Are You Getting Ghosted? What Every Seller Needs to Know
No one likes getting ghosted, but in sales right now, it’s become a reality you can’t ignore. Prospects go silent, promising deals vanish, even customers who reached out to you first can disappear without a trace.
Mark Hunter and Meridith Elliott Powell tackle this uncomfortable and increasingly common topic in this episode of Sales Logic. In their words: it’s not just happening more often, it’s something every sales team needs to bake into their process.
Why Ghosting Is on the Rise
It isn’t your imagination. There’s more ghosting now than ever. According to Mark, customers are more hesitant to make decisions, more stakeholders are getting involved, and priorities are shifting faster than ever before. “Customers are only making decisions if it’s their number one or number two priority,” Mark says.
That’s a reality Meridith sees, too. “I feel like I get ghosted now more than I’ve ever gotten ghosted. And I think the interesting thing about getting ghosted is I get ghosted by people who contacted me about work.” Ghosting, she explains, is rarely personal, people are just overwhelmed.
Expect It, and Prepare for It
If you want to keep your pipeline moving, start by accepting that ghosting is part of the game. “You need to bake it into the sales cycle right now,” Meridith says.
Preparation is everything. That doesn’t mean getting negative or fatalistic. It means building resilience and having a proactive plan for what comes after the silence. Mark’s advice? Go into every conversation knowing what value-added touchpoints you can provide next. “You [need a] complete set of value added messages and reasons to be back in touch with them.”
It’s Not About You
It’s incredibly easy to take ghosting personally. But as Meridith cautions, “the most important thing to know and to understand about getting ghosted is it’s rarely about you.” Customers juggle long to-do lists, complex teams, and constant distractions. Don’t let a silent prospect shake your confidence or drive you to desperate messaging.
“How you handle ghosting is telling the prospect what it’s like to do business with you.” —Meridith Elliott Powell
What Not to Do: Don’t Get Desperate
How you handle the ghosting process says everything about how you do business. When you resort to pestering, joking, or expressions of frustration, you’re sending all the wrong signals. Meridith puts it simply: “During the ghosting process, you’re telling your prospect what it’s like to do business with you.”
A frustrated reply can kill a deal. Mark shared a story of a seller who lost a deal after sending a less-than-professional email when they felt ignored. The prospect actually wanted to move forward until they received that email.
“The deal is always closed in the follow up. And ghosting is just a great part of it.” —Mark Hunter
Bring Value, Not Anxiety
The worst thing you can do is follow up with “just checking in” or “have you made a decision?” These messages are about you and your needs, not the customer’s. Instead, bring insights, share relevant articles, or refer back to previous conversations. Mark calls this “bringing value and demonstrating you’re on their side.”
Meridith suggests: “Since the last time we spoke, I’ve seen this trend in your industry. I thought you might find this valuable.” These touchpoints keep the relationship alive and the decision in the customer’s mind without feeling like pressure.
Uncover Hidden Decision Makers
Sometimes, the silence means there’s an invisible decision maker behind the scenes. That’s why Meridith recommends asking prompts like, “Is there anybody else that it would be valuable for me to give you some information for, to help get them over the finish line?” Supporting your contact means arming them with what they need to advocate internally.
“Start to be an advocate for your contact so that they have good, ‘ammunition’ for the other people that are involved that you just are not engaging with.” —Meridith Elliott Powell
Check Your Own Behavior
If you’re being ghosted more than usual, look at your own process. Mark stresses, “Ghosting can occur because of your own actions as a salesperson. You were too aggressive early on.” Pushing too hard, too fast, especially after an initial positive response, can cause a prospect to disengage.
Build Trust and Play the Long Game
People buy from those they trust, and trust takes time to build. This is especially true if there are multiple stakeholders or if your solution isn’t at the top of your customer’s priority list. Be patient. Offer perspective. Keep your focus on value.
“The deal is always closed in the follow up. And ghosting is just a great part of it.” —Mark Hunter
As Meridith puts it, “Emotional intelligence is so important in today’s marketplace.” Reading the room, paying attention to signals, and adjusting your pace are all part of modern selling.
Prioritize Relationship, Not Just the Close
Don’t make it about your commission. Make it about the change, improvement, or result you bring to your client. “Your whole focus is what is the difference that you are going to make in the company and the people who you are going to be selling to,” Mark says.
The Takeaway
Ghosting is a permanent feature of selling. Expect it, don’t personalize it, and above all, have a strategy for handling it with value and professionalism. The sellers who succeed are methodical, resilient, and always focused on making the customer’s life easier—not just closing the sale.
Recommended Reading
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
A must for developing both in-the-moment selling instincts and long-range strategy.
Lightning Round: Top 10 Ways to Deal with Margin Pressure
- Focus first on selling value, not product.
- Be confident in the outcome you create.
- Focus on retention first and grow from the inside out.
- Tie your solution directly to ROI.
- If you have to reduce price, look for other ways to protect margin (offer another product/service).
- If you lower price, take something out of the deal.
- Review your ICP and target more high-margin customers.
- Sell higher up the organizational ladder to strategic decision makers.
- Tighten your sales process for maximum efficiency.
- Present your price with confidence. Don’t invite a discount, and be prepared to walk away.
Keep your head up, stay strategic, and remember: getting ghosted is never the end of the story if you handle it right.
Question: Jason in Denver asks, “I just lost it with a prospect. We had talked, she was interested, asked me to do a proposal —which I did—took hours, then nothing. I called, emailed, texted and nothing. Finally I wrote her a less than professional email, this time she responded. Told me she had a lot going on in her life, and was not blowing me off. She actually wanted to move forward UNTIL she got my email. Clearly, I need a better strategy for dealing with getting ghosted.”
Book: Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.