How to Avoid Ghosting...

Prospects ghosting salespeople…

- Why would they do such a thing!

- And how best to prevent future disappearing acts?

Instead of debating prospect's general levels of courtesy, and what they should or shouldn't do - I think it's more helpful to unpick things, take control and help salespeople minimise future ghosting.

There are a few possible reasons behind it:

1) There was an objection not mentioned or picked up on during the meeting

2) There’s another person throwing a spanner in the works, not involved in your conversations

3) The issue at hand has been de-prioritised / they’re sticking with the status quo

4) They decided to go with someone else

5) They solved their issue another way

And the fact you didn’t uncover it means:

- You hadn’t built enough rapport

- You didn’t build enough trust

- You didn’t create an environment where they felt they could be honest with you

So, what should we do to minimise future disappearing acts?

Well, try creating an open and honest relationship from the start, and pre-empt the above 5 reasons by asking the following types of questions related to each of them:

1) "Is there anything else we haven’t covered you think may prevent this moving any further forward? Feel free to level with me – I promise I won’t take it personally."

2) "Have we missed anyone out of this meeting who may have an influence on the decision?"

If the answer is ‘yes’…respond with:

"OK so just so I’m clear, what do you think their criteria would be? What possible reservations do you think they might have?"

3) "On a scale of 1-10 how much of a priority is solving this issue right now?" Challenge the answer further, particularly if below a 7.

Re-framing the status quo as an untenable situation is the objective.

4) "Would you mind if I asked you a direct question? Which other companies are you looking at to help solve this problem? How do we fair in comparison? Feel free to be as upfront as you like."

5) "What other solutions are you considering – have you tried doing this in-house or outsourcing? What else have you tried up to this point?"

Help them by looking at other options other than just yours. Facing these head-on builds credibility, demonstrates you're not just a self-serving salesperson, and often flags up possible objections.

If ghosting still happens then that's on your prospect, not you. Taking it personally or getting emotional puts you in a reactive state, at the mercy of others.

Attempting to teach the world of 8 billion people to become more courteous is a losing battle, but navigating the waters more effectively is something we can all do.