Marketing – Relationships and Gatekeepers

Understanding where the power is perceived to be in a Business Organization

Part of the reality of dealing with any business is that a lot of times, you come across a gatekeeper.  Someone whose role or assumed role is to control access to the decision maker.  Unfortunately these relationships need to be handled with kid gloves.

Ever tried to contact someone in an organisation and been stonewalled at the reception level or personal assistant level trying to get to the decision maker.

The first part of the process is to start to build your trust and relationship with the gatekeeper.  Irrespective of how much power this person wields, they can make life really difficult for you even if you get to the decision maker.  Lost or late messages, misplaced invitations, emotional blackmail to the decision maker and the list goes on.

The building of trust with this person will allow you to gain uninterrupted access to the decision maker in the future and will also be with their blessing, so any decisions coming back the other way will usually be gratefully actioned within a realistic time frame.

This relationship building however may take some time.  You may even wish to back off and spend some energy elsewhere before tackling it again.  It is amazing how backing off on a prospect can sometimes tip the process in your favor.

The key to building a relationship with a gatekeeper is to take a genuine interest in them, their work, their hobbies, bring them coffee and genuinely respect their time.  The most common wall will be “I’m too busy” or a similar response.   Be patient, make sure to leave a favorable impression each time and tell them when you will be next calling or visiting, put it in your diary in front of them and move on.

At the end of the day, don’t let them upset you.  They are just doing their job (perceived or not).

Sometimes you just have to be creative to get to the decision maker!

An alternative look at this is:

Not dealing with gatekeepers or someone else who is too stupid to engage professionally.  Why butt your head against the wall? Move on!

John Burkhardt – Amplio Business Solutions

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Posted by John Burkhardt
Categories: Human Resources
Tags: Amplio Business Solutions, Business Coaching, Business Development, Business Relationships, John Burkhardt Business Coach, Reducing Stress