We are only a couple of weeks from Halloween but the ghosting I’m talking about is not like Casper and does not come with chocolate bars and fun… it is a pain in the butt. I am sure everyone reading this has been ghosted in their lifetime and realistically probably at least a dozen times in the last year. I am referring to the ghosting where someone just fails to respond to you.
Let’s set this straight.
if you reached out to me unsolicited (or me to you) and I don’t respond, that is NOT ghosting. We have to have engaged before you stop responding to me to call it ghosting! When I get ghosted, I get really frustrated. I make a point of trying to respond to every legitimate email, DM and phone call. If you reach out and ask to set up a meeting because you think you might need our services, I will respond. No matter how big (exciting because they probably have money) or small (a one-person charity looking for help), I reply.
In some cases, if they are looking for a sponsorship sales agency, I let them know that we are not a broker but rather what we do and how we bill. If they still want to know more, I set up a meeting—either by phone, virtual or in person. I provide anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes to chat with them (at no charge). I determine if we can be of assistance and if so, what that might cost them or alternative approaches to having their goal without hiring us. If we cannot support them, I suggest others who might be able to help.
If they do feel we are the solution, we further engage. We do more discovery sessions, determine what their needs are and how we can most effectively and efficiently help them within their budget range. This is probably between 5-8 hours of back and forth before we even build out a customized proposal. To build that proposal is another 8 hours or so. At this point I have invested 16 hours of time or about $8,400 worth of time and resources. And then off goes the proposal.
We wait to hear back. We follow up. We wait longer. We follow up more. And time passes. And more time passes. And once it reaches the 1-year mark with no reply whatsoever, we close it down. We give up.
I find it unfathomable that any person cannot take the 30-45 seconds to send a reply that says, “thank you for your submission, we will not be engaging you” or, “the plan has altered” or been “set back in timelines”. To have the courtesy to reply as a human being. In the last year, I have had nine of these people.
In the last 24 years that the Partnership Group – Sponsorship Specialists® has been operating there have been three occasions where folks that had ghosted me for over eight months who later connected to say “you won, we are ready to get started”. In each of those situations I said, “thanks but no thanks”. We passed on the offer. One of the three said fine and likely moved on to their next choice. The other two wanted to know why. One was angry that “we had submitted and then refused to do the business”. I told them both that their failure to communicate told me that they were not a company we wanted to work with. Their disregard for professionalism and common courtesy of a reply or response sent up red flags on what they would be like to work with.
I hate to pass up business, but when people have no common courtesy, I have no time for them. I don’t think it’s fair to put my team members into a project situation where the client will ghost them and not allow them to do their job.
If you want to meet and network with an amazing group of industry professionals who will not ghost you, register for Canada’s #1 sponsorship marketing conference, the Western Sponsorship Congress® – Alberta Forum.
Brent Barootes has spent almost 35 years in the sponsorship marketing industry, developing and delivering profitable sponsorship programs that result in returns on investment for nonprofits, charities and other properties and rights holder as well as sponsors. As President and CEO of the Partnership Group – Sponsorship Specialists® he leads a dedicated team of professionals delivering measurable results for their clients.
