Stop Getting Ghosted In Your Follow Up

You pitched the prospect
Sent the proposal
Thought it went well.
Then nothing. 

No reply. No response. Just silence.

👻YOU GOT GHOSTED👻
 And I'm going to tell you exactly why.

It's not the price. It's not the timing. It's not that they went with someone else.
It's your follow up. And it's been broken the whole time.
In this episode I break down why 92% of salespeople quit before 80% of deals are even closable — and what the top 1% do instead to stay in the conversation and close.

Here's what we cover:

The two types of people killing their own deals without knowing it
The 5-touch framework that closes without being desperate or pushy
Word for word lines from Daniel G's No Resistance Sales system
The exact mindset shift that separates closers from everyone else

80% of sales close between the 5th and 12th contact.
Most people quit after one.
That gap is where your income is hiding.
Stop checking in. Start showing up.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

You jumped on the call, you pitched the prospect, you sent the proposal, and then ghost. Welcome back to another episode of the Kyle Guthrie Show, where today we're going to be shifting our focus to the selling side of business. And most importantly, the follow-up. The reason why this topic is so near and dear to my heart is because when I had the great fortune of working with Grant Cardone himself and growing his global licensing brand, we had to do a ton of follow-up. But most importantly, when we went through Cardone University, I was shocked and flabbergasted at some of the stats when it came to follow-up. See, you could have the most perfect product, an impeccable service, and follow the scripts. But what happens when your clients ghost you? You resort to begging and nobody likes to be begged on. Now, how do we fix this? I'm going to share some key points that is going to help you close more sales and generate more revenue for your business. Now, pay attention. Get your pen and paper out because there is going to be a lot of great nuggets. Now, let's start with some stats, shall we? Now, here's the crazy part is that only 2% of people close or buy on the first contact. Now, if you inflate this with a high ticket purchase, such as $10,000 or whatever the price may be, that percentage is probably even lower. Now just imagine this. If you met somebody for the very first time, what are the odds that you're going to close them? Now, I'm talking cold leads. I'm not talking somebody that knows of you through social media and you've warmed them up or you've jumped them on a webinar or they followed you on YouTube. I'm talking strictly cold. Now, we'll talk about rapport building and all the other factors in another module, but I strictly just want to focus on follow-up because this is going to help you generate the biggest bang for your closing and your sales, uh, in my opinion. Now, did you know that 10% of those fourth, sorry, let me back it up. The fourth time you've attempted at trying to close the person, that percentage of close goes to 10%. But here's where the magic numbers start to begin. So when we were working with Grant Cardone, he told us that a majority of the sales happen in the 5th to 12th touch point. So whether that maybe be through um text, phone call, email, whatever the medium may be. But here's the wild stat is that each touch point increased your percentage of close. Yet here's the scary point. Majority of salespeople quit after the first attempt. And both after the fourth attempt, 92% of them give up completely on that deal. Think about that for a moment. Think about the last time that you were pitched to on a product or service. See, so many people feel like they don't want to bother the other individual on the other line with their proposal, with their sale, with their product. But here's the thing: we are so inundated with everyday life that once the call's over, we just get back to our everyday lives, whether it be juggling the family, dealing with your business, or just getting distracted by other things happening on social media. It's okay to follow up with your clients. It is actually allowed. And you will be shocked at how many times you will hear, oh my God, I completely forgot about that from your client base, because they got busy. And ultimately, let me stop you for a moment. Do you believe in your product or service? If it's an unequivocal hell yes, then you need to get it in as many people's hands as possible because you know your product or service is going to serve for the greater good. You know that your product or service is going to help benefit the person that you're speaking to. So that is going to involve you putting in a bit of effort to make sure that that gets in front of them. Because back to my point, we get busy with everyday life, and then it just gets pushed aside. And then six months go by, a year go by, and people wonder why they're still struggling in their profession, their business, or trying to just even land a job. So, whatever your product or service may be, you're gonna have to put in some effort. Now, we're gonna dive into a bit of the system side of that as well, because our brains are not capable of remembering every single conversation and how many times we followed up with someone. This is why it's so critically important that you have a system in place. Now, I'm not gonna touch on which specific CRMs, I'll sprinkle in a few. There's HubSpot, there's follow-up boss, there's GoHi level, um, there's Salesforce if you're in the enterprise level. But if you want to even just use an Excel file or a Google Doc, whatever the program may be, but the important thing is that you have to add it to your calendar. This is the important step that so many salespeople miss because they forget when they they reached out to that person. Now, the beautiful thing with the rise of AI, it's going to help us even more with this task. Because