Are Your Customers
Getting Ghosted?
Ghosting is a service disease
By Chip R. Bell, ChipBell.com
I was working with a prominent speaker’s bureau
to land a keynote. The agent and I agreed I was
uniquely suited for this assignment given my
history in the industry of her prospect. When the
engagement date was getting closer and I had not
gotten a contract, I reached out to the bureau agent,
a seasoned pro. She delivered the odd verdict on my
status as this company’s keynote speaker—not a
“yes,” and not a “no.”
“She ghosted me,” she said. “You were a finalist. In
fact, the contact with whom I was working indicated
you were clearly their top candidate. And then she
went postal on me and completely disappeared. She
will not call me back or respond to any of my emails.
I would suggest you release this keynote hold.”
Ghosting is a relatively new word to mean
intentionally ignoring someone on the other end of a
communication interchange. It is an advanced form
of methodical ignoring. Its origin grew out of the
dating world, primarily associated with online dating
sites. After an initial date, instead of courageously
owning the position that “He’s just not that into
you,” there is complete silence. Mental health
professionals consider it a form of passive-aggressive
behavior that can be viewed as emotional abuse.
Since that experience, I have noticed the emerging
tendency of others to avoid taking a stand and
opting to ghost. There was a time when one felt
some responsibility to close the loop if someone
initiated a communication, especially when there
was a history with the communication initiator. The
agent at the bureau had had several conversations
with the prospect as they together worked to find the
best speaker for their event. So, it was not a stranger
coming out of the blue to waste the agent’s time nor
was it a vendor seeking to sell a product she did not
want.
Customers abhor indifferent service more than
they hate bad service. Customers can explain away
(at least in their mind) service that is mediocre or
bad, chalking it up as the fault of a flawed process,
ill-designed system, poor frontline training, or weak
leadership---all excuses for poor service they receive.
But, indifference spells, “You don’t give a rat’s a_ _.”
And, ghosting is clearly a form of indifference. When
you get ghosted your reaction sounds like, “I left them
a message but they never called me back,” “When is
someone going to take our order,” or any response
that causes a customer to think, “Why do they make
it so hard for me to give them my money?”
People who ghost rationalize the practice as a tool
for time management, productivity, and a means
to minimize low priority distractions. But, consider
the perspective of the folks who are taking care of
your bottom line—your customers? As a customer,
how many times have you contacted a company
for service and quickly realized they were using
their phone as an answering machine, not as a tool
for communications? How often have you labeled
emails you send as “landing in a black hole?”
HCM Sales, Marketing & Alliance Excellence presented by HR.com MARCH 2022 9 Submit Your Articles
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