Can we talk about onboarding clients who ghost you after the first call?

I had this one client from a small logistics firm near Nashville who seemed super excited after our first meeting. We agreed on a plan for their email automation setup, then radio silence for three weeks until they emailed saying they "went with someone else." I lost about 10 hours of prep work on that one. Has anyone else dealt with clients who vanish after the initial pitch, and how do you protect your time upfront?

3 comments

3 Comments

miles_robinson201d ago

What worked for you? I had the same thing happen with a local restaurant chain a couple years back. We had a great call, I sent over a detailed proposal and some wireframes, then nothing for two months. Now I charge a small non-refundable deposit just to get on my calendar for that first strategy call. It weeds out the people who aren't serious and covers my time if they bail. That way I'm not out 10 hours of work again.

kai_burns731d ago

Did you try following up with them or just let it sit, @miles_robinson20?

olivia6701d ago

@miles_robinson20 I feel like charging a deposit right off the bat might scare some legit clients away too though. Not every lead that goes quiet is a time waster sometimes things just fall through the cracks on their end. Have you had people actually push back on that policy before?