In most cold-calling situations, you typically interact with a gatekeeper, whether it’s the company receptionist or an executive assistant. A straightforward yet highly effective approach to engage gatekeepers and pique their interest is by leveraging the power of social proof.

When dealing with a gatekeeper who is unfamiliar with you, dropping the name of an individual along with their title (like a fellow executive assistant) or mentioning a recent successful collaboration with a competitor significantly increases the likelihood of them being open to listening further to you and deciding whether to connect you with their manager.

Here’s an example script:

“Hello Mary, the purpose of my call is that I’ve recently collaborated with Alex Mitchell, the CFO at Acme Corp. Knowing that your organisation deals in similar products, I was hoping you could connect me with Jane Marcus, your CFO. I believe she might be interested in discovering how we can benefit your organisation [insert claim here] too. Could you possibly direct me to Jane, please?”

By incorporating this straightforward strategy, the gatekeeper is likely to perceive you as having a level of familiarity or expertise within their industry, making them more inclined to assist you.