Ghosting in business is not an option. You’ve ghosted someone when you miss scheduled meetings, avoid difficult conversations, or fail to follow-up and follow-through on promises. This behavior and attitude will come back to haunt you regardless of your reasons why.
A sales rep became upset when members of his network group complained he had ghosted them. He had missed several scheduled meetings and failed to follow-through with people. Instead of apologizing and resolving the upsets, he ignored the whole thing and claimed he was too busy.
As a result of his ghosting, several members did business with a competitor. When he found out, he exclaimed, “All you had to do was call and tell me you wanted to buy something.”
The question he failed to ask himself, “Why would anyone want to do business with someone who ghosts them?”
Why Do People Ghost?
The short answer is, it seems simpler and easier than “trying” to have a conversation when you’re uncomfortable talking with others.
But, winners don’t ghost.
Winners face their fears and talk it out. They overcome limiting beliefs, such as poor communication and vocabulary skills, or disliking authority figures (e.g., bosses, hiring managers, etc.).
While ghosting provides momentary feelings of relief, these feelings won’t last. Unfortunately, those fears won’t go away! And, even worse, the people you ghost won’t forget you ghosted them!
Ghosting is not the formula for a winner!
6 Tips to Become a Powerful Communicator and Winner
- Be Open to Learning. Remember, no one was born a powerful or experienced conversationalist. Put away the electronic distractions. Learn how to have meaningful and productive conversations. Take classes (e.g., Toastmasters, Landmark), practice mindfulness, talk it out and role-play. Hire a coach to guide you on how to talk through challenging situations. These reduce the need to ghost others.
- Practice Leads to Mastery. Like everything in life, practice helps you improve and become a master communicator. Remember, conversations will not always be fun, positive, or easy. It’s how you handle them that matters. Be curious. Don’t shy away from participating in team debates, offering ideas and opinions, and listening to what others are saying. Good communication skills are the marks of a winner.
- Stand Up and Show Up. Honor your commitments and meetings. Stop relying on excuses when you don’t feel like showing up. Always show up on time. Remember, the attitude of “I matter and you matter” creates winning conversations for your career and life.
- Be Responsible. If you want to improve the job offer, sales, or contract, don’t ghost. Only voice-to-voice communication can give you the winning results you want.
- Start with Good Questions. Winners start meetings by asking questions about the other person, their goals and challenges. When learning about others, you elicit better information and insights into how to help them. You will also discover true solutions and new ideas. Then, let them know how they can help you. This is a winning formula.
- Build Your Confidence through Self-Promotion. Read the book, It’s Time to Brag! Business Edition and complete the 5 amazing steps to sell yourself. These exercises are natural confidence builders. When you feel confident, you will feel comfortable communicating voice-to-voice. You will stop ghosting.
Practicing these 6 tips gives you the ability to stop ghosting, improve your communication skills, and become a winner.
©Jeannette Seibly, 2018-2019
Jeannette Seibly has been an award-winning champion for people and results for the past 26 years. She has guided bosses and teams to excel in using powerful communication tools. Contact Jeannette today for straight talk with dynamic results.
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