In this video, we show you how to get around the most common gatekeeper objections. There are only really seven objections that will come up again and again, making it very realistic for you to be prepared and have a response for each of them, and that is what we will show you how to do.

 

What is this in regards to?

One of the most popular gatekeeper objections is asking what the call is about. This might not sound like an objection, but it is, because it is very effective at identifying whether the call is from a salesperson cold calling. That is because if you honestly and directly answer the question, you might say you are calling to:

Introduce yourself and your company
See if they need your product/service
Schedule an appointment or meeting
Learn about their needs

If you say anything like that, the gatekeeper will know you are a salesperson and that they need to prevent you from getting through. With that, you want to avoid saying anything close to any of these. And one way to answer this question without lying or misleading the gatekeeper is to simply answer with your value proposition by saying:

Well, the reason for the call is that we help businesses to:

  • Increase the revenue and leads generated through their website
  • Improve the design, traffic, and conversion rates for their website
  • Improve website conversion rates

This is extremely effective because it is kind of like a curveball: it doesn’t give the gatekeeper the information they are looking for, keeps you in the game, and gets around that particular gatekeeper objection.

 

Is this a sales call?

Gatekeepers will also directly ask if your call is a sales call, and the great thing is that you can respond to this question with your value proposition with the exact same response as you would if they asked you what the call is regarding. It is somewhat of a deflection answer because it does not directly say whether the call is a sales call, and it can help you keep the call going. In most cases, the gatekeeper will ask you a different question, and you can then transition to figuring out how to answer that.

 

We are not interested.
We are not making any changes.
We already use somebody for that.
We do not need that right now.

These four gatekeeper objections are all very similar and can be grouped together and classified as “not interested” sales objections. And the nice thing about these objections is that you can respond to all of these with the same responses. For all of these, we can respond in the exact same way, and I will provide three different responses you can use.

The first way to respond to these is by deflecting to your pain questions by saying:

I understand. If I could ask you real quick:

  • How important is it to get your website generating more leads and revenue?
  • How do you feel about the look and feel of your website?
  • How important is it to increase website traffic and conversions?

You can also respond to these by deflecting to your current state questions:

I understand. If I could ask you real quick:

  • Are you working with a website design agency?
  • Are you using any type of CMS platform?
  • Do you have internal resources to help with your website?
  • How many websites do you have?
  • When was the last time you updated your website?

You could also respond to these by deflecting to your pain points:

I understand. A lot of businesses we work with have challenges with:

  • Need to generate more revenue through the website
  • Website needs to be updated and improved
  • Need to increase website traffic and conversions

Do you know if [name/title] is concerned about any of those?

All of these responses are designed to keep the call going; after that, you might either get an answer from the gatekeeper or hear that they do not know. If you can extract answers and information from the gatekeeper, that is great. But if they do not know, you can then say something like:

Oh, I see. Well, that is why it might make sense for me to talk with [name/title] as they would probably know the answer to that.

What is the best way for me to connect with them?

 

Send me your information.

One of the most common gatekeeper objections is asking you to send them your info. They love this objection because it is really effective at getting rid of salespeople and prevents the gatekeeper from having to be rude or look like a bad person.

The worst thing you could do when you face this gatekeeper objection is to let the call end and then spend your valuable time putting together an email with your information that is most likely destined for the gatekeeper’s trash can. What you want to do is keep the call going and try to get around this request by asking a question. You can either ask a pain question or a current state question, and you respond by saying something like this:

I can certainly do that. So that I know what to send you, can I ask you real quick:

  • How important is it to get your website generating more leads and revenue?
  • How do you feel about the look and feel of your website?
  • How important is it to increase website traffic and conversions?

What you do after that is similar to what you may do after the other objection responses in that you use the question to deflect the objection and then either try to get information from the gatekeeper or find a reason for them to pass you through.