How to get Past the AI Gatekeeper

As AI is more regularly adopted, new innovations may cause problems for potential sales teams. One innovation is the AI Gatekeeper. Previously, this was a person or persons who would stand between the salesperson and decision-maker in an attempt to block unwanted solicitations. But with all the advancements in AI, this person is now replaced by a bot. So the question becomes: How does one get past a bot?

This challenge is an opportunity to perfect your messaging.

To Get Around a Computer, You Need To Think Like a Computer

If you’ve ever worked with AI bots, you know that the way they think involves flagging specific keywords in order to find the best response to your request. The bot on the other side of the phone will likely do the same. Here are three tactics to try when choosing your words.

Be Specific

This is about immediate relevance. Start introducing your cause using words that directly pertain to it, such as:

‘This is regarding a security project.’

Once you’ve done that, ask for the person you are looking for by both name and position.

‘Please connect me to John Smith, Director of IT Security.’

This level of specificity will immediately tell the AI that your inquiry is important and relevant to the person you are trying to reach.

Seed Curiosity

When forming this request, you also want to form it with enough intrigue. The AI is looking for information pertaining to the person you are trying to find, you need to give the human on the other side a reason to pick up. Something like:

‘This is Carl calling about how your Director of IT Security, John Smith, is handling security challenges.’

The AI will flag the mention of their colleague's name/position. This is your chance to leverage the AI's call logging system. Even if you don't get past the bot immediately, the logged inquiry can intrigue the decision-maker later.

Give them a Hook

Give the AI a direct, strategic hook to follow. Similar to seeding curiosity, this also involves persuasion and strategic information, but in a more direct way. Once again, we leverage specificity in your keywords, and we also make sure our request is interesting and to the point. Something like:

‘This is regarding your cloud security migration project.’

Much like the above, we are hoping the specificity and keywords get flagged by the AI as relevant to the person you are seeking and that you will be let through.

If All Else Fails, Use it Like a Voicemail

If the bot is stubborn, remember this simple strategy: hang up, wait a few minutes, and try again. 

Your backup strategy is to treat the conversation like a voicemail. The AI is recording your call. Even if the initial analysis doesn’t connect you, a post-call analysis will likely pass your message on to the relevant decision-maker. By applying the "Specific" and "Curiosity" tactics, you guarantee your message is intriguing enough to get noticed.

A final tip for trainers: When you approach this topic in training, remember this. While human gatekeepers respond to persuasion and curiosity, AI gatekeepers respond to keywords, precision, and call log seeding. One must strike a balance between both in order to get through.