let's face it, this is a mundane task that our brain doesn't really work to remember because it's sometimes not important. But if you set it in your calendar, hey, follow up with Sally a week later at 10 a.m. Here's the conversation that we had. What this does is that it saves you from having to remember the entire dialogue that you had. But your client, the prospect, will love you for this because you're not having to ask all the same questions because the AI remembered it all. Here's another tip: there is a software called otter.ai. Google it. This thing will transcribe your entire conversation. Some of the CRMs have it, some of them are extremely accurate. And if you don't feel like taking notes and you want to be fully immersed in the conversation, I highly recommend you use one of those transcribing softwares. See, there's no excuse anymore, especially with AI, on why you can't follow up with someone remembering the conversation, remembering the pitch, remembering what you offered them so that you can speed up the next conversation. So let's use an example. Say you start off with the pitch. It's 30 minutes long. You go through this beautiful presentation, you put it together, it's your offer. You run through everything, what they're gonna get, and then you get to the dreaded price. This is the step you cannot skip. Do not run over your price. I see this time and time again. I've been on enough pitches, and I've also done enough pitching myself where I've realized so many people say, all right, and it's $9,997. And then they just keep continuing on. What you need to do is let the person digest the price. Now you can preface it by saying, just FYI, this might be expensive. And to some, it will, but guess what it does? It resolidifies in their head, yeah, that's too much money. But to others, if you pitch the price and they go, wow, that's a good deal, they're already ready to buy. So what I often tell people is that when you're going to pitch your price, pause. So if I were to say you are my prospective client and I'm looking at a camera right now, for those that are listening on the audio, just pretend that I'm talking to you while you're listening. And I said to you, the price is $4,997. And then shut up. Too many salespeople get this one wrong. They feel like they need to go then justify the price again. You've already done that in the pitch. If they come back and they don't respond, it's an awkward, awkward pause, it's an awkward moment. Hold on to it. It's your job as the salesperson to speak confidently and take up that space. Now, if you are doing this over Zoom in person, read their facial expression, read their body language. Do they squinch? Do their eye flinch? Does something incline them that that's expensive? Read the body language. Allow them to respond. Because so many salespeople run over their price. Now, if you're doing this over the phone, this gets even more tricky because you can't see them. But again, allow for the awkward pause. Let them reply. They will come back with a response. You know why? Because that awkward pause gets awkward. So let them speak. We've often been taught in sales that he that's he or she that speaks the most loses. So as a salesperson, say your price and shut up. See what they say. Do they come back with an objection? Do they come back with an excuse? Do they come back with, oh, that's a lot of money? Then you're gonna have to handle that objection. That's how you deal with it. You be calm and composed. Too many salespeople get their uh pitch wrapped up in nervousness and undue energy because they're so worried about the price. The reason why they worry about the price is because they don't believe in the price themselves or the product or service. If I'm offering an impeccable product or service where I know it is going to help the person that I'm speaking with, I will want to shout it from the mountaintop. And that I am confident that it's going to help them both personally or professionally in their business. You have to allow them to digest everything that you're saying. You are throwing a lot of information at them, especially if you're doing a 30-minute pitch or an hour pitch or whatever the length may be. Allow them to digest it. And if you still have that awkward pause after you do deliver the price, just say, how is that resonating with you? How does that sound? Do you want to use Visa or MasterCard? That's another close. It's a it's an assumed close. Now, I'm not gonna touch on closes today. I'm gonna save that for another uh podcast episode. So stay tuned for that one. But again, back to the follow-up. So we've done the pitch, we've done the proposal, and then you hear the I gotta think about it. You've handled the objection and you're still getting resistance. Now, I know some sales gurus will want to push aggressive sales tactic. That's not my style. I am more of like when they're ready to buy, they'll buy. But I do need to convince them to buy because ultimately we get busy and a lot of people are struggling in business today. And a lot of them are struggling because they're getting in their own damn way. They are not taking any action and then wondering why six months, a year, five years from now, they're still in the same spot. So let's jump into follow-up. Say they say we I need to think about it. Not a problem. Sally, when's a good time to follow up with you? It's called Bam Fam. Book a meeting from a meeting. If you can't get them to close then and there, it's your responsibility as a salesperson to get them to jump on another call. Sally, how about this? I'm gonna give you a I'll give you 12 hours. How much time do you need to make sure that you're making the right decision? Does tomorrow at noon sound good? I'll pencil it in our calendar. And if you can't make it, I'll gladly move it. But by at least penciling it in, you're giving them a target. You're giving them a time frame. And we all know we work well under pressure. If