the right meetings.
2. The makeshift gatekeeper. In other words, someone who feels his/her role is to make your life miserable by protecting someone from you. Again, making this person feel important is the first rule. However, it would be completely legitimate to bypass the goalkeeper using any of the suggestions from the other emails (research, sending a door opener, teaser, etc).
3. Gatekeeping systems: adorable gadgets designed to keep people isolated. I have found this the preference among IT departments. Anything from Access Control to Artificial Intelligence. My advise here is inspired in an actual story: join the same party, club or just a two-minute ice-breaker at the same restaurant your target is having lunch at. Of course, you will need to do some research.
Cheers,
Alex
I try to remember that the gate keeper also has a job to do. Information is the key and an open approach has on average the best chance of success. If you are any good at your job you will have done your research first. In europe if it a real cold call then the minimum objective is to get information on the company, what it does, how many people work their , how many shifts, names of the principle company officers, be polite and if you are repulsed make a point of thanking them for their time and looking forward to the authorised return.
Links:
Hey, JB
The most direct way to get around a gate keeper is to come prepared, You must know exactly who your looking for, and what department he works in. Most will pass you with just the phrase, "It's personal", however, the more veteran gatekeepers will inform you, "if it's personal, you should reach him/her on their home phone number" lol, This is were you must have a gift for the gab!
My 2c
Corenzo
JB,
The first thing I would do is google the name of the company and see if you can't get the name of anyone within the organization. Then, call the company and say "This is JB Smith calling for John Doe." Almost sounds like you have already spoken to this person before. If need be, you could follow that up with, "I was scheduled to follow up with John today, is he available?" Once you get through to John Doe, tell him who you are and why your calling, if nothing else, he can tell you who you should be calling in the first place.
Good luck!
-Randy Schwartz
David C
Motivating Dream Job Career Coach - www.davidcoupercoach.com
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Certain senior people do have gatekeepers whose job is to make sure their valuable time is not wasted! Ways of getting around this include:
* Best advice get a referral but if you can't.
* Treat the gatekeeper as a fellow professional not as a negative "gatekeeper". A more friendly term is executive assistant.
* Create a relationship with them - ask for their name, empathize with their busy workload, strike up a real conversation, e.g. if they sound like they have a cold comment on it.
* Court them. In some industries, such as entertainment, today's assistant becomes tomorrow's executive.
* Call before 8 and after 5 or 6 - often you will get through to the decision maker directly rather than to the assistant.
* Try calling one digit different. If you have 2551 as the extension try calling 2552. Sometime executives will have additional numbers that may not be screened.
*
Well, I can use an example from my experience in the commercial lending field. When calling on branch banks to talk to the commercial loan officers, my goal was to let them know about a stated income stated asset commercial loan we had to help them with their loan turndowns. The gatekeepers kept all people wanting to see them away. The strategy we used, and it ended up being extremely successful in both approaching loan officers, and also realtors was as follows: Hello, who can I speak to about small commercial loans? They would call the person responsible, we would go to their office, and I would immediately tell them who I was, and what I was there for. I never got a chilly reception, and no one ever accused me of deceit. It was all how the question was phrased. We adapted it for our residential loan officers to get into real estate offices and to speak with realtors on duty. We found if we announced up front who we were, we were asked for brochures, and assured all agents would get one. So, when going in, we asked; who would we speak to about homes in Orlando, or an alternative was; who would we speak to about homes in the $500,000 range? This usually got us the floor realtor or realtor on duty. We would explain who we were, and if they had no desire to talk to us, we thanked them for their time, and left. When using this approach for commercial properties most would introduce us to their sales managers, and invite us to speak at a sales meeting. Just adapt it to your field, it helps lower the resistance. Hope this helped a little, or gave you some ideas.
