Aug 12, 2019
How To Avoid No Shows And Being Ghosted!
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How To Avoid No Shows And Being Ghosted!
Have you ever had someone be a no show to a discovery call?
Or agree to sign up to your services to then just ghost you afterwards never to be heard from again, or even one step further, blocking you? Yet you have NO idea what you’ve done?
I’m willing to bet you have. It’s shockingly common.
You very probably did absolutely nothing.
It’s unfortunately part and parcel of having your own business that there will be the odd no show but it's really important not to take it to heart.
I see time and time again people feeling like it’s their ‘fault’ or something they’ve done that has caused it and it can lead to that dreaded fear of rejection, so what happens? They don’t put themselves out there in the first place, and then what? No clients. All because of something that was completely not their fault.
I’m talking about the genuine, never to be seen again, just couldn’t be bothered to show up kind of instances!
It can feel pretty rubbish...AND it’s also incredibly irritating to have someone disrespect you and your time that way.
It happens.
BUT there are plenty of things that can be put in place to minimise it so i’m going to go through a few of them for you.
Make sure your content attracts and repels at the same time.
Yep, you want it to attract the RIGHT people and repel the WRONG ones.
So you want to only get people on the phone who get you, what you’re about, are clear on your values and how you help because like attracts like.
You repel people by making sure you talk about what you don’t agree with, or any strong opinions that you have, what you think is right and wrong, all sorts of things where people will either go ‘yeeeeeah I love what she’s about’ or ‘urgh, can’t get on board.’
Both are great, yes really!
Have a think about how you can start bringing these things into your message to make sure you attract people who are already on your wavelength and repel the people who aren’t for you.
Schedule in particular days and times in your week that you will accept discovery calls so you’re not context switching.
The most annoying thing about sitting there and waiting for someone to show up is if it ‘interrupts’ your day in some way.
I only have a limited number of spots to speak to people and they are at particular times of the day, only on certain days.
I protect my time as best I can so that if someone doesn’t show up, it doesn’t throw my day out of whack too much.
Doesn’t mean it’s not annoying, I find it rude big time, but it definitely helps take the sting out and doesn’t have too much of an effect on my day.
Pre qualify with your calendar link and a questionnaire.
I’m constantly tweaking this and making changes but when you book in a call with me there are a series of questions to answer and boxes to tick to make sure you’re clear on all the information.
So, are they clear of where and when the call is?
Are they clear that the call is to make sure you’re both a good fit for each other?
Are they clear of the time (and time zone!)?
Make it as clear as possible and set some boundaries early on, it will certainly weed out the people who aren’t committed.
Go have a look at mine HERE...and if you’re ready to book a call then fill it in and click send ha!
Have your prices readily available for them to see before the call
There are many schools of thought here about displaying prices. I’m all for it myself.
They aren’t on my website at the moment but they are on my form. It needs to be what’s right for you.
I personally don’t want to feel like I need to ‘persuade’ someone to work with me so I make the price range clear in my form I want them to be ready.
It’s also how I buy myself. If I don’t know the price in advance it actively puts me off.
For me, if they know my prices in advance then they are going into it with eyes open and it’s the final piece of the puzzle to working with someone, rather than the first.
Yes there are some people who won’t book in because of the ‘I can’t afford it’ gremlin that may have converted on the call, but it’s just not my bag to be honest. I want people to be ready and excited to make the commitment to change their lives. You do what’s right for you.
Charge a refundable fee
I don’t do this right now but that’s not to say I won’t in the future because I do think it’s a great way to get a commitment from people.
There are plenty of scheduling/calendar software apps that can integrate with stripe or paypal etc.
People just don’t value what they get for free and this is a way to get them to put a little more skin in the game.
Automated reminders
If you’re using a scheduling software like Calendly make sure you turn the reminders on.
I personally set mine 30 minutes before the call because it’s enough time, if they’ve forgotten, to pop me an email to say ‘I’m really sorry, my bad, can we reschedule’.
It’s not ideal but life happens and i’m super understanding of that. We’re juggling lots of plates and these things happen.
You can set them to the day before, 10 minutes before or all of them! You do what’s right for you.
But for me if someone has seen a reminder and STILL doesn’t show up...then it’s a lucky escape because that wouldn’t be an ‘ideal’ client in the long run.
The next thing to talk about is people who say yes on the phone...and then disappear of the face of the planet. The dreaded ‘Ghosters’. Urgh!
It’s happened to me, it happens to most people at some point and it feels horrible.
There are a few ways to hopefully avoid this too.
Take payment over the phone
This is the number one way to avoid ghosters.
It’s really easy once someone has said yes to get off the phone, and while they’re waiting for everything to come through, for the buyers remorse gremlin to sneak in.
Again, it happens.
If this happens and for whatever reason payment hasn’t been sorted over the phone then I will chase once, possible twice and call it out if it’s appropriate and see if I can help (always based on the conversation and rapport we’ve built up previously) BUT if they don’t reply, then again, they aren’t an ‘ideal’ client in the first place.
See it as a lucky escape
I’ve mentioned this already.
You don’t want to work with the wrong people.
People who don’t share your values or ethics. It really is a lucky escape.
Nobody wants a flakey client, they just aren;t committed to getting results.
Remember it’s not about you.
It really isn’t.
Please, please don’t allow it to discourage you.
Let it allow you to tweak your process and move on quickly.
If you can take on board and implement even a few of these strategies or ways of thinking then it will make a huge difference.
Be careful what you tolerate, you’re showing people it’s ok to be treated that way.
If you’ve been the ‘no show’ or the ‘ghost’ to someone before I really hope this makes you think twice about doing it again.
This certainly isn’t designed to ‘shame’ in any way.
It’s designed to highlight, so you can hopefully make a better choice in the future and appreciate what it might be like on the other side of your actions.
Or maybe you even want to reach out with an explanation or an apology…who knows?! Stranger things have happened.
At the end of the day, people are very understanding on the most part. Life happens. Gremlins sneak in. Remorse sets in. Fear sets in. Sometimes we just don’t know what to do so we freeze.
Allow the person on the other side to help you make the right decision for you, or just give them some time in their day back and respect that we’re all in the same boat and we’re all in this together.
We can drag each other down, or build each other up.
I know which camp i’d rather be in.
If you know that now is the time to start changing things for yourself and want to explore this further, have any questions or want some accountability to make sure you’re doing the things you need to then please book in a free discovery call so we can see what needs to happen to get you from where you’re at right now, to the successful business owner you know you can be!!
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