How many times has this happened to you before in sales: You've got the perfect prospect in the palm of your hand.
You've made the initial call, and now you're ready to follow-up to set up another meeting for next week. But then, the only response you get back is radio silence.
Even worse, you send a couple of well-intentioned check-in emails thinking that they will make your prospect come back around.
But, still, nothing!
This all-to-common phenomena in sales is called prospect ghosting, and it has to stop!
Not only does it force you to lose out on many potential deals, but the prospect is also less likely to not get their business problems resolved.
However, you'll be glad to know that there are steps you can take right now to help real your ghosting prospects back into your hands!
With that being said, today we are sharing a 6-step process to help get prospects back into your hands after they've ghosted you. After a couple days of getting the cold shoulder, put this process to use and watch your prospects come running back to you.
Just because a prospect doesn't respond to you doesn't mean that they are saying 'no' to you.
It'll only become a ‘no’ if you allow them to walk right out the door. The power to stop ghosting and get your prospects back is all in your power!
Why Do I Get Ghosted By Prospects?
For many people when they first get into business, ghosting is something they never expect to happen. Business professionals are simply too professional to leave you with radio silence in the middle of the sales cycle... right?
Wrong.
Prospect ghosting is a pervasive problem in business and sales.
With it being such a widespread issue, what is to blame?
In short: Sales professionals get ghosted because they don't control the sales process! Instead of controlling the sales process, they let the prospect's monkey mind control it.
This isn't the first time we've talked about the monkey mind here on the Business Growth Insider.
In fact, we talk about it so often because, essentially, the prospect's inability to stay honed in on the situation (aka the monkey mind) has a horrible reputation of ruining so many would-be excellent business partnerships.
Moreover, unless you control the sales process, then the prospect's monkey mind will control it. And that's basically like asking for a disaster to happen.
Sure, you could put the blame on your prospects by calling them unprofessional and lazy instead of owning up to the fact that you don't control the sales process. But, deflecting blame only removes power out of your hands.
If you can own up to the fact that your inability to remain in control is the reason why you get ghosted, then you hold the power to stop it from happening!
How Do I Stop Being Ghosted By Clients?
Most sales reps get ghosted at one point or another in their career.
But, what if there was a way that they could prevent it from happening in the first place?
Turns out, there are five key tactics that you can use to prevent prospects from ghosting you in the first place, including:
- Closing the time gap
- Taking advantage of emotional peaks
- Offering an appetizer
- Boosting your likability
- Never coming unprepared
And, the best part is that each tactic takes very little effort on your part. Moreover, each one is simple enough for every sales rep to take advantage of in their sales process.
For the times that you aren't able to prevent the ghosting from happening, you can always stop it in its tracks by using our 6-step process to stop ghosting!
Here Is How to Get Prospects Back After They Ghost You
Prospect ghosting you?
No problem.
Get them back in no time by following these 6 simple steps.
The key with each step is to be as direct as possible! If you beat around the bush, then you won't sound confident, and the prospect will just keep on ghosting you.
And if the prospect keeps on ghosting you, then they won't get the help that they need and you will miss out on another deal. Don't let that happen.
Take back control of the sales process to get your prospects back after a ghosting period!
Step 1: Check Your Sales Process
When many of us are being ghosted by a prospect, our initial reaction is to think that there is something wrong with them. In a frustrating situation, it's easier to deflect the blame than it is to take accountability.
But, thinking that this is all on the prospect is not only incorrect, but takes the power to get them back out of your hands.
The very first thing you need to do when a prospect ghosts you is ask yourself what could have gone wrong on your end. Did something in your sales process make them want to run away?
The most common mistakes that salespeople make that lead to ghosting include:
- Not listening to the prospects enough
- Not following up fast enough
- Giving off untrustworthy vibes
First off, the core of the B2B sales process is serving clients. The best way to serve them is simply by identifying their core problems, and then serving up a viable solution for those problems.
However, so many sales reps miss the mark in this all encompassing discovery phase of the sales process. Instead of taking the time to listen to the prospect's problems, they spend too much time talking about themselves.
If your job as a sales rep is to help serve prospects, why would your prospects give you the time of day if they think you aren't there to serve them?
Therefore, reflect on the discovery phase of your sales process. Ask yourself whether or not you and your sales team are taking enough time to discover the prospect's genuine needs.
Second, if it takes you more than 24 hours to follow-up with prospects or respond to their calls and emails, then consider them gone.
The more time that it takes you to connect with prospects in between meetings, the greater the odds that they ghost you.
You never EVER want to leave a lot of time in between sales meetings. If you do, that gives the prospect more chances to look to other people for their solution or reconsider your offer. Moreover, it gives their monkey mind a chance to swoop in.
The sooner you follow-up or reconnect with your prospects, the better!
Lastly, ask yourself whether or not you and your sales team are fostering a positive relationship with your prospects. Along with providing service, building relationships with prospects is at the core of B2B sales.
And, at the core of business relationships is trust. If the prospect doesn't trust you to handle their challenges, then they will likely ghost you with little to no explanation.
Why should they give you the time of day if you haven't given them the sense that they can trust you?
When it comes to prospect ghosting, never ever put the blame immediately on your prospects. Instead, empower yourself by seeing what you may have possibly done wrong. Then, use that information to reestablish connection.
Step 2: Give Them Some Face Time
Let's say that it's Friday night and you have plans for dinner with a friend. You text your friend to confirm plans once... twice... three times... and then you finally come to the conclusion that they are ghosting you.
How could your friend find it so easy to ghost you without even giving you the time of day to respond?
Here's the thing: It's really easy to ghost someone when you don't have to see their face. Thanks to technology, we can ghost people without ever having to confront them in person.
