Chapter 4. Getting Gatekeepers to Work for You

IN AN INTERVIEW on public radio, a classical musician commented on a particularly complex piece by a contemporary composer: “It appears difficult, but once you learn it, it’s not that hard to play.” Very intimidating at first glance, the piece would scare off less tenacious musicians, who would choose something else to play for competitions or performances. Taking the time to learn the piece, the persistent player discovered the natural progressions in the notes, allowing him to offer something unique and complex when he played in public. What stopped most musicians was the initial, forbidding appearance of the notes on the page. Those same notes, whose arrangement came to make sense to the professional musician, offered a surer way into auditions and performances.

Decoding the complexities of gatekeeper selling situations and taking time to learn strategic methods of managing those situations can make you the master performer within your own competitive circumstances.

If you define a gatekeeper as the person or system between you and your sale, you will find many different types as you work through your daily sales calls. Each type requires a slightly different strategy, but each also is a threshold for you to move through to get to the real decision makers. Gatekeeper examples include voice mail, automated PBX, and live people, who might have varying degrees of involvement with your customer.