How to Address Sales Ghosting

Prospects ghosting you? Here's the follow up strategy that brought back a dead $50K deal Quick back story: A prospect ghosted me for 8 weeks. Opened every email. Zero responses. Most reps panic and send "just checking in" messages until they get blocked. Here's what I did instead that revived that dead opportunity: Instead of begging for meetings, I became their unpaid consultant. Every 2 weeks, I sent content that solved their specific challenges: → Training video on scaling teams (their biggest pain point) → Hiring scorecard for sales talent (something they mentioned needing) → Custom playbook for their exact situation No sales pitches. No product demos. Just solutions to problems they told me about. Week 8 response: "Sorry it's been crazy here. I've watched everything you sent and it's been incredibly valuable. Can we hop on a call to get started?" The system that makes this scalable: 1. Document everything - Keep detailed notes on every problem discussed 2. Build a resource library - Categorize valuable content by challenge type 3. Play the long game - Nurture with value, not desperation 4. Track engagement - They're reading, even if not responding Pro tip: Create a Google Doc with 600+ resources organized by problem. When prospects go quiet, you have solutions ready to go. The difference between top performers and everyone else? They solve problems before they sell solutions. When you provide value first, ghosting becomes impossible. — Sales Leaders! Want even more systems and playbooks installed across your team? Let’s talk: https://lnkd.in/ghh8VCaf

I got ghosted by 127 LinkedIn prospects in 2017. Then I discovered the pattern. So there I am... Fresh SDR me refreshing my inbox every 10 minutes hoping for responses. Little Morgan clearly getting cooked in the DMs. My messages were painful. "Hope all is well. My name is Morgan. We have mutual connections and I'd love to connect. Here's what we do..." Just terrible. I am sick even telling you all this. But when you start in sales, there aren't really guidelines. You get thrown in like "hope this works" and pray something sticks. I thought I wasn't good enough. Then I realized something huge: They weren't ignoring ME. They were ignoring my APPROACH. That changed everything. Here's the framework I developed after studying hundreds of messages: The AMP Outbound Formula: ↳ Observation (show them you know them) ↳ Context (why this observation matters) ↳ Pain point (what they're likely facing) ↳ Value prop/Power Move(how you help) ↳ Call to action (next step) You don't need all 5 every time. Sometimes just observation + context + question works. Quick example" Before: "Hope all is well..." (Almost barfed writing this) " After: "Saw you just expanded your SDR team by 5 people. Most VPs tell me onboarding at that scale leads to (insert situation). Not sure if this is relevant but how are you currently doing (x)?" (Now we are getting somewhere) But every successful message I've seen follows this pattern. As Samantha McKenna says "Show Them You KNOW Them" before you show them what you DO. When I follow this framework, response rates jump. When teams I coach use this from our LinkedIn Revenue Engine™ they book more meetings from LinkedIn. Your prospects are waiting for someone who gets them. Be that someone.

Getting ghosted by prospects? Here's something to try. Prospects ghost us because they know what sellers are trained to do when a prospect says "no". Objection handle. We're inherently biased. We want them to buy. They don't want to. That puts us on opposite sides of the field. It's much less soul sucking for the prospect to disappear. Especially in a profession where we often celebrate relentless persistence > active listening. Instead of trying to become the world's best late-stage objection handler, I looked at what was happening in my early convos with prospects. Specifically, I looked at how I was asking questions. Most of my Qs were begging for a positive answer. "What do you like most about this solution?" "How could you see this improving your team's performance?" "How is this better vs. what you're doing today?" All of those are worded so the prospect gives me positive feedback. What I was NOT getting was the full truth. Because I didn't actually want to hear bad news. Bad news = deal risk. So, I unintentionally created an environment where the prospect felt uncomfortable telling me the truth. Instead, now I ask Qs to surface deal risk, like this: "Who is most likely to be in favor of sticking with status quo? Why?" "You and I agreed the problem is X. Who is most likely to have a different opinion of the problem ACME should be solving right now? Why?" "What other organizational projects/priorities are we competing against for time/attention/budget?" It changed my convos with prospects. We got to the truth early, so we could find ways to pre-empt those deal risks. Less late-stage surprises of competing priorities or surprise internal blockers. Way less ghosting. TLDR - examine the way you ask Qs to your prospects. Are you unintentionally creating an environment where the prospect feels uncomfortable telling you bad news, like I was?

