I was talking to an administrator (or secretary or assistant— in general we call this person a “gatekeeper”) at a company the other day, asking to speak to a person in charge.

As she is trained to do, the gatekeeper tried to suss out what exactly I wanted and keep me from getting through to the person I actually wanted to speak to (which was surely not her). It’s part of the game.

The admin told me that the decision makers usually deal with people they already know, but she said it in a suggestive way, as if 1) she didn’t really have an answer as to who would be the best person for me to talk to — and I didn’t expect her to, and 2) trying to deter me from pushing back and insisting I speak to the person I wanted to speak to. I pushed back.

I think I ended up on the voicemail of a person of interest (the admin wasn’t much help in knowing who exactly to transfer me to). It was the admin’s attempt at discouraging my request that I want you to notice here.

For Your Game
If you want to expand into new avenues, you must make yourself known to new people. Notice I said MAKE yourself known — not hope you’re seen or ask to be pod attention to. Which means…
if you want someone to do something other than what they’ve been doing — such as, noticing you when they’ve never heard of you before — you must be willing to interrupt and inconvenience people’s routines. I’ll do a full Daily Game on this exact topic soon. Start with The Seller’s Mindset.
Never, never, NEVER allow a non-decision-maker or non-check-writer to tell you any form of “no.” These individuals’ sole job is to keep people out and direct traffic — think of a traffic cop — and have no power to help you get what you want (though having them on your side can help for a smoother initial process). No offense to anyone reading this who has such a role.

Where do you need to get yourself known, and what’s stopping you? Reply and share with me. 

#WorkOnYourGame