I Got Business Ghosted

Sorry for the young adult slang (that I’m a little embarrassed that I know) in the headline, but the term “ghosted” is all I can think of to describe a recent interaction I had and the surprising mixed emotions it gave me. If you don’t have any teenagers around to translate, “ghosting” someone is a new-age verb meaning to unexpectedly cut off all communication with no explanation or warning.

They use it to mean when a dating relationship or friendship goes silent. I was ghosted in a shallow and meaningless business sense. I was ghosted by someone I didn’t even know, in a “relationship” that hadn’t even really started… but for some reason it still felt oddly offensive and hurtful.

A few days ago I was purging my inbox, going through the hundreds of spammy email solicitations I get, and sending them directly to my trash. Yes, just like you, I get hit with daily calls and emails from businesses begging for “5 minutes of my time,” promising they have solutions that will change my world and revolutionize how we do business.

Most aren’t even offering anything relevant to Hudson,Ink in the first place, so they’re paying in dollars and time to market to me without doing any research into what Hudson,Ink actually does. And the rest, promising us more leads or better Google rankings, etc. never catch my eye because they ALL look the same – same stale sales pitch with no differentiation. But one email I received on April 14th stood out, got my attention, and in turn, got a response from me.

A girl named Patricia reached out and instead of going straight into a sales pitch she said this,

Hey Justin! Forgive me for starting with a random side-note, but your LinkedIn says you’re in Troy – I’m actually headed to Goshen in a few days to visit some friends. So excited!

Then, the actual intention was revealed. She went on…

For transparency's sake, the following is my elevator pitch because I'd really like to talk to you. We… (blah, blah, blah, list of accolades, and a couple of hard to verify, over the top claims).

I'd be happy to show you a few of these methods in a free 30-minute strategy sharing session. Let me know if you want to Zoom!

-Patricia”

Her email signature said Glendale, AZ so I was skeptical, but still intrigued. If nothing else, she had taken the time to research my LinkedIn profile and put a personal tidbit in the email, and the mention of a small, Podunk town in my area made her stand out. Whether the story about her travelling soon was real or not, there’s a lesson for us just in that. Great work on her part. The personal touch was good, and I bit.

Here is my actual response.

“You're travelling from Scottsdale, AZ to Goshen, AL?

If that’s just a hook to start a conversation with me then I’ll admit, it’s a pretty good one. If you are actually coming, you might be the first person to travel that far with Goshen as their end destination haha. You’ve probably heard of “two light towns.” Well, Goshen doesn’t even have one traffic light. Barely a stop sign.

Not sure if our company would be a good fit for your services, but I’m willing to chat and find out.”

There was a personal connection with a little back and forth humor to start the conversation. Looks to be headed in a positive direction, right? I mean, I’ve been in sales for a long time and the HARDEST part is always getting the prospect to show interest from the very beginning. Get them to agree to a second call or especially a “30-minute strategy sharing session” and you’ve got to be feeling pretty good. So, how did this go wrong?

Reply sent on April 14th and as of today, zero response from “chief account executive,” Patricia.

But wait, I said YES! She was asking for a Zoom call where I would undoubtedly hear her full sales pitch, and I agreed! I even admitted her opening line sounded sketchy, and if she made it up just to get my attention then kudos, because it worked. Nice strategy. But then… silence. Fish off the hook. Fish feeling a little ticked that I even took the time to reply.

This interaction did, however, do a little good because it got me thinking. How often do we sabotage our businesses reaching out to prospects, then going silent? Or at least not being ready with the right response?

IRC Sales Solutions is a sales strategy, analysis, and consultant group who put out an interesting report on sales follow-up. They said this, “When it comes to sales, it’s all about the follow-up. On average, only 2% of sales are made during the first point of contact. That means if you don’t follow up, even with a simple follow-up email, you’re missing out on potentially 98% of your sales. Shockingly, 44% of leads are never followed up on at all.”

We work so hard for our leads, don’t we? You’re marketing, sending out postcards or spending a fortune on Google to generate interest in your company and that homeowner finally calls! Hallelujah! Can you imagine, if this research is true, how much money businesses leave on the table just because a CSR doesn’t ask the right questions when fielding an incoming call? Maybe the line is busy… Maybe she forgets to write down the caller’s contact information. Maybe someone reaches out through your website live chat and no one responds quickly enough. That person who you have paid in marketing dollars to drive to that point is… let off the hook. Gone, often with a sour taste in their mouth because they gave you a shot, and you failed to prove to them you wanted their business. That’s harsh, but that’s what they’re thinking. They gave you their time. They responded, they said “yes,” (at least a micro one) but you weren’t prepared to seal the deal.

How often do we blame the marketing method we use and claim it “didn’t work” when the potential was there, but systems weren’t in place to turn that interest into booked appointments? Massive potential fell through the cracks due to lack of proper follow-up.

Ask yourself, how many times do you follow up with prospects in your database who didn’t close the first time you spoke? Do you have a process for keeping yourself on their mind, or even a service redirect, offering another solution that might work better for them?

IRC says that at any given time only 3% of your market is actively buying, so when your marketing works and someone responds to you, they cannot be met with indifference on your end. But far too often, that’s what they get.

We get a lot of requests around Hudson,Ink from contractors with questions and who need help. Spring and Fall we normally have waves of desperate owners reaching out asking how to keep the lead flow more consistent or how to “get to the next level” in their business growth. Maybe I needed this reminder from Patricia. I never want anyone to feel like they invested their time responding to my bold claim that Hudson,Ink has answers for them waiting to be unlocked, only to be met with crickets.