Getting ghosted – where people stop replying to you – is rubbish.
It happens to all of us. And it isn’t nice. It wastes time. It lowers our self-esteem. It sucks.
So here are a few techniques to stop people ghosting you:
- BEST ONE: agree Meeting #2’s date during Meeting #1 – when you end a meeting with “I’ll call you next week”, they might ghost you. But if, before you end Meeting #1, you agree the time of Meeting #2, you can’t get ghosted! Because your next chat’s already scheduled
- Ask a mutual connection – if someone isn’t replying to you, you could speak to someone who knows you both, and ask them to chase the other person for you
- Use the word “new” – If your follow-up basically says “Shall we chat again?”, they may keep ghosting you. Because why should they suddenly decide to reply? But if you contact them and say “I have some new ideas about what we were discussing. When are you free for a quick chat?” … they’re more likely to reply – they want to hear what this ‘new thing’ is
- Schedule a call – You could just send an invitation for a meeting, adding a comment “If this time doesn’t work, please choose a different one”
- Send them a text “I’ll call you at 4pm” – One cause of ghosting is vagueness – “I’ll call you some time”, “I’ll reply some time”, etc. So send them a text saying “Hi (name). A quick follow-up to our chat last week… I’ll call you at 4pm today. If that time doesn’t work, please text me a better one”. I quite like this one. Although it is worded very politely, it’s basically saying “I’m definitely calling you. The only thing I want to hear from you is a change of time. I’m not asking for your permission to call”
- Ask the expert – If you have someone in your team who never seems to get ghosted, ask them how they do it
- Ask me – If all else fails (!), I am one email away. Drop me a line, and I will be happy to help
Too many ghosts…?
Action Point
…Try one or more of this list. Use the one(s) that feels appropriate. But don’t over-think it. Whatever you do, it won’t make things worse – they can’t ‘not reply’ more than they are doing now…
And, if you want me to help improve your sales/communications, please hit Reply and let me know…