How to deal with gatekeepers
Keep the gate open
As a seller you often run into the problem where the first person you talk to at a company wants to play the gatekeeper to the rest of their organization by controlling the flow of information and access to stakeholders.
Knowing that closing a deal almost always requires getting multiple stakeholders engaged, this puts you in a tricky position. Do you run everything through the gatekeeper and pray they perform for you or do you go around them and risk pissing them off?
This issue breaks down the problem, covering the following topics:
The two types of gatekeeper
The one simple rule for dealing with gatekeepers
How to get what you need out of a gatekeeper
How to go around a gatekeeper
The two types of gatekeeper
Wants to look good to their colleagues. This is the type of person who wants to be up to date on the latest tech trends so that they can say something smart when they come up in a discussion. You know you are dealing with this type if they ask you for a lot of information but don’t provide much in return e.g. they want your deck and POV on strategy and competitors rather than digging into their problem and your solution.
Wants to avoid looking bad to their colleagues. This is the type of person who either thinks salespeople are idiots who don’t understand the unique culture at their company, or is exploring vendors without approval from their boss, or is just a control freak. Bottom line; they don’t want you interacting with their colleagues in case you make them look bad. You know you are dealing with this type when they tell you that everything needs to run through them and won’t bring other stakeholders into calls.