When I first got asked to contribute to this topic, it was regarding potential prospects or clients who disappear. And I took that to mean, oh when they ghost you. That means they disappear, they stop responding to your correspondence, texts, emails, phone calls, even letters. They just stop responding.
This response just never feels good, sometimes it’s confusing, perplexing and in some cases almost harmful. Let’s look into what might cause someone to disappear or ghost someone and then what to do.
The way you respond to a client may be different than the way you would respond to a prospect who disappears or ghosts you.
More often than not I think fear plays a big part in this scenario, where someone ghosts someone they’re working with. When fear shows up for a client, it can be so strong, so subtle and disorienting that it makes the client feel uncomfortable enough to not want to continue. So much so that they cannot see a way to explain it, so they just avoid it all together.
An issue shows up in their lives that creates a conflict, often that conflict is more in their minds and usually it has to do with money. A circumstance shows up, to test their dedication and commitment and if it is significant enough, it pulls them off course, with their time and their income. If a client suddenly loses their ability to pay you, even briefly, they may not be able to see their way through to the other side, and just avoid the whole thing entirely. Thus the ‘ghosting’ response.
What to do when a Client Ghosts You.
There are a few things I suggest to my clients:
1. To not take it personally. This can be the first reaction people have, as if they did something wrong to make the client disappear or stop responding to them. It’s an uncomfortable situation to be in and understandably so, and it really has nothing to do with you personally.
2. Give them a call. It is always good to check in with them and I recommend they do so by phone. To simply see if everything is alright. You can leave a message saying as such, in the hopes that they will get back to you, when they can.
3. Follow up with an email. I also suggest following up by email, if necessary, with a request for a phone conversation. It is more personal to speak by phone, and you are more likely to get the client back and/or re-engaged with a personal phone conversation.
4. After a week to 10 days, usually you are not going to hear back from the person. At this point, I would call one more time and leave a message asking for a call back, when they are ready.
I will suggest trying to get the client on the phone, to talk through whatever they are experiencing. It may be something personal or it may be something that you can support them through and it is best done by phone. Text and email are two options that allow people to avoid communication or to limit it. Which is not as helpful in these instances.
Psychologically, people do not like to say No. It is something people are wired not to want to do, so they choose other behaviors to avoid it like ghosting and disappearing. This is especially true for prospects who may have expressed interest in working with you and then changed their mind. Saying No can make people feel bad and so they just don’t respond at all rather than having to say No.
There is one way to prevent this from happening in the first place, which is: To ask upfront, what might get in their way?
This way you know upfront what could cause the client to go haywire and not want to continue the work you’ve been doing. You can also ask upfront what do to if this happens… Knowing this information can be extremely helpful in avoiding their ghosting you, or to re-engage them if it were to happen.
You can also be clear on any consequences, whether it be the halting of services, any return of payments and in the workplace, it would mean being clear on whether their job would be on the line. You can do this either in your service agreements or on a phone call.
When a prospect says Yes, agrees to work with you and then disappears, some of the same things are occurring as we talked about above. One difference to note is that if a prospect does this, it just means they are not interested and haven’t been able to say No.
When a prospect says Yes they are interested in working with you, and then for some reason changes their mind and then disappears, this is usually because they are experiencing fear. The fear can be so great that they cannot see their way to commit to the decision they made, so they ghost. Follow the ideas above, to see if you can get the back and to reengage with your service and company. You may. You may not. And it isn’t necessarily something you did.
What to do when a client or a prospect disappears and/or ghosts you, it may be something to do with your sales process, or the client experience in your company. That would be important to consider and you may need some outside consulting in order to do that. We are here to help, it is something we do very well, and can help you to move forward in a higher way.
Maureen Considine is Founder and CEO of Finding Your Way Coaching. A Master Coach with expertise in Income Acceleration, Business Development, Sales and Mindset, she is the Wealth Health Creation Strategist for entrepreneurs, executives, and other high performers. Maureen has over 25 years of experience in sales and marketing. She has helped hundreds of clients grow their businesses and reach their true potential using her unique, intuitive, and holistic approach. Maureen has a B.A. in Psychology, with training in mindset and the Psychology of Sales.