Your Best Ally

Secretaries, Assistants, Gatekeepers and other key support personnel: (We will refer to them as S.A.G.)
They are intelligent, valuable and the most important variable in this equations. People misunderstand that these S.A.G.’s aren’t powerful enough to take seriously. Do not under-estimate the S.A.G. They are your most valuable resources, as to find out as much about your prospective client. You just have to be nice and respectful. There might be bitterness and misunderstanding but since you called them and interrupted their day you have to place nice.
As previously noted in our Blug(Business Blog), Our trainer had placed a call to the founder of Carl’s Jr. Corporation. If it wasn’t for the Executive Assistant to the founder our trainer would have not been placed in front of him. The point is, how the interaction took place between the gatekeeper and our trainer.
Lets analyze this scenario:
Cold call placed at 8:27 am Wednesday morning to the Carl’s Jr. Corporate office. The Executive Assistant picks up the phone. (If you want to know how to keep the gatekeeper engaged you will have to take our course) Once the initial rapport building was made we ask one of our first questions “is if this is a good time to talk?”. After getting the OK to talk(ask for permission to speak to that person, even if it’s the S.A.G.). we interrupted their day. There were some probing questions as to who is the overall person that handles all the decisions for the company(Ask who the decision maker is, if you are talking to the wrong person during your entire sales process this can lead to a lost sale). We needed to find out who was the person that specifically handles transaction with equipment.
Our Friendly S.A.G. stated that the best person to speak to talk to was Mr. Karcher himself, at that moment she did not know who would be the best person and that he would have the right contact or knowledge as to whom would help me.( That is another note, call in with the notion that you need help, you are bound to have less resistance)
When the call was patched through we were very surprised to be speaking to the man himself (Mr. Karcher) we share this because we want you to be empowered with the thoughts that a cold call does not have to be frightening and that you can contact anyone. Like our classes on Forensic cold calling, the idea is to approach with an investigative mind not a salesmen mentality. The conversation with Mr Karcher was one of the most memorable experiences to pass along to you. We realized early on in our sales career that having the right attitude (positive) and professionalism anyone can help you get to the top. After about a 7-10 minute conversation with Mr. Karcher he had stated that he would reference me to his legal staff and patch me through with him right away to ensure that the call with him would get me the outcome that I was looking for.
Point:
Be clear with your objective. Don’t sound scripted, that will put up more walls. And don’t be afraid to ask for help. Even if it means asking the big boss for help. Besides he knows his organization better than you. This is where you don’t want to assume. Be polite people, to many times do we hear snotty, cocky, ego-centric people on the phone throwing their title around just to get what they want. Is that really the picture what you want to paint of yourself to your prospective client.
Imagine:
What if you met your client? The reality is that people will judge you on or off the phone. Don’t be that person that person that the S.A.G. talk about when you walk in the room and they say “ohh I remember him/her now that was that awful person I spoke with on the phone”. When you leave the room or that place of business that person is going to highly influence the owner of that company. Why does this happen? Because they work there. You don’t. We are bringing awareness to you, someone has to.

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