table of funtents

1. 👋🏼 it’s me, hi

2. 👻 when prospects ghost

3. 💩 no bs ghostbusting

4. 🎁 from my ops toolbox

5. 🔊 referral gift update

6. 👑 misfit wisdom nuggets

👋🏼 it’s me, hi

TRICK OR TREAT, MISFITS 🎃🍫🎃🍫🎃🍫

Welcome to the scariest edition of the minority misfit YET! Partly because you’re about to see the worst of my humour; the other part because I’ll be creeping it real about a mystery still spooking the bravest of founders.

But let’s start with the gourd stuff: it’s been one hell of a week already as we passed the 150 SUBSCRIBER MARK (!!!), so naturally I’m howling. #SquadGhouls

If you’re new here, feel free to catch up on previous episodes and reach out with any specific questions you have. You may just find the answers haunting your future inbox.

What are y’all up to tomorrow? I plan to make myself sick on Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and watch the Nightmare Before Christmas (which is a HALLOWEEN - NOT CHRISTMAS film - and I’m prepared to die on this hill).

NO REST FOR THE WICKED YET THOUGH! Fasten those sheet belts and let’s dive into today’s episode all about prospects who ghost (shrieks in E minor).

👻 when prospects ghost

We’ve all been here before.

Referred, reached out directly, whatever their method may be: a potential client comes along and communicates urgency, appears intentional + enthusiastic and claims to really want to work with you.

You put your heart and soul into understanding their pain points. You spend DAYS on a detailed, bespoke proposal. AAAAND just as crunch time sets in:

Silence.

You send a follow up. Maybe your email ended up in Spam?

Crickets.

Was it something you said? You HATE yourself for it, but you try yet again.

Zilch.

For all you know, they’ve skipped town and changed their name to Casper.

You, my friend, have got yourself a Ghost Prospect.

1. prospecting process + definitions

Before ghost-busting, let’s start with my client acquisition process.

Bear in mind I have no sales background so this has been (and still is) a JOURNEY to establishing a system that works:

Now, let’s define key terms I use in the prospecting process.

• Active projects (closed won): deals I (1) closed and (2) won, successfully resulting in a working relationship

• Not pursued: conversations that didn’t go past Step 2

• Proposal in progress: for deals at Step 4 currently in negotiation stage

• Closed lost: deals that didn’t successfully convert either because I declined, the prospect declined or the prospect ghosted

2. the no bs prospect data

Two data captures below show the no bs data for (1) my prospect flow since launching keshty and (2) a breakdown of deals I closed / lost.

Keep a few things in mind when reading this data:

1. Prospects here only account for sales qualified leads. SQLs are prospects who demonstrated intent to buy, and in my case, I actively pursued + took beyond Step 1 (25 min intro call). The numbers don’t include Step 1, which I only started tracking after establishing this as my prospecting process.

2. The data includes prospects that, by today’s standards, are NOT my ideal client profile. Note the process was instrumental in helping me define who my ideal clients would be, so the journey is just as crucial as the destination.

3. Despite having test clients at the start, I’ve classed them as closed lost due to not successfully converting once I launched my full, paid-for offer.

4. I experienced periods of choppy contact with prospects in closed lost, but have specifically distinguished between those who ultimately closed the loop and those who simply ghosted - because there’s a difference.

3. i ain’t afraid of no ghost

Here’s the thing: behind every ghost is a human being. 

Business is a people game, and whenever people are involved, life happens. The right thing to do is to be reasonable and understanding.

To an extent.

If I’ve learned anything about running a business: you can never be too busy to let someone know where they stand, especially if you’ve been in discussions with them for TIME.

Ghosting is a reflection of the prospect. But similar to dating, it hurts like hell and makes you question everything you did wrong in every interaction you’ve had with them. TLDR: it sucks (like vampires).

My best advice is to take the L, learn quickly and move on even quicker.

I’ve had every closed lost prospect (where the prospect themselves withdrew) communicate a decision, provide honest feedback and offer to refer me to others. Despite initially feeling disappointed, I don’t consider these relationships soured coming out the other side. In fact, some of them continue to be my greatest champions.

