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susans
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« on: March 17, 2008, 06:18:32 pm » |
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I ran across a sales seminar that boast their seminar could make the executive assistant 'your strongest ally" "make it where the EA actually wants to help you" "make the doors swing WIDE open for you" "learn the gatekeepers psychological triggers."
Are you a gatekeeper for your manager? If so, are there any "triggers" that make you actually send a call through or triggers that say 'no way!" How do you handle those pesky sales and marketing calls?
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jodith
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« Reply #1 on: March 17, 2008, 06:25:13 pm » |
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I've long become immune to the charms of salesmen. The only thing that will get me to put the salesman through is if the boss says he wants to talk to them. My usual reply is to send me something in the mail and I'll pass it along to the appropriate person. If I think the product is something my company might be interested in, I pass it along. If not, it gets the old circular file.
At a previous job, the biggest issue I had was with HR recruiters. They all wanted to recruit my boss for another job, but they didn't want to tell me what they actually wanted to speak to them about. The one that finally got through (and the one that managed to hire him away) was upfront with me about who she was and what she wanted. Her I put through. Because it wasn't my job to make sure the boss never left the company. It was my job to keep people away from him that he didn't want to talk to.
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suis
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Posts: 37
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« Reply #2 on: March 17, 2008, 06:44:58 pm » |
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The best method I found is I think similar to what Jodith mentioned. I have them email me. First if they take the time to actually email, it shows they had a real interest. Once I received the email, I decide who and if to forward it to someone. This method seems to work well.
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Atlanta Z3
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« Reply #3 on: March 17, 2008, 07:18:02 pm » |
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My clue is if they ask for William instead of Bill (made up names). Fortunately for me my bosses use abbrev. versions of their names, so if anyone calls asking for William it goes straight to their voice mail. If I am in doubt I will ask what company they are calling from - for the longest time I was getting the response it's a personal business matter. I told them if you won't tell me your company name I will not put the call through. I never put a call through without announcing the caller giving the boss the option to refuse the call.
Triggers to put the call through: with time I have learned who is who for clients, family, and friends for the bosses. If I am unfamiliar with the person, their tone of voice guides me - sales people all have that one sound in common - smooze. Immediate nos - financial institutions, real estate agents, stock brokers and copier sales people!
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peaches2160
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« Reply #4 on: March 18, 2008, 01:30:38 am » |
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I do respond to the callers who are polite.
I too have learned the lines " He knows what this is about and I don't want to play phone tag", or, "I'm his best friend". Our switchboard screens blind calls and sends them to me for the boss. However, I always ask them to tell me the nature of the call. I'm up front and tell them, if you send me the information, I will pass it on, or, just pass the call on if they divulge what they are calling about and it appears to be something the company might benefit from. I have had a couple of occassions where the person was so rude and condescending, I hung up on them. I hate that, but I don't have time to waste arguing with someone when they won't divulge the purpose of the call so I can direct it. I know my bosses contacts, and he is good about telling me when he is expecting someone to call.
Hey, give the copier salesman a break. They may have the latest and greatest solution on the market today that will make our life so much easier!
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gee4
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« Reply #5 on: March 18, 2008, 09:25:29 am » |
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I usually ask them the nature of their call and if my boss is busy I refuse to put it through. Most or all of our management team will not deal with calls unless the PA can give them all the details of who, what, why, where and when, before we put it through.
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happyclappy
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« Reply #6 on: March 18, 2008, 10:29:57 am » |
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I don't receive very many speculative calls from salespeople. If I do, then I decide whether the service they are providing is one in which we might be interested, particularly when we review expenditure and suppliers, and divert it to our administration department which deals with copiers, stationery, HR etc.
I thoroughly dislike people who try to play tricks with me and my boss won't speak to anyone who won't speak with me, but I'm always courteous.
However, one has to remember that people selling services are human too and are trying to make a living in an increasingly tough market. For many such businesses, investing money and time in speculative calls is very much part of their strategy.
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raejg
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Posts: 7
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« Reply #7 on: March 21, 2008, 06:06:55 pm » |
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My bosses don't want any type of sales calls going through to them. So, when they call, I usually just tell them Mr. _____ is not available and they usually hang up on me. As for calls that come in from companies checking on my copier, I tell them we don't have one. We only deal with one local copier company and they always identify themselves when they call.
When I get the calls from people "updating their records" I usually just tell them they'll need to fax or mail something.
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