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When you are starting out, and indeed all through your business life, you need to be able to get past zealous castle guards to the real decision-maker. Saskia Maitland, a former 'castle guard', tells how to do it.

Cold calling is a fact of business life. So are rebuffs. You cannot be successful calling prospects unless you learn to take the rebuffs. The article on how to cold call in this section will help you find the information you need to land sales.

A few years ago I was a secretary in a small company. My job was to protect my boss from interruptions, particularly cold callers. I was successful simply because most telephone callers were so bad at it. They had no idea how to get past the castle guard. Good castle guards can be great news for you. They keep your competitors out! But how do you get past them?

Getting past the switchboard

When you call, if you know the name of your contact, ask for them directly by name.