How to Get Prospective Clients to Stop Ghosting You

Are you spooked by how to respond to inquiries?

It’s almost Halloween and the means it’s the perfect time to talk about the scariest parts of running a business–getting ghosted by prospective clients. 

If I had a dollar for how many times my coaching clients complained about how often they get ghosted by inquiries, I’d have a whole lotta extra dollars laying around. 

Getting ghosted by inquiries is one of the most frustrating parts of running a business. It can be really difficult to pinpoint the actual issue and you are usually left with more questions than answers.  

I get it and I’ve been there. 

So let’s talk about ghosting and my top pieces of advice to get inquiries to stop ghosting you.

What is Ghosting

Let’s talk about this other-worldly phenomenon of ghosting real quick.  

What exactly is ghosting? 

Basically, ghosting is when people email you and act so excited to work with you. You put your heart and soul into your response…and then they never respond. That, my friends, is ghosting. 

And it is super aggravating. 

And then, once you never hear from them again, you are left alone with all of your thoughts and questions. Should you follow up? Did you say the wrong thing?  Are your prices too high?  Were you not specific enough or were you too specific? Or were you not passionate enough or were you a bit too enthusiastic? 

What did you do wrong?

The hard truth is – you may have done something wrong.  

And we are going to get to the bottom of what mistakes you could be making and how to stop the scary business of getting ghosted. 

3 Tips for Getting Prospective Clients to Stop Ghosting You

Most of us can relate to the frustration you feel when you don’t make a sale.

You tell yourself that if you created better art or work then more people would buy.  But this is not true. 

It’s not about your art or your work.  I mean it is something about your art and your work but there is more to it than that.  

Set Your Vibration

While this isn’t a tip directly related to how to ghost-bust those pesky “ghosters”, it is the first step in changing your mindset and preparing yourself for a shift. 

You need to redefine the word ”ghosting”. This isn’t a high-vibrational word. It makes you feel like you aren’t good enough. And I am not all about that.

I have an affirmation that I say to myself and now wholeheartedly believe–my ideal client never ghosts me. What is meant to be mine, will come my way.

And then that leads to the second part of setting your vibration –you have to take responsibility when you are ghosted. 

It isn’t always them. 

Sometimes it is them. You are out of budget or they get distracted and forget to get back to you. It happens.

But it isn’t always them. Sometimes it is you and you need to take responsibility for the role you play in getting ghosted. 

So just how do you take responsibility for your part in being ghosted?  

This leads to the next two tips to get prospective clients to stop ghosting you. 

Learn About Human Nature

The next tip that I have for you is to start studying human nature and, most importantly, start implementing what you learned in your responses to people.  

Basically, stop using templates for responses and start responding using a basic understanding of the 6 human needs. 

The 6 human needs are not my concept and I won’t be going into detail about them here but you can find a lot about them online, including this article by Tony Robbins. To summarize, the 6 basic needs are certainty, uncertainty, love and connection, significance, growth, and contribution.

When you are responding with a template response, you are assuming all of your clients are the same and have the same needs. This couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Respond to each individual inquiry by really looking at their email. From their email, you should be able to deduce a lot of information. 

For example, if is a short, 2-line email–Hi, I’m getting married. What are your prices?–you may know that this person’s main concern is price and they are looking for certainty. It may be that a person looking at price as their top priority isn’t your ideal client, and that is fine, but if you have any chance at converting this person, you want to respond in a way that makes them feel more certain that they will get what they want with your services. 

If you are responding with a template or a canned response, you are getting ghosted because you are treating everyone the same. And they aren’t. They aren’t buying for the same reason.

Learn how to sell

And the other tip about being ghosted is that people will not buy from you if you are a terrible salesperson–EVEN if you are the absolute best at your art. 

To be a good salesperson, you need to remember these 4 principles: 

1 – You have to be passionate and sharp.

If you respond with a template, you show a lack of passion  Passion is key. You don’t have to be over the top but you need to show you do love what you do. You also have to be sharp and show that you understand human nature (see above). 

2 – Reciprocity

If you give something for free, people are more likely to book you. For example, in one chocolate store, they found they sold 42% more chocolate when they gave out free samples 

Think about what advice or knowledge you could give for free that would add value to your services. Where are your secret shooting spots?  What is your best advice for eloping?  Where are your favorite mountain-top venues?

3 – Be likable.

There is a likeability factor that comes out whether you intend it to or not. And sometimes you treat people like they are not going to book from you from the get-go. You may do this unknowingly but just know that your state of mind when you reply means something and can come across in even the most benign email.

4 – Be an Authority

Know your shit. You must develop confidence in your offerings and your service and in how you communicate. When you are wishy-washy in your communication it shows a lack of authority. 

You must get excited about the art of selling. 

Get Prospective Clients to Stop Ghosting You – Today

If you are intentional in your approach to inquiries and focus on what I mentioned above, you will start finding that fewer and fewer clients will ghost you.  

But you must have a strategy to respond and follow up with your prospective clients. If you are just emailing–”Hey, did you get what I sent you?  Do you have any questions?”–your email is most likely going unnoticed. 

Take what I mentioned above and really start studying human needs and the art of selling–and actually implement this into your inquiry responses. 

Remember, you are responsible for the current state of your business. There is always an answer and things you can do to stop getting ghosted and start booking those inquiries. 

Do you want to go deeper into Play it Brave? And BIG? And BOLD? Come listen to the Play it Brave podcast and binge your way to a better business and a better life.

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