You’re working on a promising sales opportunity and then suddenly the client stops responding to your emails and calls. Silence.

You’re being ghosted.

This is the biggest challenge that we’re hearing media and events salespeople reference right now.

Why’s it happening, how do salespeople make it worse, and what can we do about it?

Why is ghosting happening?

Ghosting is a symptom of a much wider problem. Just 29% of sales people hit target in Q4 of 2022, and only 40% are predicted to achieve target in 2023, there is no doubt that sales is tougher than ever. Over the past year all four of the key sales performance metrics have moved in the wrong direction. The number of opportunities has decreased, win rate is down, AOV is lower, and the length of the sales cycle has increased. Research shows that an alarming 53% of deals now end in inaction. Exciting opportunities suddenly evaporate, leaving salespeople puzzled and struggling to understand what went wrong. It’s frustrating and it leads to inaccurate forecasting and missed targets.

We need to step into the marketer’s shoes if we are to understand why they are ghosting us. There are a number of factors.

Audience buying behaviour continues to evolve and there are more options than ever before when it comes to engaging with them. Marketers are seeing more stakeholders getting involved in their buying process and their choices and results are under increased scrutiny. On top of that, they are continuously hounded by salespeople, often via automated, generic outreach. Things are confusing and the chance of making a bad decision is very real.

These factors have made it harder for marketers to buy media and events solutions. They run into these challenges at various stages of their buying journey, and when they do, it can lead them to ghost salespeople.

The trick is therefore to deliver a great sales experience that makes it easy for the customer buy. When salespeople do that, it becomes less likely that they will be ghosted.

How do salespeople make it worse?

In their desperation to meet targets, many media and events salespeople actually make client ghosting more likely. Here are some common mistakes:

Mistake number one is failing to build a compelling case for change. This is huge. ‘Status quo bias’, is where buyers are reluctant to change, and feel safer sticking with what they know. They need a really strong business case if they are to be brave and change. Most salepeople fail to appreciate this and jump straight to recommending a solution.

Mistake number two is that salespeople tend to want to qualify prospects in rather than out. This leads to pipelines full of ‘opportunities’ that were never actually opportunities. These buyers were never really bought in, so its not surprising that they end up ghosting the salesperson.

Mistake number three is that salespeople pitch their solution, send over an email or rushed, generic proposal and then leave their buyer to it. Navigating the decision-making process and building internal consensus is tough for buyers. They need a comprehensive proposal and ongoing support. Without this, they quickly run into trouble, the opportunity loses momentum, and the buyer starts ghosting the seller.

How to prevent ghosting

1. Build a compelling case for change: Focus on helping the buyers see why they need to do something new, and shift from the status quo. Help them understand the limitations of their current approach and highlight the implications of inaction
   
   
2. Focus on qualifying out rather than in – Look out for indicators that the customer isn’t ready and able to decide and buy. Explore their budgets, priorities, and decision-making criteria. Keep qualification top-of-mind throughout the sales process
   
   
3. De-risk the purchase: Buyers are more likely to commit if they feel safe in their decision. Help them to map out the likely decision-making process and anticipate potential blockers. Work with them to co-create a plan where both of you are responsible for driving the decision through their business.
   

Whilst there’s no silver bullet when it comes to preventing ghosting, a great, customer-centric sales approach that maps to the customer’s buying journey makes it far less likely.

This content is brought to you by PPA Associate Member Flume Sales Training. Click here to access more relevant content or get in touch with the team at Flume.