It’s enough to make you scream, a scenario many freelancers will be all too familiar with: ghosting, AKA being given the “cold shoulder” – potential clients disappearing off the radar, never to be heard from again, without so much as a “thank you for your time”.
It’s frustrating and can be particularly galling when a potential client has approached you for a proposal and you have invested significant time and energy putting it together for them – it’s work you won’t get paid for and time you could have spent on more lucrative activity.
It happens to the best of us, and no one should take it personally. Ghosting is just plain bad manners, there is absolutely no excuse not to send an email saying, “Thank you but we’ve decided not to take this project forward at this time”. While that’s always disappointing to hear, at least you have certainty and can move on.
Here are a few tips I’ve picked up over the years to reduce my risk of “ghosting” – and they’re not just for Halloween!
- Don’t over invest. If you spend hours on a proposal, there is always a chance it won’t lead anywhere, and you will be out of pocket. Be strict with yourself and ration how much time you put in. I find that offering a free 30 minute “discovery” call is a good way of limiting overinvestment.
- Occasionally emails might go to spam or genuinely be missed in a busy inbox, so do follow up if you don’t hear back. Maybe try a phone call, to be sure your email has been seen.
- Do be persistent. If you are chasing up do so regularly if you need to i.e. after a few days, weeks, a month.
- When you are speaking to your prospect try and get a time in the diary for your next touch point at the end of the call/email.
- Don’t just send a proposal, book a time in to talk through your proposal.
- Don’t try too hard to sell you, talk about them and what the client wants to achieve -try and bring a fresh perspective and different ideas to their issue.
- Sometimes prospective clients may be embarrassed about saying “no thanks” or don’t want to admit they can’t afford your services, so make it as easy as possible for them to let you down gently!
- If you feel that things have gone cold, then it’s ok to send a “give-up email” asking outright if the client has given up on this project for now?
- You should always ask for feedback, it may not always be forthcoming, but it’s good to get a cross check on whether your pricing is competitive or whether there are any other learning points you can take away from the exercise.
What’s your experience of ghosting? I’d love to hear any methods you use to prevent it.
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