This message is for all the sales reps who have to do a lot of cold calling. If you're hearing a lot of NO's, consider this is actually a win in disguise.
Why? If you've been in sales for a while you know that you'll make hundreds/thousands of calls throughout your career, and the overwhelming majority will either ignore you, block you, and hang up like you mean nothing.
What I've learned is that when you go from radio silence to "no", you're doing something right. You have the ability to get a response. Now, it's time to tweak things so that the responses turn into yeses.
Getting no response means you need to tweak something until you get more nos, then turn those NOs into YESes.
The second best answer in sales is no!
In sales, I’ve learned to love a clear “no.” It’s far better when a prospect tells me upfront that the timing isn’t right or that we’re not a good fit. Why? Because it gives me clarity to plan my next move and focus on the right opportunities. As my old manager used to say: Some will, some won’t; so what — someone’s waiting.
Ghosting, on the other hand, is the worst. It’s the dreaded silence that leaves you hanging, wasting precious time and energy.
When it’s been a couple of weeks without a response, my go-to move is simple: I send a quick email that restates the problem I was trying to solve, ask if it’s still a priority, and let them know I’ll close the file if they don’t intend to move forward.
More often than not, I get a reply like, “Wait! Don’t close it out yet, we’re just working through X…” And if I don’t hear back after that, I close it out the following week.
This approach saves me from chasing shadows and helps me focus on prospects who actually want to engage. Clear communication—whether it’s a “yes,” “no,” or “not yet”—keeps the sales process honest and efficient.
People are so afraid to say no to a sales rep
...and will instead say next quarter...next quarter not realizing they are stringing the rep along and giving them false hope.
I feel like people are way too polite. Even if they don't want to move forward, they feel indebted to the rep for the demos or meetings they've organized, and don't want to answer the "why not?" or they fear getting asked, "why not cut me loose earlier?" even though most sales reps would never ask that.
I always send a note nicely saying, hey, feel free to cut me loose if this isn't for you.
I blame hard sellers. Prospects ghost salespeople because they're scared of being bullied and harassed.
It absolutely blows my mind...
...that you can spend hours with a client scoping out a project, working hard on a proposal, presenting it with discussions around next steps, only to have the customer completely ghost and no longer pick up the phone/respond to emails.
It takes 30 seconds to say "Hey, apologies, leadership decided to go in a different direction, we appreciate your time!"
You're a terrible human if you go through sales motions with a team and can't have the common decency to respond with a simple explanation.
My frame has always been that a win in sales is getting a decision even if they don't wanna do business. We just move on to someone who needs us more.
You're always one "no" closer to a yes. Stay savage out there folks 😎
The car sales industry perfectly illustrates this problem. One veteran shared how prospects would tell him to prep the paperwork and car, promise they'd be right back to finalize everything, then disappear completely and block his calls. After eight years of this pattern, he adopted a simple rule: nothing happens until the customer is physically present and ready to sign.
This defensive approach spreads across every sales vertical. When you've been burned repeatedly by prospects who seem engaged only to vanish without explanation, you learn to wait for concrete action rather than trusting verbal commitments. The psychological toll creates a cycle where sales reps become more guarded, which can hurt relationships with genuine prospects.
The uncertainty becomes the real killer. When someone blocks your email or phone, at least you have clarity - that deal is definitively dead. But ghosting leaves you in limbo, wondering if they're still considering your proposal or if they made their decision weeks ago without bothering to inform you. This ambiguity wastes mental energy and pipeline space on deals that may have died long before you realized it.
Getting a hard "no" feels like relief by comparison. It provides the closure needed to move forward, allocate time to better prospects, and maintain accurate forecasting. The emotional weight of uncertainty often exceeds the disappointment of outright rejection.
You read Chris Voss' method, and still no success.
You can run the perfect sales process and still be ghosted in the end
The parallels between dating and sales run deeper than most people realize. Getting ghosted after what seemed like a promising first date creates the same psychological uncertainty as a prospect who goes silent after multiple productive meetings. In both scenarios, you're left wondering what you did wrong, replaying every interaction for clues you might have missed.
Cold calling requires the same mental resilience as approaching someone new. Rejection becomes routine, confidence becomes essential, and hesitation shows immediately. People can sense desperation from a mile away, whether you're asking for a phone number or a budget meeting.
The harsh reality is that sales involves far more administrative tedium than anyone prepares you for. Hours disappear into CRM updates, pipeline reviews, and follow-up sequences for deals that may already be dead. A single "not now" response can fuel optimism for weeks, even when the prospect has mentally moved on. The job becomes as much about managing your own psychology as it does about managing relationships with prospects.
The solution isn't complicated, though it requires discipline. Instead of chasing silence, actively seek clarity. Ask direct questions. Set clear timelines. Request honest feedback about fit and timing. Force the conversation toward a decision, even if that decision is "no." The uncertainty of maybe kills more deals than the finality of rejection ever will.
🔚 The true conclusion
Top reps don’t freak out when prospects ghost—they see it as golden intel. When someone disappears, they’re actually telling you a lot about how they make decisions, how much they value your time, and if they’re even worth chasing long-term.
Chasing silence is like a dog barking at every car passing down its street—you’ll never catch what was never there. Quit waiting around for a “goodbye” that’s never coming.
Create your own playbook to force clarity. Switch up your game—send a quick, casual check-in that’s easy to answer, or hit them with a bold, “Should I stop bugging you?”
Sometimes a straight-up question gets the honest reply you need. Don’t spam, but keep your follow-ups smart and spaced out so you stay on their radar without being annoying.
🛑And here’s a pro tip: always take a moment to evaluate your last sales process: could the ghosting be on you? Learning from lost deals teaches you way more than just celebrating wins. Track what sticks and what flops.
The pros who nail this don’t just survive ghosting—they turn it into a fast-track to better leads.
💬 Join the conversation
What's your go-to line for breaking radio silence? The one message that actually gets a response?
Drop your best ghostbuster techniques in the comments👻
Let's crowdsource a collection of messages that cut through the noise and force real conversations. And if you've got a horror story about a deal that haunted your pipeline for months, share that too. The worst sales experiences usually teach the best lessons.
The goal isn't to never get ghosted - it's to get ghosted faster by the wrong prospects so you can spend more time with the right ones.
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