setting up the cmd file to issue the rasdial "connectionname" command will bypass the GUI totally.
In fact you may be able to create a Icon that just issues "rasdial connectionname" and forget about the cmd file totally.
I use the cmd file to connect to my works VPN, but that is because once I connect to the VPN I need to issue other commands so I created a cmd file to connect to the VPN and issue the cmds.