Secretaries Still Wield Power

The secretary is the decision maker at many firms “Skip the secretary. Schmoozing is a no-go. Get to the decision maker through direct voice and e-mail.”

That’s the first of three suggestions on getting past the gatekeeper offered by Chet Holmes of Jordan Productions, as featured in the December issue of Sales & Marketing Management.

Marketing is and will always be associated with creating and maintaining good relationships. Many executives still count on their secretaries to help them decide who gets priority service, who’s put on a back burner, and who will not receive a return call.

If an office is set up for an executive to receive messages through voice mail or Email, those are the options to use. But if an office is still set up with the secretary as the point person, why not start the conversation on a pleasant note before asking for the executive? This still goes a long way to increase your chances of speaking with the decision maker.

Offend a secretary, and she will show you the door And what if the secretary is the decision maker? Skip her, and you effectively end any chance of marketing what you sell.

My bias on this topic is due to my former secretarial roll at brokerage firms. Supervisors depended on my judgment to decide which telephone calls to return and in what order.

That was years ago, and many things have changed. However, I believe that secretaries are still a powerful ally to help your marketing campaign and win sales in every industry.

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January 27, 2006 | Filed Under Customer Connections, Networking, Recent Entries

Comments

2 Responses to “Secretaries Still Wield Power”

Flora Morris Brown on February 2nd, 2006 4:47 pm

You can bet that secretaries are still a powerful ally! Most of them are overworked, with too many tasks dumped on them without compensation to match. If you have a service that will take some of the burden off them, they are often delighted.
Shirley George Frazier on February 2nd, 2006 5:07 pm

Your comment is the same for business owners selling products, as making certain items in that segment available also makes the secretary look like the hero she is.

She’s often the person who found an item that increases productivity without breaking the business’s budget. That’s not a person you want to “skip.”

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