Consider this scenario: You’re planning your next big event and you give the RFP to the right hotel…you think you’ll seal it, and then…you never hear from them again.
Ghosting has gone from being downright rude to a common practice among planners and vendors.
So much for an industry that prides itself on being a “relationship-based business.”
It all comes down to timing, says Tavar James, BoomPop’s vice president of events and industry communications. “Relationships have become ‘a moment in time’; they were once investments in a larger story. We have become so focused on the immediate need that if that need is not immediately met, we quickly move on to the next person.
Heather Seasholtz, vice president of operations at CM Event Solutions, attributes the increase in ghosting to a combination of three factors: staffing levels, communications overload and work/life balance priorities.
“Staffing is still not at 100% of pre-pandemic levels. Many professionals are wearing multiple hats, filling employed positions and filling vacant positions,” she said.
On top of that, many planners are trying to establish healthy work-life boundaries and leave work at appropriate times. “So they push the email to tomorrow, and then it gets buried under new messages, and ghosting happens inadvertently.”
Planners are also inundated with multiple communication channels—email, Slack, Teams, LinkedIn, social media, procurement platforms, CRM—leading to information fatigue and what Seasholtz calls “responsiveness.”
When it comes time to report to leadership, salespeople are “ghosted” and unable to deliver any messages. At the very least, it would be helpful for a potential customer to share with the hotel or CVB which property or destination they chose and why when they decline business.
So do suppliers
Mike Ferreira, CEO of Meetings Made Easy and Detroit Motor City DMC, said the same staffing challenges exist on the supplier side. “Service level expectations at hotels remain the same, but with reduced staff due to the pandemic, email volumes remain the same or higher.”
“Sales professionals and their companies are driven by KPIs and revenue numbers,” said Shelley Williams, vice president of sales at F1 Arcade. “Their jobs have become more entry-level and complex, with fewer resources and less sales autonomy. , the tools are less efficient – not to mention the time it takes to deliver high-quality results.
“It takes up valuable resources to respond, record leads, report leads, identify leads and defend leads, only to lose the lead because there’s no time to provide good fact-finding or the autonomy to sell.”
On top of that, Williams said, “some planners ask for specific information and they only provide general background.”
If a supplier can’t meet a customer’s expectations, she advises them to be honest with it: “Reject and move on to the next opportunity.”
How to avoid ghosting
The most obvious solution to a potential ghosting situation is simple: pick up the phone. “Email is often seen as a safer and more convenient option,” said Ludwig Krammer, operations director at Bucom International. “But time is of the essence in our industry and is often due to hesitation, lack of confidence or inadequate training. Missed a valuable opportunity.”
In a compressed market, SharpExp President Laurie Sharp needs to show the hotel her true intent to buy, and she will start the RFP with a dollar amount. “Start with your budget. Put the dollar amount up front to grab attention. Then work backwards to negotiate the details.
Adele Farina, senior director of global event operations and strategic planning at ION, said you should always consider the other person’s feelings.
“Respect goes both ways. I stress to my team the importance of building real relationships and partnerships and never firing anyone, even if we have to say no for any reason. Relationships are to be nurtured, not ignored of.
“Everyone, you have Reply to your sales friend,” Ferreira said. “It doesn’t look good when you just ignore them when they email you and contact you.”
