Direct answer: Stop trying to get past the gatekeeper and start building a relationship with them instead. Office admins, executive assistants, and switchboard attendants often know the org chart, the reporting structure, and the direct dial you'd never get from a rushed transfer request.
Most reps treat a gatekeeper as the first obstacle standing between them and a decision-maker, and there's no shortage of advice on how to get past them. Here's the part that gets missed: those office admins, executive assistants, and switchboard attendants carry real knowledge about the company, and that knowledge can help you win more business. The plan is simple. Stop trying to get past gatekeepers. Start building a relationship with them instead, and make them part of the sales cycle.
Be Personable With the First Person Who Picks Up
Talk to the first person on the line instead of immediately asking to be transferred to a decision-maker. Assuming they don't know anything about the topic can mean missing a real opportunity. A good executive admin can often give you an org chart and a reporting structure just by being asked directly. Being personable can also get you a direct dial or a confirmed email address you'd never have gotten otherwise. No matter how strong your own data is, better data wins every time.
Be Persistent Enough to Get Everything They Can Offer
Don't hang up until you've gotten everything a gatekeeper can give you. Working with a gatekeeper is its own art, as much as getting a prospect to commit to a demo. Treating gatekeepers as an obstacle to dismiss gets the same results every time. Building real familiarity, to the point a gatekeeper knows you by first name, has led to meetings with true enterprise companies more than once, sometimes with the gatekeeper patching a call straight through to the decision-maker for a quick conversation.
Be Purposeful With Every Single Dial
The average SDR or BDR makes around 56 outbound calls a day, and that number shifts depending on the company and the tools in place. Every one of those 56 dials should have a purpose behind it. Wasted dials help no one, not the prospect, not the company, not the rep making the call. Every time the phone gets picked up, be ready to have an actual sales conversation with whoever answers.
Working with gatekeepers accomplishes two things at once: it surfaces information about the decision-makers at an organization, and it starts building relationships with the people who can influence those decision-makers directly. Stop trying to game the system around gatekeepers, and start treating them as the first real step in a successful sales process.
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See The Sales BootcampFrequently Asked Questions
Why shouldn't a rep try to get past the gatekeeper as fast as possible?
Because the gatekeeper often knows more about the company than a rushed transfer request would ever surface, like the org chart, reporting structure, or a direct dial you'd never get otherwise.
How many outbound calls does a typical SDR make in a day?
Around 56, though it varies by company and the technology in place. Every one of those dials should be made with a clear purpose, gatekeeper calls included.
What's the practical benefit of building a relationship with a gatekeeper?
It gives you two things at once: information about the decision-makers at the company, and a relationship with someone who can influence those decision-makers directly.