There’s nothing like walking away from a potential new client meeting, feeling excited about the opportunity, sending off a proposal, and then you wait…

Then your follow-ups go unanswered.

Your excitement turns into disappointment, then frustration, and then worst of all, self-doubt creeps in – what did I do wrong? I should have said that, I wish I’d done this instead, and so on.

First things first, people don’t usually ghost because they want to waste your time. There are many reasons people ghost, but here are some of the most common:

• Because they don’t want to disappoint you by saying no.
• They shy away from all negotiations because they think it’ll cause conflict.
• They were interested but other priorities took their attention.
• They might have budget constraints that they’re embarrassed to admit.

Ghosting is costing you more than money – it’s costing you in lost productivity and confidence as well. So, it’s time to do something about it.

1. Ask yourself if it feels right.

We have an Ideal Client who will usually behave in predictable ways. If you find yourself in a conversation where this potential client isn’t a little bit predictable at least, ask yourself, ‘Do they seem like our sort of client?’

Look for the signs that they’re ‘not that into you’. If they’re asking you to ‘send something through for review’ or avoiding specific questions about timings or budget, yuou might need to walk away to make room for a better opportunity down the road.

2. Ask about their process

Get a clear picture of their approvals process early – you want to know who needs to be ‘in the room’ to make the key decisions.

Knowing this empowers you to create a strategy that aligns with the layers of negotiations you’re likely to experience so you can look for ways to fast-track discussions.

3. Ask for the sale

Once you’ve discussed all the key elements of the deal, move to close the sale. Always give them an easy way to say: yes, no, or maybe. Something like ‘What are the chances this will get signed off this [month/quarter/half]’.

Asking a direct question like this should bring their internal realities to the surface. Don’t skip over this, you want to sit in it and get clarity together. Collaboratively step through what needs to happen between where we are, and when they’ll be ready to press GO.

4. Ask at the right time

Set an intention around your follow-up. Consider ways to use it as an opportunity to build your relationship, rather than leaving another message like: ‘I’m Just checking in to see where things are at.’

Identify if there’s any urgency you can hook off to positively impact their decision or elicit any form of response – focusing on ways to make it easy for them to say yes, no, or maybe to you. This can change the follow-up conversation, demonstrating your empathy for the challenges they’re facing, which will enhance your chances of a response.

5. Ask if it’s time to ‘call it’

Put in place rules around your follow-up efforts. Get clear on when you’ll ‘call it’ – rather than to keep this client’s follow-up on your Actions List, set them free.

Ghosting is rarely personal, but that doesn’t mean it’s not upsetting. So set yourself up for less and less of it by building structure into your negotiations. Putting effort into asking, despite it feeling a little bit uncomfortable to do so, will save you time, effort and frustration.

The more you invite your clients into open and honest conversations early, the clearer you are about respecting each other’s time and expertise, the stronger the relationship foundations will be.

If you struggle with asking for what you want, take action to reduce ghosting stats today!

The post How to stop getting ghosted during negotiations with clients appeared first on Inside Small Business.

In time, we adjusted and felt supported by our businesses and in return, we got on with our jobs. It was a healthy symbiotic relationship.

Twelve months on, some organisations are trying to identify a hybrid model to suit their workforce while achieving results. Though many of us are being told, as a non-negotiable, “you must come back in and cannot work from home”.  This suits some of us, but certainly not all.  

A great positive from COVID was realising what matters to us, deciding our core values and what works for us and our families.

A recent study by Boston Consulting Group found that between 41 and 60 per cent of respondents preferred to work two-to-three days a week from home.

So, how is this dictatorial approach reasonable? It definitely doesn’t feel like we’re in this together anymore.

If you’re working in an organisation that’s stuck in this thinking, here’s some suggestions to approach the negotiation on flexible work arrangements.

Firstly, don’t assume it’s a blanket rule. Approach your manager requesting your circumstances be reviewed. If you’ve hit your KPIs whilst working from home, there should be scope for this to be considered.

However, before this conversation, answering the below questions will help you see it from the other side, the employer’s perspective:

What’s the problem the business is trying to solve by asking staff to return to the office?

• Is it trust?
• Is it cultural?
• or is it your results?

If it’s a cultural problem, that’s understandable as it’s happening in every Australian business. A business’ culture takes a long time to embed, and removing face-to-face interactions has a huge impact, so the “new normal” requires a reset of almost all business cultures.

Therefore, the next question is: Is the mandatory request to work from the office only temporary?  

• If yes, let’s talk about what my plan after that.
• Can we talk about tapering down to a mutually agreed flexible approach?
• What timeframes are we talking about – three, six, nine months?

This seems reasonable, and something we can work on together.

If it’s not temporary, the question is what’s the business doing to foster a new culture in this blended world?

• If you don’t like the answer, as it doesn’t align with your values, maybe it’s time to look for something that suits you better. There are countless businesses who have completely shifted to hybrid work that you can explore.

If it’s not a cultural problem, the next area to explore is if this is a trust issue. The questions to ponder are:

• Has the trust been broken by me because I haven’t met my KPIs?

or

• Does the organisation have an antiquated assumption that people can’t achieve their goals from home? (a very ‘normal’ pre-Covid mindset.)

or

• Is it blind faith? ‘We have a policy, and the policy says that we work in an office’

Looking at global trends, there are laws being passed saying, “This is not okay – you can’t make me come to an office anymore”. While this hasn’t changed in Australia yet, it’s likely we are headed that way.

And frankly, if we’re meeting our targets, contributing to reshaping a healthy culture, and being reasonable in our request for flexibility – why shouldn’t it be acceptable to our employer.

Now, if you’re clear on: YES, they trust me, YES, this is just a transition phase, and YES, we’re all in this together. Then, you can make the decision whether to stay and negotiate a scenario that works for you, or rethink if this is really the workplace for you.

The post Negotiating flexible work arrangements when it’s not adding up appeared first on Inside Small Business.