How to target gatekeepers in climate tech

𝗚𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝗱𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗽. Here's a personal story + 3 tactics to try... 𝘼 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙙𝙤𝙩𝙚... One of my most pivotal accounts had its global HQ in my territory and at the time I had limited availability of mobile/direct numbers. For the first 1-2 weeks, I called the gatekeeper multiple times per day, with next to success. I then started to test, iterate, and learn how I could get past them - here's what I did: 1. I learned their name and used it 2. I treated them like a prospect by asking how their day was going 3. I asked discovery questions about org structures, teams, and individuals 4. Once I had built a relationship I explained why I was calling and what my relationship with the account was 5. I sent them flowers and a short note thanking them for putting up with my persistence. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻-𝗳𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿... -------- Tactics to try... 1. 𝗕𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲: "𝘏𝘪 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 - 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘪𝘴 𝘚𝘢𝘳𝘢 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳? 𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵" Make sure your tonality goes down rather than up when asking the question. If it goes up, you sound hopeful versus down when you're assertive and confident. Then: "𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩?" 2. 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 Once they give you a time period, call back and use the gatekeeper's name where possible to build rapport "Hey (gatekeeper name ) - you suggested that I call back at this time - is Sara free to speak?" 3. 𝗔𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀 Seems obvious but prioritise direct phone numbers and mobiles for the best results when calling! ------- |📍 LDN | Support SDR Creators ➡️ Follow Andy Laws 📈 Smash the 🔔 for updates on new posts | Follow RevRocket for advisory & updates coaching services 🚀 | Liked this post? Share it ♻️ |

𝗚𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗼. 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀. I’ve heard it all before: “I talked to 8 gatekeepers today, and none of them got me through to the decision-maker.” Well, let me tell you something—gatekeepers are just doing their job, same as you. If you treat them like obstacles, that’s all they’ll ever be. But if you treat them with respect, they’ll help you out more than you think. Here are a few tactics that actually work: 𝗔𝘀𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻: Stop pushing and start listening. Script: "𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 [𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘔𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳] 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯? 𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘐 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦." Now you’ve got their attention—and their name. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗯𝘆 𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲: Acknowledge that it’s their job to screen calls and protect their boss. Use that to your advantage. Script: "𝘑𝘦𝘯, 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 [𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘔𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳], 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 [𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘢 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦] 𝘢𝘵 [𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺]? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 [𝘋𝘔'𝘴] 𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸?" Now you're turning the gatekeeper into a valuable source of intel. 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝘂𝗽: When you call back, show the gatekeeper you listened. Script: "𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘐’𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘑𝘦𝘯. 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 [𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘔𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳] 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘥 [𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮] 𝘧𝘰𝘳 [𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺]. 𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩?" You’re not just asking to be passed along—you’re showing you already know the pain points. Gatekeepers aren’t your enemy—they’re just doing their job. Treat them with respect, ask the right questions, and gather intel. If you’re still getting stuck, it’s time to refine your approach. P.S. Want to swap scripts? DM me, and let’s chat.

Startups selling to large corporates often complain about "Gatekeepers" and 6-8 month purchase cycle Here is how to turn Gatekeepers to your advocates 👇 1. Clarify the most pressing use case ⁉ What is to be gained in $$ if problem is solved Showcase your solution for THAT use case, instead of pitching the whole suite 2. Target the right stakeholders: The sponsors, the influencers and the doubters ⁉ Who has most to gain if this get solved? ⁉ Which solution gets replaced? 3. Understand and solve for the purchase purchase Eg: Data and security clearance, legal documents ⁉ Who will undergo this painful process ⁉ How to make their life easier? Bonus tip: Watchout for priority problem statements that corporates publish though Open Innovation Challenges . Eg: Michelin AI challenge The purchase cycle is fast-tracked for these Gatekeepers exist to qualify your startup has the right offer If you solve for value and purchase process- They will ensure your startup and services are onboarded If you walk into a discussion unprepared promising "We can customize solution for anything", You wont get the next one. #startupinvesting #angelinvestment #openinnovation #Challenges