Secretaries and Personal Assistants often play an important role in screening incoming calls and protecting their "bosses" from unsolicited sales calls. For this reason they are often called the "gatekeeper".
In Western cultures these gatekeepers are a revered and trusted member of the management team, and may even assume an aurora which is demands more respect than the CEO himself. The gatekeeper will often direct callers to more relevant entry points, but if you are able to make the gatekeeper your friend, you have a direct line to the top. The Western way of dealing with them is to respect and cooperate with the gate keeper and they will respect and cooperate with you.
In China things are more complex. The whole relationship culture or Guanxi persuades many Chinese decision makers that if they do not already know the person then he is not worth talking to. For this reason Chinese gatekeepers are more like bouncers at the club, their job is to keep people out, to minimise distractions.
So how do you deal with the Gatekeeper? Whether East or West there are some clear strategies:
Go through the gatekeeper: Give whatever information you want to pass clearly and politely. If possible try to turn the gatekeeper into an ally, befriend her as a fellow professional with a difficult job to do.
Go around the gatekeeper: Here the strategy is to make direct contact with the executive, but obtaining his direct line number from directories, or by meeting at networking functions or conferences. Call their mobile phone or home telephone numbers. A favourite technique is to call early I the morning or late in the evening when the gatekeeper is out of the office.
The Ambush: The aim here is to achieve what the Special Air Service call a pre planned surprise meeting. Salesman often calls on the pretence that they are a personal friend or someone who is in business with him. “This is Dr Jones from the International School”.
In China the best way to ambush the decision makers is simply to get them to a private event or venue. Calling with an invitation to a VIP event is one of the few effective ways of bypassing the gatekeeper.
Don't take it personally: There is no need to take a gatekeepers rebuttal personally – it is only business. But do be aware of the different styles when trying to break through the barrier. Westerners use their gatekeepers rather like traffic wardens – routing enquiries into the bosses office, into voicemail or rejecting outright. The Chinese style is to keep everyone out. In the West if a gatekeeper keeps out someone important it is the gatekeeper's problem. If a Chinese gatekeeper keeps out an important caller it is the caller's problem.
In conclusion, if you want to get through the gatekeeper, have a specific reason for your call which in beneficial to the person taking the call. An invitation for their boss to a VIP event usually does the trick. When a gatekeeper wants to reject you, she will ask for a brochure. If she sounds happy and promises that the boss will call back – plan to call yourself in a week because this one has probably found a better job!.
