How to Stop Getting Ghosted By Sales Prospects

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March 2022

issue of
Entrepreneur.
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Here’s a situation familiar to anyone in franchising: You (or someone in your sales team) are in touch with a potential customer. Maybe you’re a franchisee trying to sell them a product. Maybe you’re a franchisor trying to sell a franchise. Either way, you’re in touch and the prospect seems interested — but then they disappear. You’ve been ghosted. And you’re left asking: Why?

I’ve been involved in franchising since 1994, am now a coach to franchise executives, and have seen this problem repeatedly. Here it is: You lost control of the sales process. That’s an easy mistake to make, particularly given our bounty of modern communication tools. You might think that digital tools make sales easier, but it’s often the opposite. Technology has shifted the control to buyers, and it allows them to drive the sales process or stop it altogether. They can find information without your help, which means they’re making decisions without your guidance, and they have a plethora of tools to block or delete your follow-ups.