In our last Tip, we were dealing with this tricky gatekeeper situation: 

Your decision maker is very favorable to you and gives you their business. This is one of your top 10 largest accounts. Sounds great, right? What if you have additional offerings that you could sell to that company that would add value to the customer and double or triple the amount of revenue you get from them? This is great news. 

But what if the Decision Maker did not support you going to the other divisions of their company to sell to them? You have asked them for their support and endorsement, and they are actively blocking your access to others. They have become a gatekeeper and are limiting your opportunity. This is bad news.

The suggested first step was to not step back, react emotionally, and retreat in fear, but to step forward. In the last tip, we discussed doing a quick analysis to determine whether the potential reward outweighs the risk of trying to navigate the block.

When there is more to be gained by addressing a gatekeeper situation, continue the process of stepping forward. Don’t rush into action or your preferred gatekeeper strategies (e.g., going around them, confronting them, trying to convert them, etc.). Instead, remember the next step of the four-part gatekeeper strategy. 

It’s time to figure out why this person is acting as a gatekeeper. Why is this step so important? You are more likely to find a successful strategy if you know the person’s motivation in blocking you.

There are two different types of reasons why gatekeepers block us – rational (e.g., they don’t understand your capabilities) and emotional (e.g., they had a bad experience with your company previously).

How do we figure out why a particular block is happening? One way is to ask a coach (or coaches). If we do not have any coaches, we may have to make an educated guess. For instance, in this scenario, why would we guess this is happening? This decision maker loves what you do for them but doesn’t want you to work with others in their company… Why might that be?

Your answer to that question can shape a more effective strategy.

More to come…