But, without being loud and destructive about it, I consider all ghosts as closed lost forever. Call me controversial, but I will never pursue ghosts, entertain working with them in future or refer them to others. #BadWitchEnergy

SOOO, what does this Ghostbuster do now to avoid 👻?

💩 no bs ghostbusting

📈 talk pricing early

YES. IT’S. UNCOMFORTABLE. But I left money conversations too late and ALL my closed lost cited cost as a reason for declining. I never got feedback from ghosts, but I reckon I could’ve cut the process significantly by raising this early.

To be clear, this DOESN’T mean you should lower your pricing. Instead, I now share my starting prices in Step 1 if we agree to move forward to Step 2.

It doesn’t have to be cringe or transactional either. I simply ask “are the starting prices on my website within budget for the support you’re after?”

💰 make ‘em pay

I used to do that HEFTY Scale MOT FOR FREE, FOLKS. You’d be shocked how much time and value you’ll give for free on the basis you might be repaid tenfold later. While I advocate for offering free value, I didn’t know where to draw the line. The Scale MOT and ALL the hours spent on the proposal went to waste when 30% of closed lost ghosted and offered no feedback.

In month 10, I started charging for the Scale MOT and required the invoice to be paid to simply secure the date. If they worked with me, the MOT cost would go towards Month 1’s payment. Investing capital gives people skin in the game + makes it harder to back out so far into the process.

I’ve only tried this with one prospect so far BUT it converted to a closed won client - ergo we’re probably on to something.

💀 how they show up as a prospect is how they’ll be as a client

One of my test prospects (who I’m grateful gave their time) was operationally inefficient and therefore often ghosted me (prob calls for a fractional COO, amirite?). Once they became a test client, working with them was just as painful: constant chasing, incomplete work, poor time management around meetings - the whole gamut.

Contrastingly, there was almost no friction with my current clients. They were proactive, committed and didn’t put me through endless hoops to justify my value-add. They are the same people today who quickly share info when I ask for it, pay invoices on time and respect when I’m working for other clients.

How people start is exactly how they’ll go on when you work with them. Let the prospecting process serve as valuable data points for YOU too.

🎁 from my ops toolbox

Staying on brand, how do you track prospects through a sales cycle?

🧰 In my toolbox: Asana Free, with a big BUT

Simplicity scales, y’all. I knew I’d experience a massive learning curve through year 1’s sales. When we experience so many micro-incompetencies at the start, it’s useful to stick to systems we know. The last thing you want is to learn sales from zero while simultaneously learning a system to manage the thing you already lack confidence in.

I use Asana for everything else (we’ll talk project management tools in a future episode), so all it took was copying a template and inputting the data.

BIG BUT: As requests increase and I’m more confident selling keshty’s offer than I was a year ago, I’m considering systems for scale via HubSpot Free. I’m always on the lookout for snazzy tools though, so if you’ve got a free sales fav let me know!

🔊 referral gift update

Last week, I asked how to best thank you for referring the minority misfit to others.

THE RESULTS ARE IN!

I’m planning a WINNING combination of these and will announce thank you gifts in the next issue 🥳.

👑 misfit wisdom nuggets

✍🏼 Cien Solon, Co-Founder and CEO of LaunchLemonade and Director of Scale That Thing, writes:

“If I could go back knowing what I do now, here’s what I’d tell my younger self:

Lean into your weirdness. 

You don’t need anyone else’s validation to feel whole or great.

Some people just aren’t worth your time. You don’t have to forget, but never let the people who wronged you hold you back.

Your determination pushed you forward, and your resilience turned that momentum into growth, freedom, and happiness.

You’re capable of anything.”

📣 HEY MISFIT! If you’d like to be featured in an upcoming issue, email me with your answer to this question and LinkedIn profile. Let’s learn together 🫶🏼

Thanks for joining episode 6, misfits, and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! 🎃

Before you go, let me know what you thought of this spooky issue with the pulse check below! Good intent feedback is always welcome ⬇️

xo, Neds