3 Reasons Clients Are Ghosting You & How To Stop It

Does this sound familiar? Your phone dings. You check your inbox and do a little happy dance, because you have a new client inquiry.

Woo hoo!

So you excitedly send off your carefully worded canned response, cross your fingers, and wait patiently for their reply.

But you wait, and wait… and wait.

You’ve been ghosted yet again.

WTF!?

Trust me, I know how frustrating it is to be ghosted by potential wedding clients too. You’ve poured your heart and soul in to your business and it’s totally demoralizing when clients or couples disappear with out a trace, or a simple “thanks but no thanks.”

Don’t take it personally. Easier said than done, I know. Let’s get some perspective on the issue.

Here are three reasons new wedding client inquiries are ghosting you:

REASON #1: THEY’RE EMBARASSED

Have you ever walked in to a new store with beautiful window-dressing and fallen in love with an item on the mannequin, only to check the tag and get totally bummed that it’s not in your price range? When the store associate cheerfully asked, “Would you like me to put that in the fitting room for you?” did you respond honestly? “Actually it’s not in my budget.” No. Probably not. You sheepishly left the store and felt bummed, right? Or maybe you beelined it to the sale rack, hoping they would leave you alone and you could leave shortly to avoid further embarrassment.

At the inquiry stage, a lot of engaged couples aren’t well-versed in common pricing for wedding services. There’s a lot they don’t know. They haven’t given much thought to the difference in cost and value between some of their regular activities and purchases compared to the scale of a wedding —a lifetime milestone celebration! For example, buying a pack of thank you cards off the shelf at Target for $3.99, versus custom designed and printed-to-order wedding invitations for 150 guests. So when they start sending out inquiries for services —wedding planners, photography, stationery, you name it— they’re getting a bit of sticker shock.

Very few people want to admit you’re out of their budget. Or that they had no idea what they wanted would actually cost. It’s embarrassing. They don’t have a lot of experience or frame of reference for wedding planning so their budget might be out to lunch compared to their expectations and wish list.

It’s difficult and embarrassing to write back and say so. Can you blame them?

REASON #2: THEY DON’T SEE YOUR VALUE

Whether or not you’re priced right for your region and experience level, there’s a few factors working against you. Like I mentioned above, many couples start out with a wedding budget that’s inaccurate for the wedding they’ve imagined on Pinterest. Or, a serious misunderstanding of what things cost. Regardless of their situation, it’s up to you to show your value through branding, conversion copy and more.

If a potential wedding client can’t connect the dots between your branding & marketing, experience level, and your pricing, they’re not going to book. Plain and simple.

Their interest was piqued enough to inquire, but when they hear back with a poorly written inquiry response or an unprofessional looking sales package, it might make them think you’re not up to the job or worth what you’re asking. Or obvious DIY branding or a small portfolio won’t prove the level of experience they’re looking for. Maybe you dumped a ton of information and a huge wordy email and they were intimidated. There’s a million reasons, really.

For more tips, read my post “8 Reasons You’re Not Booking Clients”

It’s awkward and impolite for them to write back and say, “We didn’t like you after all,” or “You weren’t the right fit because we weren’t impressed.” They don’t want to hurt your feelings or be offensive.

REASON #3: THEY’RE NOT READY TO BUY YET

Spending thousands of dollars on various services for a wedding is not a quick and easy decision. There’s actually a ton of buyer psychology behind how couples book —or don’t book— their vendors. Not to mention how they perceive pricing.

Chances are couples inquiring are at one of three stages in the buyer’s journey: awareness, consideration, or decision.

That newly engaged potential client might have gone down a rabbithole on Instgram, getting super excited about a particular wedding detail, and fired off a half a dozen inquiries. Or they reached out immediately when a trusted source (like a friend or coworker) made a referral. But when the info starts coming back to them, they realize they’re still early in the decision making process, they have more ducks to get in a row first. So they pump the breaks, and they don’t get back to you because they’re not ready to. Simple as that.

There are certainly other reasons why client inquiries are ghosting you and your wedding business, but I feel the three I explained above are some of the biggies.

Don’t be discouraged. Look at it as an opportunity to audit your process and make tweaks. There is an opportunity here to improve your response stats and booking rates.

THREE QUICK FIXES:

Add some basic or “starting” pricing on your website.

Unless you’re a high-end luxury service provider, experts recommend including some pricing details on your website. This allows potential clients to prequalify you and should lead to better suited inquiries.

Step up your branding and copy game.

If wedding clients can’t connect the dots between your price and your value, then you’ve got some homework to do. Is your branding or experience not up to snuff to command the price you’re asking and the clients you want? Or is your price so low that your Ideal Client assumes you’re not what they’re looking for?

Learn more about the buyer’s journey.

Rather than selling our features we should be speaking to our clients’ pain points. Make them aware that you have the solution to their problems is key to selling your services ahead of even having a conversation. If they’re early in their buyer’s journey, then the right conversion copy will make them feel like they need you.

Feeling totally confused and unsure of where to start?

Consider booking a Mini Consult to audit your current strategy and make changes with an expert’s help. That way you can skip the guesswork and all the googling and get straight to better results!