The gatekeeper block is the term for a non-decision maker evaluating your initial presentation and finding it unworthy of sharing with their team. While that could happen at several different points in the sales process, today we are focusing on the receptionist as the gatekeeper.

If you are approaching the gatekeeper as someone to “get past” and not someone to sell to, you are not properly preparing for your sales calls. The gatekeeper is your first champion, and should be pitched that way.

You should have several elevator pitches prepared for different points of entry. Technical team, non-technical team, executive (tech or not) and support team should all have their own talking points. If your pitch goes “over someone’s head” or can’t convey an immediate “ah-ha!” value moment, you won’t often get through a skilled gatekeeper.

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Want to develop a killer gatekeeper pitch?  Look at your current marketing materials. Get a black Sharpie. Run that Sharpie through any sentence that can’t be quantified. Then look at your remaining sentences. Now, after each of those sentences, ask yourself the question, “So what?”

For example, “We provide companies with guaranteed business continuity!”

So what?

So, if your building burns to the ground tonight everyone in your office can still work remotely tomorrow, your clients will still get invoiced on time, and your company records will all be intact.

Now tidy that up a little for a one-line pitch.

“We make sure that companies like yours can keep generating revenue even when an emergency strikes.”

Now quickly ask an open ended question:  “What would the impact on your company be if you lost seven years worth of invoicing or your entire customer database tomorrow?”

Ideally, the gatekeeper is now considering that question, and more importantly, considering who should take this call.

Gatekeepers are your ally, not your adversary.  Get them on board and you’ll get an all access pass to your prospect.

Carrie Simpson is founder and CEO of Managed Sales Pros.