In this episode of the Strictly Sales podcast, sales executive and educator Jeff Hoffman shares his tips for turning one of your biggest roadblocks into one of your greatest assets. Learn how cold calling gatekeepers can get you better results.

As a sales person, by now you’re used to rejection. And one of the most common ones you’ve likely received comes in the form of a deflection from a gatekeeper. “They’re unavailable right now. Why don’t you give me your contact information, and I’d be happy to pass it along.” Sound familiar?

So how do you get past that initial roadblock? In this episode of Strictly Sales, Jeff Hoffman explains his best tricks for turning an otherwise waste of a phone call into a meaningful conversation that gets you what you want and leaves a lasting impression. After all, gatekeepers don’t need to be your enemy. In fact, if you approach them correctly they can even be one of your greatest assets.

This week, learn how to stop assistants from giving you the brush off and start getting you through to the decision makers.

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Key Takeaways

“I don’t understand sales reps who spend their time writing proposals by themselves. If you want to inspire someone to respond, why don’t you ask what they want to see?”

— Jeff Hoffman, M. J. Hoffman and Associates

* Speaking to an assistant can be very powerful (if you know what you’re doing). Most of the time, you’ll get a better response rate from leaving a voicemail to the decision-maker directly than you will with a message with an assistant. But not always.

* Make sure the conversation is memorable. Ask the assistant how long they’ve been with the company, make them feel valuable to you.

* Ask the EA what message you should leave to inspire a response. No need to try figuring this out yourself, brainstorm a message with the person who works closest to your prospect.

* Ask for their name at the end of the phone call. It comes off as more polite and personal.

Transcript

Announcer: This is Strictly Sales with Jeff Hoffman and CeCe Bazar. For more information, go to OpenView Labs or MJHoffman.com.

Cece: Thanks for tuning back in to the Strictly Sales library with Jeff Hoffman. Jeff is here to talk to us today about how you can get over some of the common objections you hear on the phone. The next one that we’re going to be talking about is gatekeepers.

Jeff, when I hear people calling into gatekeepers, where they’re often getting stuck is, “Oh, person X is unavailable right now. Why don’t you give me your contact information, and I’d be happy to pass it along.”

Jeff: Sure.

Cece:  Any Tips here?

Jeff: Yeah, I mean, there’s dozens of objections that we are well accustomed to, from what we call gatekeepers or people that are blocking us, either formally or informally, from access to the people we want to reach. We know, certainly, back in the Strictly Sales podcast library, we had a long one talking about gatekeepers. But for that specific objection, I think there is some stuff you can do. There, unlike other objections early, it doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t want to talk to you. I mean, they’re taking the message, but realize that taking your message or taking your name and number or getting information and passing it on, that passing it on actually decreases the response rate.

You have a better hit rate or response rate from a voicemail to power than you do from a written message from an assistant. That being said, speaking to an assistant is very powerful if you understand what you should be closing for.

So why don’t we do it in a role-play, and we’ll talk about it,