we don't have a time frame, it's a goal that just keeps moving. The goalposts keep kick get get moving down the line. You don't want that. Book a meeting from a meeting. Now, the next thing is say they ghost you again for the follow-up meeting. You can do one of two things. You can quit, which I highly don't recommend. You can face the rejection that they maybe don't want your product or service, or you can keep trying. I'm a big proponent of I'm going to keep bugging you until you either tell me I'm buying or F off. I was almost going to swear there, but I'm glad I didn't. I actually don't mind when people tell me to F off, because at least I got my answer. The worst are the ones that sit in the gray and go, I don't know, let me think about it. Those are the people that you need to keep working on. Now, I will preface this. Please do not annoy the shit out of people. They do not like it. And it will actually turn them off more. But if you set a precedent in your software, your CRM, or your system, that you give them time to breathe, give them time to think, and hit them with the follow-up. So say Sally ghosts me after the 24 hours. I'll put a reminder in my CRM to follow up with her in 48 hours. 24 hours has elapsed. That's okay. If I called her every hour on the hour, well, guess what that's called? Stalking. We don't want to become stalkers because those that are stalkers look needy and unnecessary. And then you're ultimately going to turn those people off. So 48 hours goes by. Hey Sally, don't make this mistake. I hear it too often. Hey Sally, just following up. Stop doing that. Hey Sally, uh, reaching out because I would just want to say thank you so much for the wonderful call we had two days ago. I just want to make sure that I am able to add some significant value to you. And I need you to reframe the pitch. Don't dive into it, but add an extra piece to the puzzle. Too many salespeople just say, I'm following up. I'm circling back. That stuff does not add value to them. Hey, Sally, I know that you mentioned that you were struggling with this portion of your business. I did some research after our call. Here are some facts that I think might really help with your business. Give me a call and I'd love to share with them. Or you can share them with them. Keep adding value. It will show that you're significant for them. Now, here's the other beautiful thing. You know, with the rise of AI, ChatGPT, you can hammer them with research, stats, information that they could possibly need, but it's also showing that you're accountable to accountable to them. Now, here's the other beautiful thing. Um another thing that you can do is reference the problem. So last time we spoke, you mentioned XYZ. I came across something directly that addressed that. There's another good one. In the call, Sally, you told me that this was costing you your business, time, money, inefficiencies, whatever the problem may be. I wanted to show how we could solve that. Here are some information that I've Googled, that I've provided, researched, whatever the case may be, I think would be of interest to you. Again, add value. Now, 48 hours has elapsed. Nothing. Crickets. You don't give up. You send them a text message. Hey, Sally, I thought of you when I saw this. You could shoot a video of this, you could send them a text, you could send them an article, a PDF, whatever you want to create. Send it to them. Hey, a week goes by. Sally, you're not gonna believe it. I just found the most incredible article that I think really pertains to what you're struggling with in your business. Wherever from maybe uh Yahoo Finance or the Wall Street Journal, whatever that topic may be, there's again, no excuse. The rise of AI, technology in our back pocket, it can go find specific topics in any news source that can definitely help your client. Now, a week goes by. You cannot give up. You have to follow up again. I know it's starting to look a little bit desperate, but it's not. People get busy. Create a sense of urgency. Sally, you know what? Given your goal, I really think we should connect before Q1, Q5, Q5 doesn't exist. Q1, Q2, uh next week, month's end, days end, whatever that time frame may be, because you know XYZ. Hey, I totally get it. If it's not a fit for you, I get it. I understand. Let's park it, give me a yes or no, and I can move on to the next person. Two weeks go by. Now see how the distance of contact is going out further and further. I just want to follow up. Sorry, I told you not to say that word. Uh, hey Sally, I'm just reconnecting with you to make sure that this is the right fit. If it's not, just tell me where you're at. You're not ready to take the leap, and I'll stop bugging you. You're kind of giving them ultimatums now, these yes or no's, these black or whites, because sometimes this is where you gotta really say, are they in or they out? You've done the pitch, you've done the proposal, you've done the follow-up. The least they can do is give you the answer. Now, the reason why these touch points are so important is because I want you to kind of challenge them, but also I want you to reframe each touch point. Don't just keep coming back with the same old boring thing. Keep providing and adding value to them. But be honest with them, tell them the truth, share some testimonials, share similar client success stories that you've had that might work with them. Drop them your Google reviews, send them to your YouTube, send them to your social media, show them social proof, whatever the case may be, because sometimes they don't believe you, but they might believe others. And this is why Amazon is as popular as it is, because there's a collective voting system called the five-star review of products and service. And here's the funny thing: we trust it wholeheartedly because it is the assessment of a group of people. This is why I will often say if you had a product, two products, identical, close to identical, that