As sellers, we’re all guilty of being addicted to speed. Scaling. Hustling. Ripping more dials. Sending an avalanche of cold emails. Following up more. Sometimes it’s pressure from above. Other times it’s just habit. So we keep going fast. We do more of what we’re already doing. We move our fingers faster and strum harder. But there’s another option. We can slow down and think, “Maybe there are other ways to engage prospects.” Take 5 uninterrupted minutes to slow down and try this. Storytime: Chris had a prospect express interest, then disappear. He was ghosted. He tried going fast—followed up multiple times—but heard nothing back. That’s because when you go too fast, prospects feel the pressure and pull away. So Chris slowed down and sent this message: “Bill, it seems like I did a poor job with discussing the initial requirements from the start on this one (temp rating, environment, distance, etc.). That’s on me. Do you no longer need this inventory?” 8 minutes later, Bill responded: “Hey Chris, this is on me also. I wasn’t considering that not all industrial temperature ranges are equal and that these could require a higher max. Apologies for this not moving along faster. [Name redacted] is ready to reach out to you for a final quote to get the order moving. Please give me one more day to confirm with [Redacted] if they need 95 or if 85 is okay—but I’m anticipating they’ll say 95 since these are going in a sealed enclosure deployed outdoors. Will be in touch as soon as I have confirmation.” The more you take responsibility and detach from the outcome, the more likely you are to get to the truth. Slow down. Let me know how it goes.

I have been on over 500 calls till now asking creators to try topmate.io and guess what, I have been ghosted countless times by them! "I will get back to you soon." is one of the most common responses when people are not interested in your services. As a professional, it is frustrating when your promising prospects fail to convert into clients, even after an engaging initial conversation. And it hurts even more when they ghost you without giving any reason. Here are four key factors to consider: 1⃣Misaligned sales and marketing: If your sales and marketing teams aren't in sync, your prospects may be receiving mixed messages. Ensure open communication and shared understanding of the ideal customer profile and lead qualification criteria. 2⃣Lack of customer understanding: Don't assume you know your prospects' needs. Take the time to truly listen and ask insightful questions to uncover their unique challenges and requirements. This will help you provide tailored solutions. 3⃣Credibility gap: If prospects don't trust your advice or believe you have their best interests in mind, they'll hesitate to commit. Focus on building rapport and demonstrating your expertise, not just closing the deal. 4⃣High-pressure sales tactics turn off prospects: Position yourself as a helpful guide, not a salesperson on a mission. By addressing these common pitfalls, you can create a more transparent, customer-centric sales process that builds trust and addresses your prospects' real needs. This will not only improve your conversion rates but also foster long-term, mutually beneficial relationships. After I started keeping the above things in mind, I have seen an exponential increase in the conversion rate. What else do you think puts off a prospect during the call? Your opinion is valuable!

"Checking in" and "touching base" are the death sentences of sales emails. They scream "I'm desperate" and prospects can smell it from a mile away. After testing thousands of follow-ups, I've cracked the psychological code that's getting 70% of ghosted prospects to respond within 24 hours. It starts with what I call the Pattern Interrupt Psychology These exact 24 words that completely flip the guilt dynamic "I really enjoyed the conversation and apologies on the delay in following up as I was out of office for the last few days." This works because it ✔️ Takes the blame off them for disappearing ✔️ Shows you have priorities too (and aren't desperately waiting) ✔️ Creates an easy path for them to re-engage without awkwardness This is just the opener of my complete 91-word follow-up formula that's transforming how innovative sellers handle ghosting. In Episode 23 of Innovative Seller, I break down the entire psychology behind why prospects ghost you (62% of the time it's NOT because they're not interested) and give you the full formula to bring them back. Time to ditch the outdated follow-up techniques that are actively repelling your prospects.