RADIO SALESPERSON TRYING TO GET PAST A RUDE GATEKEEPER

A Loyal Reader Writes:

“I can’t seem to let this one go!

“I just got hung up on by the local Roto-Rooter people. I called to find out who handles the local marketing/media buying. The woman informed me that there was more than one person who handled it.

“I asked if she could provide me with a name or two…CLICK! She hung up!

“So, I called right back, and in my nicest voice said that I thought we got disconnected…CLICK (again)! How rude!

“You’re the king of getting past the gatekeeper, right? Perhaps you can offer your expert assistance?”

1.  Yes, she was rude to hang up on you.

2.  Once you’ve learned you’re dealing with a rude person who has no desire to help you, don’t waste any more time on that person.

3.  You began by doing the worst thing possible: Your opening words made it clear that you’re a salesperson.

4.  You asked for the wrong person. In that small-town Roto-Rooter office, you want to speak to the highest-level decision maker.

If you sell that person on your idea, it might be passed down to someone else. But you’ll receive a much warmer reception when you call the advertising manager and begin by saying, “Mr. Big Boss asked me to call you….”

But some quick online research (more on that in a moment) convinces me that you’re talking about a very small operation. It doesn’t have layers of executives. If you can get the franchise owner excited about your idea, you probably won’t need to talk to anyone else.

Important: Whenever you call a prospective advertiser, always write down the name (and title, if you find that out) of the person you speak to.

And write down the time of the call.

If it’s 9:30AM, don’t call the next day at 9:30 hoping to reach someone else.

But you can call at 12:30PM with a good chance of a new person answering the phone.

Strategy #1:  If you know the “rude” person’s name — let’s say it’s “Barbara” — you can begin the call with, “Barbara?”

“No, this is Sherry.”

“Oh, hi, Sherry. This is Edwina Smith. Listen, I seem to have misplaced the name of your advertising manager and I’m supposed to send him something. Can you remind me of his name?”

If you get a name, now you can call back the next day and simply ask to speak to that person by name, not by title.

Strategy #2:  Call during lunch — or any time when you can get someone other than the “rude” person:

“Hi, does Mick Melton still handle the advertising for you guys?”

“Mick Melton? Don’t know who that is. But Charlene Karman handles our advertising.”

“Great, thanks very much for your help.”

Strategy #3: When I did a search for “Roto-Rooter” plus your town, one of the hits I got was among your local newspaper’s online classified ads. The ad was placed by your local Roto-Rooter, and it was trying to sell a bunch of used kitchen equipment.

Call during lunch in the hopes that “the boss” is not there:

“Hi, I saw your ad for a used UM-4 Hobart dishwasher. Does that come with the installed triple frammis, or would I have to convert it?”

“Uhhh…I don’t know. The guy you need to talk to is Big Boss. He’ll be back at 2 o’clock.”

Of course, you don’t call back at 2 o’clock. You call the next day and ask for Big Boss by name.

Just a few suggestions. All it takes is a little imagination…and the refusal to let a rude receptionist ruin your day.