one had five-star reviews, but there was only five of them. And the other one had 4.7 star review, but had 2,000 reviews, you will lean towards the 4.7, even though the other one has a better five-star review, because we trust the opinion of more people versus just a single five. So if you are trying to sell yourself, you're only one person. But here's the thing: if you have a collective of testimonials, five-star reviews, positive opinions, feedback that you can share, you can maybe get into that prospective client's mind that hey, other people were in the same situation as you. And here is their success story. See, success leaves clues, but what's most important with those clues is the results. I know I've touched on this in the past on other podcast episodes. Your results do not lie, they tell you the truth, and they tell the truth to everybody that wants to listen. This is why, once you're a Stanley Cup champion winner, you will be for life. If you won a Super Bowl, you're a Super Bowl champion for life. If you're an award-winning public speaker, that is something that people cannot take away from me. I've achieved that. Now, can I achieve more? Of course I can. But that is why in my bio I say an award-winning public speaker. Because I've won the awards. It's a result of the hard work that I put in. Now, what are the accolades and the awards that you've accomplished in your business? And don't be shy. It all has to do with the way you deliver it. If you say it with a cocky and condescending and conceited attitude, it's going to rub people the wrong way. But if you say it in a way that just is no different than if someone were to meet on the street, yes, I'm a Stanley Cup champion. You're speaking facts. You spoke to your result. You're not bragging. But if you said I'm the number one person in the planet on this subject, yeah, that's bragging. Because this is the problem. So many people sh shout with their megaphones on social media on why they're the best, but they don't have the results to back it up. You do. And this is why you are doing your prospective clients a disservice by not having your product or service in. Their hands starts back to the belief of your business. Sit with that for a moment. I know I gave you a lot. Digest it. Because the big mind shift mindset shift comes because people fear rejection. It hurts. It sucks. Get over it. The faster you learn to deal with it, and the more reps you do with rejection, the easier it becomes. Because if I was able to paint out the stats of how many no's lead to a yes, and I just said you had to do this many calls or this many outreach or this many follow-ups, and told you concretely that if you did nine follow-ups, it would increase your chances of close by 60%. Of course you'd do it. But people give up after the first or second attempt because rejection hurts. Remember, don't stop people. That's not not I'm speaking to. I'm speaking to the follow-up. And it's so important that you try multiple mediums. For some, they don't check their emails. Or here's another crazy thing. It may have got delivered and wound up in their junk. Do you know how many times you pitch a prospect, sent the proposal, and then they think that they you never sent it because it went in their junk folder? And let's be real for a moment. How often are we checking our junk folder? That is why it's good to send a text message. Hey Sally, just wanted to send you a quick note. The proposal's in your inbox. Just wanted to make sure it's there. That took 10 seconds to draft and could mean the difference between Sally getting it or not. And here's the worst part. If it landed in her junk mail and she didn't get it, guess what she's thinking of you? Why wouldn't this guy send me the proposal? I told him I was interested. Sometimes the mediums are stopping us. It doesn't hurt to send a quick voice text, a text message, a picture, a picture of your proposal, a PDF, an email, a video. It's endless. Any social platform that you want, it's okay to hit them in different ways. You're not bothering them. So that when you follow up and they say, Yeah, I never got it, but you see in the system that they opened it, now it's another way to handle the objection. I'll save that for another podcast. But these CRMs are so awesome because they tell you information about your prospective client. Most of your deals aren't dead, but you are killing them. And I hope that some of these tips that I've shared are going to be able to be implemented in your business. Give them a try. Your homework. Look at the past five deals that you've done. Look at the deals that died on the vine. This is an opportunity to reconnect and don't use some stupid holiday or something that happened in the news to follow up. Provide value. Real estate agents, mortgage professionals, I'm going to speak to you for a moment. We don't care about the interest rates. We're getting blam-blasted with them everywhere. Think of something more creative that is going to provide value. Maybe if your client expressed interest in selling their home, do a comparative market analysis and do the homework before you land the client. It shows that you're on top of things. Especially with AI, you can generate these things quickly. Whatever your industry is, keep adding value. And sometimes I've even heard these fantastic stories that they come back a year or two years later because you didn't quit. You can keep providing them value, keep sending them information, send them videos, send them content that is going to resonate with them and their business. I hope these tips were helpful. Try that homework. Follow up with the past five leads that you did not close and provide value. And as always, let me know how that lands. I can't wait to see you on the next episode of the Kyle Guthrie Show. And again, as always, my only ask out of all of this is that you like, subscribe, share with all those that you may see fit. Until next time, talk soon.