Just like how it's really easy to talk crap about someone on the internet because you don't have to say it to their face, it's really easy to ghost someone over the internet or phone because you don't have to see their face!
Therefore, solve this dilemma by showing prospects your face when they ghost you.
No response? No problem! Make it hard for them to keep ghosting you by sending them a picture of your face along with a message.
By literally putting your face out there for them to see, you're making it extremely difficult for them to ghost you. Because, like we just said, it's really hard to ghost someone when you have to do it to their face!
Therefore, send either a text message or email along with a smiling photo of your face to let the prospect know you are looking forward to their response.
And if you have their phone number, text them instead of emailing. Texts are more direct than emails are, which makes it even harder for the prospect to keep ghosting you.
Prospect leaving you in the dust? No worries, just give them some face time!
Step 3: Give Them Some Value
If you send your prospect a photo of yourself along with a message and they still don't respond after 24 hours, then consider moving on to the next tactic. And, the next tactic is to give the prospect some value without them having to do anything to get it!
We have said many times before here on the Business Growth Insider and we will say it again: There is no such thing as something for nothing in this world. Therefore, if you want your prospects to give you a ‘yes’, then you need to give them more value in less time first!
With that being said, if your prospect is still ghosting you after you've sent them a photo of your face, then your next step is to try and give them something valuable to see if it will make them crack.
You want the prospect to give you their time for another phone call or sales pitch? Then you better give them something first!
But, what value can you give to prospects before closing the deal?
Here's how: Go and do some research on your prospect's company. Specifically, look for problems in their business that you know that your product or service would help solve. For example, if your company provides SEO services, identify key problems with the company's SEO performance on their website. Then, take those insights and reach out to the prospect over the phone to let them know that you have some valuable information that they ought to know about. If they don't answer the phone, leave a voicemail AND send an email.
By following this tactic, you are showing the prospect that you have something valuable for them to see immediately. They will realize that, before even talking about closing the deal, you can add value to them.
When prospects believe that you will increase them and not just waste their time on another call, they will feel an urgent internal pull to respond to you.
They will feel that internal pull even more if you can tell them about something wrong in their business! Because, nothing increases someone's urgency when they know that someone knows that there is a problem with them that they don't even know about.
Furthermore, if you want to get your prospect back into your hands, then you need to give them something valuable first!
Step 4: Send the Video
Still can't get through to the prospect after a couple days of trying to give them some value?
No problem.
Double down on giving the prospect some face time by sending them a video of yourself. Instead of just a photo, this time around you should send them a 1 minute video of you talking!
In that video, you should say three things:
- Remind them that you have something valuable to share with them about their business (as you did in step 3).
- Propose one to two specific times to reconnect
- Remind them that you want to help them solve their problems
First off, in case they didn't quite understand the value of what you want to show them, repeat it here. If you truly believe that your insights will help them solve their problem, then don't be afraid to say it again!
Second, propose a couple of different times to connect with your prospect for another sales call. Never EVER just say, "when can you meet?" or "let me know when you are available". Instead, take control of the situation by proposing times yourself.
Lastly, remind the prospects what you are trying to do in the first place... which is help them solve their problems. The more clear you are on your intentions, the more likely they are to come around.
Break up the deafening radio silence by giving your prospects more face time via a video.
Step 5: Switch to Social Media
Research shows that sales reps who use multiple channels to communicate with prospects have more easily flowing communication.
Therefore, you should take advantage of this fact by using several channels to communicate with prospects after they ghost you.
Once you've already tried phone calls, emails, and text messages, take to social media! Specifically, head over to your LinkedIn page and make an additional point of contact with your prospect.
So many salespeople have social media at their disposal but never take advantage of it. Yet, social media was literally created for things like being able to connect with ghosting prospects.
Therefore, you would be crazy not to use social media to connect with your prospects!
Furthermore, after you've gone through steps 1 through 4, take to social media to send your prospects a message. Do as you did in step 5 by proposing new times to speak and reminding them that you are there to help solve their problems!
Step 6: Send the Postcard
If you've made it to this point and still have zero response from your prospect, ask yourself this question... Am I 100% sure that this is my ideal prospect whose pain points I know I am perfect to help solve?
If your answer is yes, then carry on.
Here's the thing: You should never beat a dead horse. But, if you believe that you have something extremely valuable to offer your prospects and strongly believe that it will help them, then there is no shame in continuing your outreach.
If the prospect truly doesn't want to hear from you, they will let you know. Otherwise, there is nothing wrong with continuing to assert yourself for the sake of helping the prospect.
Now, if you've already gone through steps 1 through 5 just to not hear back anything, then you don't need to jump immediately into step 6.
Instead, you can continue to reach out a few more times until you feel like you've done everything you possibly can.
But, once you think there is nothing else you can do to get the prospect back, your next move is to send what we like to call a postcard.
The post card is also known as the break-up message. In it, you email your prospect to thank them for their time and let them know that you wish them well. Most importantly, let them know that you hope that they have made the right choice for their business!
In a way, it's like saying "wish you were here, but hope you're having fun!". Hence, why we call it a postcard!
You wouldn't believe how many times the last-ditch postcard gets prospects back in your hands.
Once you send the postcard out, move on to working on your other leads. But, don’t be surprised if the postcard reals the prospect right back in!
Final Thoughts on How to Get Prospects Back After Ghosting
Just because your prospect is ghosting you doesn't mean that it's over!
Get them back in your hands and close the deal off in no time. Just follow the 6 steps above to break the prospect's ghosting streak.
Even better... Once you learn to take control of your sales process, you'll never get stuck in another ghosting situation again.
Prospect Ghosting You? 5 Tips to Prevent Being Ghosted Again
Here's Why Top B2B Sales Leaders NEVER Get Prospect Ghosted
