November 1, 2025 | Read online
I hope you had a fantastic Halloween yesterday and last night.
Halloween is one of my wife and I’s favorite holidays. It’s when adults can act like children without judgement (at least from most).
That’s why we go all out with our annual Halloween party and invite all our friends to come over and pretend like we’re 25 again.
This year’s theme was Saturday Night Live and you had to act out your costume so I built the SNL stage and decked out my living room like SNL. Our basement is the “club” and stays painted floor to ceiling all year.
I was Sean Connery in the Jeopardy skit with Will Ferrell and Turd Furguson, so I built the Jeopardy board and stands so we could act out the skit.
The party is also a “NO NEGATIVITY” zone and people literally have to write down some of the problems they’re dealing with and leave them in a box at the front door.
It was evident to me that everyone needed a release from all the stresses we’re all facing and the vibe was nothing but positivity and gratitude.
For this newsletter I figured I would stay on that theme of positivity and Halloween so let’s get going.
SALES TACTICS/TIPS:
Avoiding the ghosts on Halloween and beyond
I’m so glad I’m not in the dating scene anymore because ghosting seems like the rule, not the exception these days from what I hear.
It might not happen as often in the business world, but it’s frequent enough that it’s one of the main questions I get when I do Q&A sessions with my clients.
I’ve used a few different approaches over the years that have helped limit ghosting so in the spirit of Halloween, I thought I’d share them here. My favorite process to follow that significantly limits ghosting goes like this:
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ALWAYS lock in the next meeting on the calendar before you get off the call with the client and make sure they accept the invite.
- If they don’t agree to a scheduled follow up call then you should expect to get ghosted.
- After the initial call, send a Summary E-Mail with the key highlights from the call and ask the client to respond to let you know it’s all accurate and if you missed anything
- If they do not attend the scheduled follow up call or they ghost you a week or two later, “reply all” to the summary email and be very assumptive with your ask: “When do you want to reschedule” etc.
- Do this 2-3 times over the course of the next 1-2 weeks and sprinkle a few phone calls in between
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If they still don’t respond after the 3rd or 4th attempt, reply all to the email again, change the subject line to “Still Interested?” and then write this one line as the first thing they see when they open the email:
- “Could you let me know if you’re still interested either way so I don’t continue with any unnecessary follow up?”
- If they still don’t respond to that one, a few days later, reply to that strong again and change the subject line to “Did I lose you?” and don’t write anything else in the body of the email.
This approach gets me an 80%+ response rate. However, to be clear, it’s not always positive. It’s usually about 50/50 with 50% of the time they tell me they have gone in a different direction and 50% of the time they apologize and get back on the schedule.
My other favorite way of avoiding getting ghosted is to simply ask the client not to ghost me at the end of the initial discovery call.
I usually do it at the end of the call and almost like I forgot something. It goes something like this:
ME: Oh, hey, before we go, can I ask a quick favor?
CLIENT: Sure, what can I help with?
ME: If, for whatever reason at some point throughout this process you don’t think we’re a good fit could you just let me know and not ghost me? “Yes” is obviously the best response but “no” is the second best. Ghosting is a nightmare for both of us because it turns me into the stalker that neither of us wants me to be.”
This usually gets a laugh out of them and they commit to not ghosting me. But then, when they do, I can have some fun with it and send them the ghost emoji or whatever, which usually gets a response.
SALES TOOLS/RESOURCES:
No Tricks
I always hate it when I hear sales trainers talk about “tips and tricks” when it comes to sales.
Give me as many tips as you want but cut the crap with the tricks.
Tricks are what bad sales reps try to leverage to get what they want. Tips are what help you get closer to the ultimate treat of servicing the client’s needs and helping them solve their problems.
However, even tips don’t move the dial that much. But you know what does? Psychology and learning how to truly influence people (not manipulate).
That’s why, as a resource, I wanted to share the conversation I had on last week’s Make it Happen Monday podcast with MichaelAaron Flicker, the Co-Author of Hacking the Human Mind and founder of the Consumer Behavior Lab, that I thought was fascinating and worth sharing here.
I’ve always said that sales tips and tactics come and go, but what doesn’t change is human psychology and WHY we do the things the way we do them. This is why I am far more interested in books and topics around psychology than I am about sales tips and tactics.
I scanned through his book Hacking the Human Mind and found it fascinating, which led to an extremely rich and insightful conversation on my podcast last week that I highly recommend you check out if you have the time.
Here’s a quick clip I posted on Linkedin.
I highly recommend listening to the full conversation and checking out his book if you want to elevate yourself over the average sales rep trying to figure out the next tip or trick.
SALES FROM THE STREETS:
Only Treats
I had a ‘proud husband’ moment recently that culminated in an incredible event this past weekend that was such a treat to attend for multiple reasons.
My wife’s company (KLA) won the Inc5000 award and we got to go to Phoenix for the black tie gala event and award ceremony on Friday night.
It’s a huge accomplishment for her and a testament to all the work she’s put in over the years, not to mention the incredible work her company does to help local governments address the impacts of climate change on their communities.
This was one of the first times I’ve been at an event where I didn’t know anyone and wasn’t there for my own reasons. I was the arm candy (so to speak) for my wife this time and there to support her.
It was great to see her get the recognition she deserves and watch her work the room better than I ever could. It’s funny that most people think I’m the extrovert in the family but I don’t hold a candle to my wife and what she does to engage with people.
As an added bonus, the Keynote speaker was Sean Evans who is the host of Hot Ones and one of the best interviewers I’ve ever seen. I watch his interviews to learn how to improve my own interview and questioning skills for my podcast and sales calls.
All in all, it was a fantastic night. We spent the rest of the weekend at the pool enjoying the warm weather and a few drinks to try and relax and recharge a bit before heading back home.
It was a reminder of the positivity and gratitude that I need in my life to keep fighting the good fight and continue to grow and evolve in this crazy world we’re all in.
The “treats” are all around us. You just need to look for them and appreciate them when you find them.
#MakeitHappen
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