Today's business environment is very protective making it difficult for salespeople to reach prospects. Cold calling and selling changed after 911. Many businesses increased security to put employees at ease. Building management did the same thing and we found more guards stationed in many buildings.

There are some buildings and premises that became unavailable to us. Although security has loosened, you know it is tougher if you make cold calls either on the telephone or in person. Our once easy walk through the front door of a business to get information has changed and security concerns may prevent us from reaching our contact. In some cases we will find a lonely telephone behind the front door and nothing else. These new security challenges won't prevent us from reaching our contacts. We must adapt and find new ways to achieve our goals.

Finding the Right "PIGEON"

What we want to find is the easy target for our quest of information. If we follow the sales process, we must determine “who” will give us information. As we already mentioned, sometimes walking in the front door and meeting the incredibly nice receptionist might not be an option for us. Thus, the back or side doors are options. Here are three of my favorite pigeons.

The Sales Pigeon - Find the One That Loves to Talk

We believe a great salesperson is an excellent listener. But, salespeople also love to talk and share. You know what we mean, don't you? If you get a salesperson to relax, they can frequently talk for a long time about anything. Although this isn't their best trait, since we want them to be good listeners. Anyway, the idea here is to reach a gabby salesperson for the company we want to do business with. This is done buy asking for the sales department. If we merely ask for someone in sales, we will usually reach our sales pigeon. We begin by mentioning that we are also in sales. This fact gives us a common point to build on with them.

We should be honest and forward about our struggle to reach the right person in their company. The typical sales pigeon shares our challenge and frequently offers useful information and strategies for getting past the toughest gatekeepers. They may even put us directly in touch with the people we want to meet.

The Top Pigeons are Nicer

In most cases we won't be able to talk with the top pigeon or a C-Level contact on the first attempt. However, some of the nicest people are at the top and they have the best information. When we politely request whom to contact at their organization for presenting our solutions and services, they will send us in the right direction. One of the secrets here is to relax, really relax, really! If you have to, talk slower and ask for help. Most people will give us help if we just ask for it.

If we don't reach the C-Level, President or Vice President we will be speaking with the executive secretary. These are people who are used to working with professionals. Always have an agenda when you attempt this strategy. The agenda is to find "who" in the company the right person is. Keep it simple! Once you have a name, contact them and mention the name of the person who suggested that you talk with them. This works great when done properly.

The Messenger Pigeon Knows a Lot About the Company

The messenger Pigeon is in the back or the basement of the building. These pigeons know almost everything about what is going on and who does what. These are the people who deliver, sort the mail and receive packages for the company. This contact strategy works well with large institutions like hospitals, colleges and manufacturing companies. The messenger pigeon rarely meets anyone who gives them credit for what they do. The important thing here is to be nice and respectful as we ask for assistance.

These are a few additional ways to get information when we face a tough, secured company or organization. It helps to try multiple methods and contact several people using the information we find along the way. Don't forget the Internet which can be our best friend. Searching for information on the web can deliver essential information we can use on our first pigeon.