Lessons from receptionists: dealing with gatekeepers

The internet is awash with the musings of sales gurus, consultants and recruitment experts all with their own unique scripts and techniques for getting past gatekeepers. As profound as these methods might be, I think the recruitment industry would benefit from considering the situation from the other side of the fence.  This article from Connie Barrow, Operations Director of Armchair Call Handling shares some lessons from receptionists on dealing with gatekeepers. 

 

I’ve gathered some of the thoughts of our receptionist staff to see what they think. Each Armchair receptionist deals with calls from recruitment consultants on a daily basis and are pretty well versed in spotting and screening these calls when necessary. They also know the characteristics of a successful cold recruitment call.

Attitudes to recruitment calls: straight from the horse’s mouth

One rainy afternoon in August I brought in some posh coffee and biscuits and held a focus group with a selection of our receptionists. By understanding their issues when dealing with recruitment calls, it might help you to negotiate past them in the future.

I asked:

What is your biggest pet peeve when it comes to recruitment calls?

“When the person on the other end of the line is speaking at a million miles an hour. That’s nearly always a sign of an unsolicited sales call.” Danielle Spencer-Smith – Senior Receptionist, Armchair Call Handling

“Pushy people. I’m trying to help you get through, but before I can, you need to help me by providing the right information. Avoiding my questions and giving me orders is impolite and leaves me with no desire to help you out.” Charlotte Stead – Receptionist, Armchair Call Handling

“People that try to conceal their identity, or only give their first name.” Oliver Emans – Receptionist, Armchair Call Handling

“When the caller withholds the company they are calling from, I’m going to ask you for it anyway so you might as well save us both the time and effort.” Catherine Noonan-Henwood – Senior Receptionist, Armchair Call Handling

“When the caller hasn’t bothered to find out the name of the person they wish to contact.” Cory Stone – Receptionist, Armchair Call Handling

“Lack of manners – a simple please and thank you goes a long way.” Becky Taylor – Receptionist, Armchair Call Handling

How to approach receptionists

So now we’ve seen recruitment calls from the perspective of the receptionist, what are the best ways to increase your chances of getting past the gatekeeper?

Do your research before the call: You don’t need to sell to the receptionist, but you might require a polished elevator pitch to get through. How will your hiring solution save the company money? Be specific – have you made an attempt to understand the labour market for your target company? Be armed with details instead of trying to wing it.

Drop the inferiority complex: We take calls for over one thousand clients from a plethora of industries. Only a handful of them actually stipulate that we should screen all recruitment calls. Our receptionist staff are trained to make value judgements based on our clients’ needs – they don’t block all recruitment calls outright.

Don’t approach the call with the mindset that the receptionist is out to thwart you; instead approach the call with the confidence that you have the best solution for a potential client’s problem.

Speak slowly and clearly: This goes for all calls.

Don’t get too friendly: Addressing the receptionist by their first name can come across a bit brazen. Assess the situation – have you really built a rapport to warrant the colloquial tone?

Don’t lie: It will come back to bite you! Many companies have a CRM system in place which receptionists and secretaries use to log all call details. Do you really want that lie to be in plain sight of the hiring manager?

Confidence is paramount: Approaching calls in the same fashion as every other consultant is likely to get you nowhere. Confidence, a friendly but formal tone and a polite manner are the key success factors when dealing with receptionists. True confidence is hard to manufacture, but if you follow the advice of our receptionists then you will find your success rate in reaching decision makers improves significantly.

In order to get past the gatekeeper, you need to put yourself in their shoes. See what success you have with your recruitment calls when you take a different approach.

 

About the Author

Connie Barrow is Operations Director of Armchair Call Handling, based in Hampshire, England. She is responsible for the efficient running of all of Armchair’s inbound and outbound call centre activities.  Connie has overseen the recruitment and training of hundreds of staff members across the group and has helped develop the customer service and candidate sourcing strategies of 50 Recruitment agencies in the United Kingdom over the past decade.
Connie.barrow@armchairgroup.com
https://twitter.com/armchairgroup