Then, nothing.

No returned emails. No answered calls. No response to your follow-up messages.

You’ve officially been ghosted!

If you’ve been in sales for more than five minutes, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Getting ghosted after a great sales meeting is one of the most frustrating experiences in the sales business.

But here’s a question I want you to consider: Was that sales call really as exceptional as you thought it was?

I’m Ryan Dohrn, and after more than 30 years in selling, training, and coaching, I’ve noticed some patterns when salespeople tell me they’re constantly being ghosted by prospects.

The good news? There are three practical things you can do to significantly improve your chances of getting a response and moving the sale forward.

1. Sometimes You’re Just Too Nice!

Now, before you get upset with me, hear me out.

Being nice is a wonderful quality in sales. You should absolutely be friendly, professional and respectful. But sometimes being extremely nice creates an unexpected problem.

People don’t like saying no to nice people.

Think about it. When a salesperson is friendly, enthusiastic and genuinely interested in helping, it can be uncomfortable for a prospect to tell them they’re not interested.

Rather than having an awkward conversation, some prospects simply disappear.

They stop responding to emails. They ignore your calls. They hope you’ll eventually get the message.

Unfortunately, that leaves you believing there’s still a deal somewhere in your pipeline.

Here’s a sales tip I encourage you to consider. Give your prospects permission to say no.

You might say something like:

“If the answer is no, that’s completely OK. I’ll respect your decision. I’d simply rather know where things stand so we can both move forward.”

Now, I’m not suggesting that you encourage prospects to reject your recommendations. Quite the opposite. I’m suggesting you create an environment where people feel comfortable being honest with you.

The goal isn’t to get more people to say no. The goal is to get more people to tell you the truth.

A clear no is often much better than spending three weeks chasing a prospect who has already decided not to buy.

2. Stop Creating Proposals Before Talking About Money

Of the three strategies I’m sharing, this one might be the most important.

One of the biggest mistakes I see salespeople make is leaving an initial sales meeting to create a proposal without ever discussing the potential investment.

This happens constantly in advertising sales, media sales, corporate sales and nearly every other industry.

A salesperson has a fantastic conversation. The prospect is engaged. Everyone seems excited.

Then the salesperson says, “Great! Let me put together a proposal, and I’ll send it over.”

Big mistake.

Why?

Because the prospect might be imagining a solution that costs $500 per month while you’re preparing a proposal for $5,000 per month.

When that proposal arrives, the prospect opens it and thinks, “Holy cow! That’s way more expensive than I expected!”

And because you’re such a nice salesperson, they don’t want to tell you that your proposal is completely outside their expectations.

So what happens?

You get ghosted.

Talk About Price Before You Present the Proposal

I’m a big believer in recommendation-based selling. I want salespeople to guide customers toward solutions that actually solve their problems.

Part of that process involves discussing what those solutions realistically cost.

For example, when I’m discussing marketing solutions with a potential client, I might say:

“Based on what you’re trying to accomplish, we’d probably be talking somewhere between $3,000 and $5,000 per month. If we were working within that range, would that make sense for your business?”

Notice what I didn’t ask.

I didn’t ask, “What’s your budget?”

That’s intentional.

When you ask prospects about their budget without providing any context, you’re asking them to estimate the cost of something they may know very little about.

They might give you a number that’s completely disconnected from what it actually takes to solve their problem.

Instead, I want to educate the customer about the realistic investment required to achieve their goals.

Your Prospect’s Reality May Not Match Actual Costs

Here’s something every salesperson needs to understand.

There is the customer’s perception of what something should cost, and then there’s the actual cost of delivering the solution.

Those two numbers can be dramatically different.

Sometimes the investment required to solve a problem is 10 times greater than the prospect originally imagined.

That’s why your job is more than simply asking questions and writing proposals.

Your job is to help prospects understand the marketplace, the competition, the problem they’re trying to solve and the realistic investment required to achieve meaningful results.

If you’re selling advertising, explain what it typically costs to compete effectively in their category.

