A prospect contacts you, you submit a proposal, the prospect says “Yes, let’s do this,” and then… they disappear.

It’s happened to me twice.

Disappearing Act #1

The first time, the client said “Let’s go ahead. Please write my sales letter.” So I send her my client questionnaire and don’t hear from her for days. When I followed up with her, she replied, “Oh, I found a copywriter who charges less and, you know, things being what they are these days, I’m keeping a close watch on my budget. I hope you understand.”

Well, yes, of course I understand. But she could have told me earlier, right?

Disappearing Act #2

Here’s the second case of my disappearing prospect: Again, she says “Your proposal looks reasonable. Please write my sales letter because the one I have now totally sucks.” I send her the questionnaire and the invoice, and never hear from her again.

I follow up with her after almost two weeks. Because, you know, she might have missed the questionnaire and invoice. After all, those things happen. Still, no response.

So the only conclusion I can draw is that, like Disappearing Prospect #1, she found a cheaper copywriter and decided to go with that one.

Which is perfectly fine with me. Really. I don’t want to work with entrepreneurs who can’t afford me. Or who are less than fully convinced that my work will help them make more money.

The Real Problem

On the other hand, I have to wonder: whatever happened to common courtesy? And word of honor?

Verbal agreements are considered legally binding. So are emails!

What saddens me even more is that these prospects and I circulate in the same virtual circles. It’s awkward because I know some of our common friends regard them highly… and yet I know that they’ve been less than professional with me.

A Message to Outsourcers

If you’re an entrepreneur who hires freelancers, please always be forthright with the service providers you deal with. I know it’s hard to say you chose somebody else, but it’s the right thing to do. Just send off an email that says something like, “Thank you very much for your quotation, but I decided to go with somebody else at this time.”

And when you’ve said that you will hire somebody, please be true to your word. Even if it is a written word.

Or if something came up and you have to change your mind, then please let the person on the other end know. Don’t leave them in the dark. It’s not nice. And it’s not polite.

A Message to Fellow Freelancers

If your prospect disappears on you, don’t jump to conclusions. It’s easy to beat yourself up and blame yourself for what happened.

However, it could be a number of things. They may have missed your message altogether, be going through a really tough time, or a million other things.

Do follow up politely after a reasonable amount of time, say, 3 days to a week. You may or may not get a response. If not, then assume that the prospect has decided to contract somebody else. No biggie. He or she wasn’t the perfect client for you, so move on.

And if you want to learn more about this phenomenon of the “disappearing prospect,” I highly recommend Mark Silver’s post, “Why People Disappear After They’ve Said Yes.” You’ll find plenty of wisdom there.

How About You?

Have you ever had prospects disappear on you, even after they’ve said “yes” to you? How did you handle it? What other thoughts do you have on this mystery?

I’d love to hear what you think.

photo credit: askthepixel