In the telesales business,
it's fair to say that one of the
biggest challenges is reaching
the senior decision makers we
need to engage with for our
clients. They are usually
jealously protected by
"gatekeepers" who understandably
won't put through calls that
they think might be a waste of
time. We carefully choose who we
call to make sure that our
client's solutions are being
pitched to contacts who are
really going to benefit, but
there is a real skill in
persuading receptionists, PA's
and switchboard operators that
you're worth connecting to a
busy senior manger or director.
Unscrupulous and unethical
telesales reps will try all
kinds of "dirty tricks" to get
through; causing real damage to
the brand they are calling for.
The worst example I've
personally experienced was a
call that was put through to me
by someone claiming to be "from
the police", only for me to
discover it was a telesales call
once they got through. Given my
profession, I'm especially
inclined to take telesales
calls, but his approach was
little short of disgraceful and
the feedback I gave him was
pretty "direct".
It goes without saying that we
wouldn't dream of doing anything
underhand like this, or our hard
won telesales reputation would
quickly be in tatters, but we
surveyed some of our telesales
agents to get their
perspective....
What is the best way to persuade
a gatekeeper to put you through
to a senior decision maker?
"Always be polite and stay calm"
"Using the correct name and job
title for the decision maker is
really important"
"Be friendly, open and
co-operative and try to build a
relationship without being
smarmy, this usually
means you'll be put through on a
second or third call"
"Be direct and up front with a
clear purpose, giving enough
information up front to give the
decision maker a fair idea of
what the call is going to be
about"
"Be professional and polite -
ask for the named contact and
try to speak to them
conversationally, it's easy to
sound "scripted" when you are
calling all day, even though
we're not..."
What are PA's, receptionists and
other gatekeepers usually like?
"Very helpful if you mind your
p's and q's"
"Some are very helpful indeed,
especially high level PA's"
"It's 50/50 - about half are
really willing and happy to
help, provide names and check
diary availability"
"Most are actually OK, but it's
the really awkward ones we
remember. Some are actually very
apologetic about not being able
to put you through"
What are the toughest
gatekeepers like?
"Difficult - the toughest won't
give you any time at all to
explain what the call is about."
"Stern, short in their responses
and sometimes impolite; they
will always pick up on the
weakest point in your
explanation and positioning"
"Horrible...."
How do Gatekeepers typically
respond when they understand
that you are making a telesales
call?
"Most are positive - generally a
good introduction earns a good
response"
"Some will block the call
outright and will ask for email
to be sent first, either to
themselves or the contact
directly - when we do so this
often opens things up on
successive telesales calls"
"It depends, some are fine and
some will put an absolute block
on the telesales call - it's
generally not worthwhile trying
to persuade them to put you
through if this is the case"
Source: Niall
Habba
link