Telemarketers & Appointment Setters: Courting the Gatekeeper

Appointment setters and professional telemarketers often clash with gatekeepers who prevent them from reaching significant decision makers in their target market. However, professional appointment setters and telemarketers should consider these gatekeepers as valuable allies to reach their target decision makers and an influencing factor that could help convert sales leads into sales.

Introducing The Gatekeeper

These employees are the designated vanguards of any company. Gatekeepers can be considered an innovator of business, especially when one takes into consideration the substantial level of influence that they have on their decision maker’s business network. This isn’t about the company receptionist, but the executive assistants in the organization. In countries such as Australia, executive assistants are expected and well capable of setting appointments for their senior executives. They decide which b2b lead generation telemarketing calls to give important company details to and whichb2b appointments to add to their superiors’ schedule, which means that a large percentage of b2b sales leads that fail to convert are the result of gatekeeper interference.

Tips for the appointment setter and lead generation telemarketer:

1.The first goal of appointment setters and b2b telemarketers should be to earn the trust and respect of the executive assistant for a particular sales lead. Converting the gatekeeper to champion the appointment setter’s cause will make the road to the decision maker shorter.

2.Being too pushy is never a good marketing strategy, whether for sales leads or gatekeepers. Soft selling to executive assistants is the best route that should be taken by b2b telemarketing professionals.

3.No one in any successful company has lesser time to waste than the executive assistant. Although they are assistants, they are often just as busy (if not more) as their executives. Professional telemarketers should learn to deliver their telemarketing scripts promptly and be direct to the point.

4.B2b telemarketing professionals should discuss with the executive assistant about how their products and services can help them help their company. Gatekeepers aspire to please their executives, and being a part of an innovative business partnership that could bring vast benefits for their company is a highly attractive opportunity for them.

5.After the executive assistant has provided the details of the company or set the appointment, appointment setters and telemarketers should send him/her a short email as a token of gratitude.

6.Once appointment setters or telemarketers reach the decision maker, they shouldn’t readily dispatch of the gatekeeper. In fact, both appointment setters and telemarketers should continue developing their business relationship with them. These gatekeepers are well informed of the company organizational structure and can be important sources of information such as recent executive appointments. Furthermore, they have access to the executive’s business network, which is most probably comprised of other b2b sales leads.

Executive assistants are often stereotyped as “just secretaries”. Treating them differently than most people do - with respect - and earning their trust will prove highly beneficial for b2b companies. By turning these gatekeepers into guides, b2b companies will be assured of an advocate inside their sales leads’ company. Exceptionally skilled b2b appointment setters and telemarketers are masters of the art of courting the gatekeeper.

Anika Davis - About Author:
Anika Davis is a marketing executive for Leads and Appointments. And has a proven track record in helping b2b companies generate qualified sales leads through telemarketing, search engine marketing and email marketing. Find more lead generation tips and how to's at http://www.leadsandappointments.com

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