I’ve been looking closely at 10 Ways to Get Past Gatekeepers When Prospecting on the Phone.
We’ve reached number 4, which I think is quite effective:
Call during holiday weeks.
I’m always surprised at how people behave differently knowing there’s a holiday coming. Calling during a holiday week may very well result in speaking with the gatekeeper when they are in a completely different mood.
To me this is one of the easiest things a person can do.
I totally understand how it can rub some salespeople the wrong way in terms of how they’re being asked to use their vacation, but the payout can be significant.
The week of Thanksgiving combined with the last couple of weeks of the year are typically ones where most people are far more laid back due to the holidays.
When you combine this with numerous people taking time off, it can mean offices can be quite quiet. Quiet offices typically mean phones aren’t ringing as much, so when one does ring, there can be an urge to answer.
Voila! You’re talking with the person you’ve been trying to reach.
Many times the gatekeeper is someone who has been with the company for a long period of time. As such, they have accrued significant amounts of vacation time. It seems those with a lot of vacation time are the ones who always take extra time off around holidays.
The result is the gatekeeper is not there answering the phones, often leaving it up to a more junior person (who many times is much easier to get past).
For salespeople who are looking to jumpstart the new year, using the last two weeks of the year to make prospecting calls to get appointments set up can be a huge win.
The reason the strategy works so well is in most salespeople don’t start making prospecting calls to line up appointments in January until after the holidays are over.
The best scenario for you is while other salespeople are making calls in early January, you’re already meeting with prospects and closing deals because you called during the holiday weeks.
Copyright 2015, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Selling: Win the Sale Without Compromising on Price.
