{"id":11906,"date":"2012-01-18T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2012-01-18T08:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/?p=11906"},"modified":"2012-01-17T18:48:04","modified_gmt":"2012-01-18T02:48:04","slug":"radio-sales-gatekeeper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/2012\/01\/radio-sales-gatekeeper\/","title":{"rendered":"RADIO SALESPERSON TRYING TO GET PAST A RUDE GATEKEEPER"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Loyal Reader Writes:<\/strong><\/p>\n

“I can’t seem to let this one go!<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

“I asked if she could provide me with a name or two…CLICK! She hung up!<\/p>\n

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

“You’re the king of getting past the gatekeeper<\/a>, right? Perhaps you can offer your expert assistance?”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

1.\u00a0<\/strong> Yes, she was rude to hang up on you.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0<\/strong> You began by doing the worst thing possible: Your opening words made it clear that you’re a salesperson.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0<\/strong> You asked for the wrong person. In that small-town Roto-Rooter office, you want to speak to the highest-level decision maker.<\/p>\n

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….”<\/em><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Important:<\/strong> Whenever you call a prospective advertiser, always write down the name (and title, if you find that out) of the person you speak to.<\/p>\n

And write down the time of the call.<\/p>\n

If it’s 9:30AM, don’t call the next day at 9:30 hoping to reach someone else.<\/p>\n

But you can call at 12:30PM with a good chance of a new person answering the phone.<\/p>\n

Strategy #1:<\/strong>\u00a0 If you know the “rude” person’s name — let’s say it’s “Barbara” — you can begin the call with, “Barbara?”<\/em><\/p>\n

“No, this is Sherry.”<\/em><\/p>\n

“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?”<\/em><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Strategy #2<\/strong>:\u00a0 Call during lunch \u2014 or any time when you can get someone other than the “rude” person:<\/p>\n

“Hi, does Mick Melton still handle the advertising for you guys?”<\/em><\/p>\n

“Mick Melton? Don’t know who that is. But Charlene Karman handles our advertising.”<\/em><\/p>\n

“Great, thanks very much for your help.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Strategy #3:<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n

Call during lunch in the hopes that “the boss” is not there:<\/p>\n

“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?”<\/em><\/p>\n

“Uhhh…I don’t know. The guy you need to talk to is Big Boss. He’ll be back at 2 o’clock.”<\/em><\/p>\n

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

Just a few suggestions. All it takes is a little imagination…and the refusal to let a rude receptionist ruin your day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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. 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