The short answer
To get past the gatekeeper on a B2B cold call, stop treating the receptionist, assistant or office manager as an obstacle and start treating them as the person who knows how the company works. Five things do most of the work: know the decision-maker's name and role before you call, say who you are straight away, ask for help rather than for a favour, give a specific one-sentence reason for the call, and when the switchboard stays closed, use a direct line or another channel. Two things backfire: lying about who you are or why you call, and pretending to know the person you ask for. Gatekeepers hear both every day and remember the caller.
The phrasings on this page are our own illustrations, written on 1 October 2026. We quote no success rates: we found no reliable research that measures how often callers get through.
Who the gatekeeper is, and what their job is
In B2B the gatekeeper is usually one of three people, and each protects something slightly different.
Gatekeeper | Where you meet them | What they protect | What helps |
|---|---|---|---|
Receptionist or switchboard | Mid-sized and large companies | Everyone's time; they route dozens of calls a day | A full name and a clear reason, so routing is easy |
Management assistant | Directors and senior managers | One person's diary and priorities | Relevance to what that person is working on now |
Office manager | Smaller companies, often 10 to 50 staff | The owner's focus, and often the budget | Respect: they may be part of the decision themselves |
Their job is not to block salespeople. It is to make sure the right calls reach the right person and the rest do not. Make that job easy and you get put through, or at least told who to call and when.
Before you call: know the name and the role
The single biggest difference at reception is whether you ask for a person or for a function. "Can I speak to whoever handles your IT?" tells the receptionist you know nothing about the company. "Could you put me through to Els Janssens, please?" sounds like a normal business call.
So do the work first. Decide which role owns the problem you solve, then find the person in that role. In a Belgian SME the registered director is the buyer only in the smallest companies; above roughly fifty staff it is usually a department head, as set out in finding the decision-maker in a Belgian SME. Check that the person still works there, and note their exact title so your reason matches their job.
Also have one sentence ready on why you are calling this company now: a new site, a vacancy, a new director, filed accounts that show growth. Cold calling in Belgium covers where that reason comes from in the public record and which language to open in; in Flanders and the Netherlands, open in Dutch.
Techniques that work
1. Say who you are first
Give your full name and company before anything else, then the name of the person you want. Callers who hide their name are the ones gatekeepers screen hardest.
2. Ask for help, not for a favour
"Maybe you can help me" is the most useful sentence at reception. People who route calls for a living usually know exactly who handles what, and when asked for guidance they tend to give it.
3. Be specific about why
When the gatekeeper asks what it is about, answer in one concrete sentence tied to the company, not to your product. "It's about the new warehouse in Genk" gets further than "it's about optimising your logistics".
4. Treat the gatekeeper as a source
If the person is not available, ask when they usually are, whether they prefer phone or email, and who else is involved. Write down the gatekeeper's name and use it when you call back.
5. Call the direct line, or another channel
A named person's direct line or mobile skips reception entirely. Some sellers also call just before or after office hours, when decision-makers sometimes answer their own phone. A short email, LinkedIn message or letter can prepare the call, so that "I wrote to Jan last week" is true when you say it.
Example phrasings in English and Dutch
The Dutch column uses "u", which is the natural register for a first call to a stranger in both Flanders and the Netherlands.
Situation | English | Dutch |
|---|---|---|
Opening | "Good morning, this is Sarah Peeters from [company]. Could you put me through to Jan Maes, please?" | "Goedemorgen, met Sarah Peeters van [bedrijf]. Kunt u mij doorverbinden met Jan Maes?" |
"What is it about?" | "It's about your new warehouse in Genk. I'd like to ask Jan how you're handling [topic] there. Five minutes." | "Het gaat over jullie nieuwe magazijn in Genk. Ik wil Jan kort vragen hoe jullie [onderwerp] daar aanpakken. Vijf minuten." |
"Is he expecting your call?" | "No, this is a first call. That's why I'm keeping it short." | "Nee, dit is een eerste contact. Daarom hou ik het kort." |
You do not know the name | "Maybe you can help me. Who looks after your vehicle fleet?" | "Misschien kunt u mij helpen. Wie beheert bij jullie het wagenpark?" |
"He's not available" | "When is a good moment to reach him? And does he prefer a call or an email?" | "Wanneer kan ik hem het best bereiken? En belt of mailt hij liever?" |
"We're not interested" | "Understood. So I don't bother the wrong person again: who decides on [topic]?" | "Begrepen. Zodat ik niet opnieuw de verkeerde persoon stoor: wie beslist bij jullie over [onderwerp]?" |
Ending | "Thanks, Els. I'll call back Thursday morning." | "Dank u, Els. Ik bel donderdagochtend terug." |
Once you are through, the call itself follows a different logic: the opening, the objections and the ask are in B2B cold calling in Europe, and the questions to ask the decision-maker are in the B2B sales conversation.
What not to do
Lie about who you are or why you call. Claiming to be a customer, saying "he asked me to call" when he did not, or calling it "a personal matter" may work once. The decision-maker then starts the conversation knowing you lied to a colleague.
Fake familiarity. Much advice online suggests asking for "Jan" by first name only, or opening with "Hi, it's Tom again", so the receptionist assumes you know each other. Receptionists hear it every day. Use the full name.
Pitch the gatekeeper. One sentence of reason is enough; a product story at reception ends the call.
Push, or call five times a day. Persistence means a fixed number of attempts spread over days, not pressure on the person answering.
Dismiss a real no. Sometimes the company is simply not a fit. Put it back in the pool with a date and move on.
When the switchboard is not the way in
A switchboard number leads to a gatekeeper by design. A direct dial reaches one named person, is not published in any register, and is personal data under the GDPR; how to find a company's phone number explains the difference and where each comes from.
Finding the name, role and a working direct line for every company on a list is where preparation time goes. Bizzy lists named contacts per company with title, department and seniority, shows email, phone and LinkedIn for each contact with a verified indicator on each channel and a "last found" date, and validates direct dials through providers such as Prospeo. The company data behind it comes from the KBO, the National Bank of Belgium and the Official Gazette for Belgian companies, and from Creditsafe for Dutch ones. You can start for free.
Before you dial anyone
In Belgium every sales number, business lines included, must first be screened against the Do Not Call Me list, and in the Netherlands you may call a BV or NV without consent but not a sole trader or partnership; the detail is in the rules for B2B cold outreach in Europe.
Frequently asked questions
What is a gatekeeper in sales? The person who answers or filters calls before they reach the decision-maker: usually a receptionist, a management assistant or, in smaller companies, the office manager.
How do I get past the receptionist on a cold call? Ask for a named person, give your own name and company first, and have a one-sentence reason tied to that company. If you do not know the name, ask the receptionist for help finding the right person.
Is it acceptable to pretend I know the decision-maker? No. Implying a relationship or a request that does not exist may get you through once, but the conversation then starts on a lie, and gatekeepers remember callers who used it.
Is it better to call a direct line? When you have a working direct dial for the right person, yes: it skips reception. The Belgian and Dutch calling rules apply to direct lines too.
Photo: the Gravensteen castle in Ghent, Michielverbeek, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons