This is a video on the topic: “Pass the gatekeeper”.
I was recorded at Diagonal Mar Toastmasters, Barcelona.
To get in contact with me please click here: https://alexvalassidis.com/contact/
To download the PDF and resources related to the video click here: https://alexvalassidis.com/passthegat…
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Pass the Gatekeeper – Subtitles

thank you thank you thank you so before 
the timer starts let me say that the  

the intention today was to have another 
speech so i was preparing for another one but  

on the meeting that we had on saturday uh 
the topic of how to pass the gatekeeper  

was something very demanded so it had a 
lot of demand so i decided to switch it  

and i’m going to talk to you 
about that today so you can start  

counting but i am sure i will pass the time so 
so today’s topic is how to pass the gatekeeper  

okay a guide for effective communication let 
me tell you that it’s a very baffling topic so

i’m a guy that has a lot of hands-on experience 
on the topic because that is what i do all my life  

all my life i do sales in the last 10 years i do 
sales not anymore in person but i do sales on the  

telephone so i call people and i want to speak 
with those guys but between those guys many times  

there’s the the the a gatekeeper the secretary so 
the secretary looks it could be like that that’s  

Kerveros that’s the dock that in the ancient the 
ancient greeks said that that was the dog, that  

uh hold the gates of the underworld so in in 
order to enter the underworld you have to pass  

this nice sweet dog so in order to speak with 
the decision maker that you want to speak  

you need to pass this lady which is the the 
gatekeeper right and we’re going to talk  

today about how to pass the gatekeeper and 
about the nine rules to pass the gatekeeper

So rule number one is be smart and let me add to 
that don’t be stupid so there are ways to pass  

the gatekeeper without even having to pass the 
gatekeeper you can call directly to the decision  

maker you knew that? no so there is like a very 
interesting tool it’s called Lusha it’s a paid  

tool it comes from the fantastic country of Israel 
and what it does it detects the telephone numbers  

and email addresses of the decision makers 
with a very high accuracy so you want to call  

Mr Thomas Schmidt in Germany he sits like in his 
office he’s the CEO of the big german corporation  

you have his mobile telephone number so call him 
directly why you need to go through the secretary  

i advise however to go through the secretary 
because it’s the more soft way but however if  

you see that it’s impossible to pass through the 
uh through the secretary then subscribe to Lusha  

and get his telephone number so be smart. Set up a 
clear goal and your identity so a sales process is  

divided in parts here in this specific task that 
we have is to pass the gatekeeper and talk to the  

decision maker the goal is to talk to the decision 
maker whatever it takes so that’s your goal to  

talk to the decision maker whatever it takes who 
are you as what are you calling as yourself hello  

i’m Alex I’m calling from my office in Barcelona 
no you have to have a personality a persona  

you are the sales manager of a company or you 
are the trusted advisor or another company which  

they cooperate together told you to call 
them so set up who you are before you call

rule number three use the name of the gatekeeper 
so this lady there that she does a very hard  

difficult job every day she sits there and guys 
like me are trying to call her to talk to the  

decision maker or other people they treat her in a 
way that she doesn’t deserve that so if she picks  

up the telephone she says hello I’m Sandy how may 
I help you please tell her good morning sandy this  

is Alex that elevates her you give value to her 
you give her the respect that she deserves to have  

so use the secretary’s name and let’s go to rule 
number four it’s email him first and you hear that  

from somebody that hates emails I don’t believe 
in emailing emailing is for [ __ ] and I say you  

call you call the guys you want to close the sale 
you call the guys but i say here email him first  

why why is that is that going to make a 
difference is he going to reply to your email no  

but what is the purpose of emailing him the 
purpose is the question that the secretary  

is going to ask you does he know what it 
regards if you have sent him an email before  

you are going to say yeah he knows what it regards 
you when you get an email you read it right  

so if she connects you to the guy to 
Thomas smith from the German company  

she’s going to tell him it’s Alex it’s Alex 
Valassidis from xyz technologies and he says  

you know he you know what it regards no no I 
don’t know what it regards give him him and then  

he picks up the phone you talk to my secretary 
that I know what it regards yes Mr. Schmidt you  

know what it regards because I sent you an email 
three days ago you didn’t read my email then we  

talk on a different level so email him first rule 
number five and rule number six they go together  

there is a pattern on the communication that you 
have with people and specifically in in this way  

of communication the pattern the majority of 
the people that call to this lady to talk to  

the decision maker they are all very friendly 
and they have this communication blah blah blah  

and where does this communication drive it 
drives to the exit door to the give me the  

info email info at xyz email address the generic 
email address to tell you politely get out of here  

so you want to break the pattern of communication 
and the way you are going to talk to the secretary  

the way you are going to talk to the gatekeeper is 
going to install a seat of doubt in her mind and  

she’s going to think wait wait a second maybe this 
guy is doesn’t want to to sell to my boss anything

install the seat of doubt and let’s go to 
the number seven rule number seven keep the  

information to the minimum the information that 
you share with the gatekeeper is to the minimum  

you don’t tell her nothing more than the 
absolutely necessary and why is that because  

the more information you give to the gatekeeper 
the more decision making power you give to her  

and that is going to drive you to the answer 
of her we are not interested so she’s talking  

on behalf of the CEO she’s talking on 
behalf of the company the secretary  

that’s why the CEO is there he takes the 
decisions not here if you come here you  

are not in a good position then you have to use 
Lusha to call him directly and you don’t want that  

rule number eight never never accept a 
generic email address never it’s the exit door  

you call her with with your name I am Alex 
Valassidis and I’m that from that company  

and i want to speak to Mr. Thomas Schmidt hey 
send your info no no no i don’t accept that you  

have to give me his personal email address if she 
doesn’t give you his email address ask her for her  

email address if she insists you say I’m sorry 
i don’t accept to get the info email it’s very  

disrespectful and let’s go to the most important 
rule and that’s rule number nine be confident  

and I’m sure many of you don’t like to place 
cold calls because you are not confident  

and you are not confident because you have two 
sources of unconfidence source number one is that  

you are poisoned with altruism you believe that 
you if you pursue your own your selfish interest  

if you want to sell to somebody you believe you 
do something wrong but let me tell you that you  

do the most honest thing a trader is a man who 
earns what he gets and does not give or take  

the undeserved he deals with men by means of a 
free voluntary and force encouraged exchange and  

exchange which benefits both parties by their own 
independent judgment the principle of trade is the  

only rational ethical principle for all human 
relationships personal and social private and  

public spiritual material it’s the principle of 
justice you call on the principle of justice how  

many calls on the principle of justice does the 
decision maker receive every day you should not be  

ashamed of trying to add value to people because 
you sell it’s a very honorable thing what you do  

and source number two is you are an open book 
you should know something good about yourself  

that other people don’t know and that is going 
to give you confidence so i advise you to go  

to Alexvalassidis.com/passthegatekeeper and put 
your nice name and your beautiful email address  

there so that I can send you like more emails 
of very uh very nice topics and you are going  

also to receive this pdf with some resources 
that you can see and learn more thank you