Sometimes both enlightenment and guile fail. A human resources manager told me that I’d work through her or not at all. For me, that’s an easy choice. There are people who are threatened, turf-defenders, insecure, envious, confused, and just malicious. Unfortunately, you find them more often among gatekeepers than true buyers. But that makes sense, because real buyers have real power.
So when there is no side door to the fortress and the gators are swimming by, you may want to try to blow a hole in the works. You’ll be successful only about 10 percent of the time, but that’s still better than the zero you’ll wind up with by submitting proposals to low-level people. See Figure 3.1.
FIGURE 3.1 Circumventing gatekeepers
This is a last resort, but because you’re not going to get this business anyway, you really have no downside. The worst thing you can do is waste time developing a relationship and submitting a proposal to someone who can say no but can’t say yes.
Now, what do I mean by “blowing up” the gatekeeper? I mean that you should feel free to pursue the buyer directly, because you may well know who he or she is by now or you can readily find out. You should cease to worry about the gate- keeper’s feelings or directions.
Many people become alarmed at this point that the gatekeeper will undermine the ensuing project if you are successful finding and partnering with the economic buyer. Let me assure you that no subordinate is going to overtly undermine a superior’s project, and your relationship with the buyer will be strong enough so that you can easily point to any such interference and have it corrected.
The language you can use with the gatekeeper can be something like these statements (not questions):
- Since I’ve explained my need to meet with the buyer and you’ve been unwilling or unable to create an introduction, I’m going to attempt that on my own. I’ll mention our earlier discussions and the fact that you’ve been truly helpful.
- I have some other avenues I can pursue with the buyer (you can use a name here, of course), and I’m going to try some of them. Do you want me to mention our discussions or not?
- I’m sorry, but my policy and experience in creating successful outcomes demands that I see the buyer, and we have an impasse here. I respect your position, but I’m going to have to take other steps.
A Digression
I realize that my stance here is somewhat harsh. After all, most of you can point to people in human resources, training, or learning and development who have helped you and perhaps even managed to buy from you with their own budget. But to quote Damon Runyon, “The race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong, but that’s the way to bet.”
If you find a hundred dollars when you’re walking to work, you can count yourself lucky, but I doubt you’d quit your job to support your family by searching for money in the street. There are always exceptions, but they prove the rule. I’m interested in your well-being and in your capacity to feed your family. I don’t care if the human resources profession takes exception or dislikes me.
You cannot succeed in this business by catering to and dealing with low-level people unless it’s to work with them to quickly introduce you to legitimate economic buyers. If you don’t believe that, then you’re wasting your time and money in this profession.
At this point, you find the buyer by:
- Asking others you may have met for an introduction.
- Sending a note (see below).
- Arranging to meet at an event where you know that he or she will be present.
I prefer a hard-copy personal note to e-mail, because it stands out more in a crowd these days. Here is an example of such a note. You do not want to criticize the gatekeeper, nor do you want to make a “pitch.” Remember, you simply want to gain a meeting with the decision maker. That is your next, small, “yes.”
Dear Mr. Watson,
I’ve been meeting with Randy Chase, who has asked for a proposal regarding my services to help with your expansion plans into new markets. Randy has explained what’s needed, and, at this point, I believe I can fulfill those needs.
However, it’s become apparent that you are the person with fiduciary responsibility, and it’s unethical for me to provide a proposal without hearing from you directly about your objectives, expectations, and desired outcomes. We can accomplish that in a brief visit, and I’ll be in your area several times over the next month.
I’ll call on Friday at 10 a.m. to set something up that’s mutually convenient and will enable me to generate an accurate proposal with detailed ROI based on your inputs and information. If that date and time are not good for you, please suggest another or contact me at the number on this letter head.
Looking forward to meeting you.
Sincerely,
When you call, and you get a secretary or voice mail, say, “This is Joyce Randall and I’m calling as promised,” and nothing more. My suggestion is to call three times, and then write a final note expressing your disappointment that you were unable to meet.
Never burn your bridges, but don’t spend excess time trying to make this hap- pen. It works about 10 percent of the time, so it’s worth some limited effort. Don’t copy the gatekeeper, by the way. You’re flying at a higher altitude now.