If you’re selling corporate services, reference similar problems you’ve solved for other customers.

If you’re selling business solutions, discuss the potential value of solving the problem.

You might ask:

“What would solving this particular problem be worth to your business?”

That question encourages a completely different conversation from “What’s your budget?”

You’re moving the discussion away from an arbitrary spending limit and toward the value of achieving a specific outcome.

And when customers understand the investment before receiving your proposal, there’s a much better chance they’ll respond when you present your recommendations.

3. Make Your Follow-Up Meetings Ridiculously Short

Here’s a bonus strategy that I think could make a tremendous difference in your sales process.

Stop scheduling long follow-up meetings!

Seriously.

I see salespeople put 45-minute or 60-minute follow-up meetings on a prospect’s calendar after the initial conversation.

Why?

If your goal is simply to review recommendations, clarify a few details or agree on next steps, you probably don’t need an hour.

A long meeting looks like a major commitment to a busy business owner or executive.

And when people start looking at their calendars, what’s one of the first things they eliminate?

Meetings that appear unnecessary or time-consuming.

Instead, I suggest scheduling short, highly focused follow-up conversations.

Consider a 10-minute or 15-minute meeting.

You might say:

“I’d love to grab 10 minutes next Thursday to walk you through my recommendations and see if we’re aligned on the next steps.”

That’s a much easier commitment for a busy prospect to make.

Here’s the psychology behind my recommendation.

When a meeting is incredibly short, canceling and rescheduling it can feel like more work than simply attending.

And that’s exactly what you want.

Of course, a complicated proposal may require more time. But don’t automatically schedule 60 minutes when 10 or 15 minutes would accomplish the same objective.

Remember, the purpose of a follow-up meeting isn’t to occupy time on someone’s calendar.

The purpose is to advance the sale.

Give Every Follow-Up Meeting a Clear Purpose

One additional point worth emphasizing is that short meetings still need a strong agenda.

Don’t schedule a meeting just to “check in.”

Instead, tell the prospect exactly what you’ll accomplish.

For example:

• Review two or three specific recommendations.
• Confirm that the proposed investment makes sense.
• Address any remaining questions.
• Agree on a decision or next step.

When prospects understand the value of the meeting and see that it won’t consume their afternoon, they’re more likely to participate.

The Real Secret to Avoiding Sales Ghosting

Let’s put these three strategies together.

First, recognize that being extremely nice can sometimes make prospects reluctant to tell you no. Create an environment where they feel comfortable giving you an honest answer.

Second, stop presenting proposals without discussing the potential investment. Help your prospect understand what solving their problem realistically costs before you spend hours building a recommendation.

Third, make your follow-up meetings short, focused and easy to attend.

None of these ideas requires expensive sales technology, complicated automation or a complete overhaul of your sales process.

They simply require you to be more intentional about how you manage customer conversations.

And that’s something every salesperson can improve.

Your Sales Challenge This Week

I want you to try something on your next three sales calls.

Before the conversation ends, make sure you have discussed the realistic price range of your solution, established a clear next step and scheduled a short follow-up meeting.

If appropriate, give the prospect permission to be honest about whether moving forward makes sense.

Then pay attention to what happens.

Are your prospects responding more consistently? Are you spending less time creating proposals that go nowhere? Are more people attending your follow-up meetings?

Those are the results that matter.

Friends, selling isn’t easy. If it were easy, everybody would be doing it.

Getting ghosted is frustrating, but it doesn’t have to become an accepted part of your sales process.

Make a few small adjustments, lead your prospects with confidence and focus on having more honest conversations.

Now, get out there and sell something!

Ryan Dohrn is an Emmy Award-winning speaker, billion-dollar sales coach and founder of Sales Training World. Through his Mr. Revenue™ Sales Training Show, Ryan shares practical sales advice, prospecting strategies and corporate sales training insights to help sales professionals grow revenue and close more business. Learn more at RyanDohrn.com.