Us: Hey welcome back to anoth—

You:

It’s Valentines Day.

In honor of a day celebrating love, thanks for letting us into your inbox [again]… and scooting to your 'favorites' tab 🫶 

Ok, maybe wishful thinking. But speaking of love, here’s a link to my calendar.

Why? Because I'd like to make you an offer. Er, a star. ⭐️ 

All 2,386 2,385 2,384 (damn it stop unsubscribing!) of you.

If you’re a sales genie and looking for bragging rights, we want YOU 🫵 to come on the Funnel Vision podcast.

And against our editor’s best judgement, I’m sharing a link directly to my calendar so we can talk it out for 15mins (…again, in case you missed the first bold blue hyperlink).

Last time we did this, I took 223 calls over 3 weeks.

I want to beat that record.

In exchange?

2 [virtual air] high fives, 1 Andes Chocolate Mint shipped directly to your doorstep, and a captive audience of 2k+ friends and foes eager to see your face and hear your words.

Please make me regret sharing the calendar link.

Film at 11.

❓️Your question…

📩 Recently, I had a third sales call with my dream client.

We really hit it off—conversing like lifelong friends. I could have sworn this person was ready to sign a deal.

And then… they ghosted me. I'm talking about a vanished-into-thin-air phantasm situation.

No replies to emails. No returned calls.

Nothing!

I feel like I’m in one of those bad dating stories where the other person disappears after saying, “I’ll call you.”

How do I reconnect without scaring them off? And how do I know when it’s time to cut my losses?

Marta J., Leadership Coach from Orlando, FL

👋 Appreciate the query, Marta!

Forming a fast positive connection with a prospect is great. It can also hurt doubly worse when that person drops out of your life without even a quick “It’s not you—it’s me.”

There are many reasons why your prospect might rapidly go from red hot to freezing cold 🥶. These include shifting work priorities or being snowed under with important tasks. They might even have gone out of business (hopefully not!).

Before describing what to do, let’s cover the number one thing to avoid: Don’t fall into the needy trap. It doesn’t work in romance or business.

What do we mean?

Avoid regularly emailing with subject lines like “Just Want to Touch Base.”

The more you do that, the needier you appear—and the less likely they’ll answer. To rekindle that dying spark, you need to shift how you reach out. 

💰️ABAV^TM (a.k.a. Always Be Adding Value) 

Go back to that first amazing conversation between you and your prospect.

What was their challenge? What were they trying to do better?

Find new content, a helpful tool, or anything else you can share to address their pain point. This will have a much higher chance of getting a response than a tepid follow up.

Elana successfully used this approach once with a prospect that wasn’t responding. In her notes she captured that this person was upset about the time it took to summarize legal briefings. Although we couldn’t help with that process, Elana discovered a YouTube tutorial on how AI could do this work—saving time and relieving stress.

She sent the clip to the prospect with the suggestion he try it. Immediately he replied with his thanks…and scheduled another meeting.

The point here is when you’ve been ghosted, every generic follow-up exacerbates the bad situation. Instead of pining away for the sale you thought was a sure thing, rebuild your relationship with extra value.

🫰Spread Some Love… of the Business Variety 

Sometimes you can’t find any value-add content to lure back your prospect.

No problem. In that case, stop treating your prospect like a salesperson. Come at them like how you converse with friends and family.

Think about it. 🤔 

When loved ones constantly ping you, they probably want something. And you probably dodge their outreach just like your prospect is now avoiding you. 👀 

But what about modeling your communication to be the sort of thing you yourself would not dodge from family, friends, or coworkers?

For example, we once reengaged with a prospect working in the auto parts by sector bringing up pressing industry news. When we saw the recent Honda and Nissan merger may fall apart, I reached out to the prospect with a link and a simple question: “What does this mean for your business in 2025?”

The prospect wrote back explaining the merger’s potential failure would likely make him busier.

He also brought up the fact he knew he’d been meaning to follow-up, without even being asked.

Bottom line: Your prospects spend all day hearing from people who don’t care about their business—if they even know what their prospect actually does to generate revenue. Stand out from the crowd by being curious and treating them like humans.

When to Part Ways

No salesperson wants to admit defeat.

But, this approach has an opportunity cost. If you’re endlessly chasing someone who ghosted you, you aren’t making the calls that will actually win you business.

For a truly cold prospect, you might check on them in three or six months unless you find an opportunity to come to them with a value-add message or a personal connection.

If you really think a prospect has no chance of engaging, you might fire off one last message asking for clarity either way.

👉️ Pro tip: “Have you given up on working with me?” in the subject line has a 100% response rate for me currently (s/o Jonathan B. Smith).

You’d be surprised by how many people actually respond to such finality.

Whether it’s a romantic partner or business prospect you seek, there’s a game of courtship afoot. Hopefully, these insights will help you in your own sales pursuits. To learn how we can help you win over more minds—and yes, hearts too—please send us an email with your query. You got burning questions? We got smoldering answers.

To your sales success, 🚀

Elana and Ryan

P.S. You scroll, we deliver — I present to you, Elana and Phil: