How to handle clients ghosting during project discussions
Prospective clients abruptly stop responding mid-discussion or after requesting an invoice, leaving schedules in permanent limbo. This sudden silence prevents service providers from reopening their calendars or knowing whether to move forward with other work.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Assume it is a no and do not mentally block off the calendar until a contract is signed
- 2Take on enough volume so that you become too busy to care about non-responsive prospects
- 3Getting payment upfront before fulfilling orders
- 4Deciding whether to continue following up or just move on
- 5Stopping treatment of the proposed time as booked until confirmed in writing
- 6Sending a confirmation the day before, waiting 10-15 minutes, leaving, and applying a deposit or no-show fee for future slots
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“This client had an 8:30 meeting scheduled yesterday and didn't show up.”source ↗
“Next day (today) I wake up at 6am, send him a follow up around 6:30, another reminder at 6:50 (no answer in either), and then predictably he doesn't join the meeting.”source ↗
“Been talking to this client for 4 months.they finally asked if they were in stock,and when I said yes,they said:great please send me formal invoice so I can pay.”source ↗
“I sent the performance invoice right away.But the second I asked for the payment clip,then silence......”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 3Retainer client pays on time but never responds
- 10Clients who ghost after you finish the work and don't pay
- 3How to handle client support when you're a solo freelancer on vacation
- 6How to tell a client their bookkeeper is incompetent
- 16How to handle clients who demand refunds and bully you
- 21Vendor tech support takes months to respond to tickets