Innovative ideas for marketing yourself, your products and services in such a way that you can get meetings with decision makers without the frustration of going through a gatekeeper.

If you are doing any sort of 'direct outreach' marketing, then sooner or later you will encounter the dreaded 'gatekeeper'. In fact, 'Getting past the gatekeeper and in front of the decision maker' seems to be the holy grail of the sales world. Years ago, when I used to specialize in cold calling training, it was one of the key questions that came up time and time again.

My preferred method is to bypass the gatekeeper all together. Here's how...

1. Focus on a specific niche, because that automatically makes you a specialist and a certain authority.

2. Get known as an expert in your field by speaking at events and conferences populated by your target audience, write articles and get them published in trade publications read by your target audience.

3. Raise your profile in the market place by running open seminars, training courses or events on your specialized topic. Boost your credibility and reputation by delivering great value!

4. At the end of your article or talk, offer a giveaway such as a free report that conveys your expertise, and provides valuable useful content to your reader. Give this in exchange for the reader's contact details and permission to stay in touch over time.

5. Send a follow up sequence of messages (automated if possible) that drip feeds further valuable content to your prospect, and subtly conveys your expertise, your authority and lets them know about success stories other clients are having.

6. Resist the temptation to ask for a meeting immediately, the people who are really keen to meet you will call and ask anyway, the others may need more time to get to know you. Don't risk scaring them off by pouncing for a meeting immediately. Being 'needy' for a meeting hurts your credibility too, because in the world of selling professional services, there's an unspoken assumption that if you are any good at what you are doing, then your diary should automatically be full (I know that's not how it works in practice, but that's the bias you're up against!)

7. In at least one of your messages, offer a meeting, but make sure you outline all the potential benefits of meeting with you. It's got to be more inspiring than 'free consultation.' Ask yourself, what does the prospect stand to gain from meeting with you - even if he or she DOESN'T become a client immediately? Will they learn something new, get reassurance, have their awareness raised on a certain area? If you want to 'sell the meeting' you have to sell the benefits of the meeting.

8. Some people will respond immediately, others will need more time. Have a regular follow up (such as a newsletter like this) that keeps you in contact, and continues building the relationship with your prospects.

9. Get used to receiving calls from people along the lines of 'we're thinking of doing a new project a we're wondering how you can help us'. Enjoy meetings which have a completely different dynamic from the meetings you secured via cold calling, because you've been invited in as an expert, and the prospect is already 'pre-sold' and wants to work with you. Notice that your conversion rate is higher at these meetings.

10. Tweak the process. If you're not getting enough meetings, what needs to change? Do you need to get more people into your funnel at the front end, or do you need to improve your conversion process of prospects to meetings?

11. Enjoy the process as momentum builds and the 'snowball effect' kicks in. Enjoy being a Client Magnet able to pick and choose from a tempting array of potential projects.

Because of the steps involved in laying the foundation, many people shy away from the easy way. It seems like there is too much ground work involved! And maybe there is, in the short term, but you are laying a foundation that will continue to reap rewards over and over. And what's the alternative? Another cold call?

If you don't want to be at the mercy of random projects coming your way, and you don't want to be tied to a desk cold calling for the rest of your life, then this is definitely the path forward that I recommend.

The steps are identical to the steps I followed when I was running my training business. Eventually - and highly ironically given my subject area - I didn't have to make any cold calls, because all of my meetings were taking place at the request of qualified, ready to buy decision makers who had already decided that they wanted to work with me.



Bernadette Doyle publishes her weekly Client Magnets newsletter for trainers, coaches, consultants, complementary therapists and solo professionals. If you want to get clients calling you instead of you calling them, then get your free tips now at
www.clientmagnets.com .

(c) Bernadette Doyle, 2008.