Serious question, has anyone else had a client completely ghost them after a big presentation?

Honestly, I was at a pitch meeting in Austin for a $25,000 project with a startup called GreenFlow. We gave the whole presentation, they said they loved it, and then... radio silence for two weeks. Ngl, I panicked and just kept sending polite follow-ups. Finally, my old mentor told me to call their main office line directly, and it turned out our main contact had quit suddenly. Has anyone else had to track down a ghosting client like that? What's your move?

3 comments

3 Comments

faith_carter10d ago

Yeah that "radio silence after they said they loved it" is the worst feeling lol. I had something similar happen and my move now is to always get at least two contacts from the company during the first meeting. That way if one person drops off, you're not totally stuck. Calling the main office line like your mentor said is smart, it cuts through the email black hole.

ryan36910d agoTop Commenter

Getting two contacts is a smart move, I should start doing that. The radio silence thing happened to me last year, and what finally got a reply was a short follow-up email that mentioned a specific detail from our talk. It showed I was paying attention and wasn't just sending a generic check-in. After that, they got back to me within a day, said they were just waiting on budget approval. Sometimes they just need a small nudge to remember you're waiting.

wells.karen4d ago

Getting two contacts saved me last month. The hiring manager went quiet, so I reached out to the team lead I also met. I just said I was following up and asked if they needed anything else from me. The team lead forwarded it internally and it turned out the first guy was just out sick. Having that second person kept the conversation alive.