What can new business managers do when they’re being ghosted?

If you’re in new business development, it’s not unusual for a client to ghost you and simply stop responding. So we asked agencies about the most effective steps an agency new business manager or team can take to move the new business journey as quickly as possible, from initial contact, call or meeting to signed terms of engagement contract.

Jo Allcock, brand & growth Lead, Seed: “Don’t take it personally if you’re being ghosted. It’s likely your email is just one of many on their to-do list. But this doesn’t mean you should sit back and wait for a response. Instead, adopt different tactics to stay front-of-mind and reinforce the value you bring as an agency. Rather than sharing a shiny new award you’ve won, think about ways you can add genuine value. Share news that aligns with previous conversations or send a link to an event they’ll be interested in. These little touches go a long way. They not only help you stay on your prospect’s radar throughout the new business journey but also demonstrate the type of relationship clients can expect once they sign on the dotted line.”

Emma Gunning, new business lead, BMB: “Listen to what the client is telling you they need - both what’s said out loud and what you read between the lines. Think about what will help them to sell your proposition internally and ensure your responses show you recognize the challenges they face and offer solutions. Don’t be afraid to follow up with commercial information based on the conversation and keep up targeted marketing/PR efforts to stay top of mind. If still nothing – respect the process and revisit later. Sometimes, coming on too strong when you’re ghosted after a first date isn’t conducive to a long-term relationship.”

Oli Richards, chief marketing officer, The Beyond Collective: “The secret to keeping the conversation going with prospects isn’t persistence or picking up the phone; it’s marketing. As salespeople, we thrive on making things happen ourselves and the buzz of securing that meeting or contract. But it’s not about us. The decision to engage with one agency or another in what is frankly an oversupplied market is often down to how you appeal to clients when they’re not actively in the market. The work you produce, the profile of your senior leaders, the quality of your thinking and the conversations you’re a part of – at events, on podcasts or elsewhere, all help build desire in your agency brand much further out from a purchasing decision. Then, when you’re engaged, you have both the ammunition to keep the conversation going and the salience in your agency brand to stay front of mind.”

Jessica Parish, head of new business & marketing, Impero: “The most effective tactic to move the new business journey along quickly must be to build emotional persuasion to get commitment from the client. Our job is to create a bond with the clients so that they quickly understand what the partnership would be like and the benefits it can bring. It’s essential to work closely together early on in the process, inviting clients into our team and ultimately helping them sell the agency into their organization.”

Lindsey McNabb Hover, chief marketing officer, BBH USA: “Is it really a marathon and not a sprint? I’d argue it should be a sprint from start to finish. Yes, sometimes pitches drag out, but I believe agencies need to go full throttle throughout the entire process, or else what’s the point? You are better off not pitching and reinvesting that team’s time into growing existing clients. I take quite an aggressive approach to business development. We pitch with tight, dedicated teams who are focused on winning. We show up a meeting ahead, we are proactive in our thinking and we always over deliver. Pitches can certainly feel like marathons, but the pace of a winning pitch is a sprint.”

Brent Buntin, chief growth officer, Code and Theory: “It’s all about keeping the communication moving. Several factors can delay conversations, including martech assessments, hiring, budget approvals, stakeholder alignment, and drafting coherent briefs. With numerous touchpoints in a buying journey, ongoing value exchange is essential, not just check-ins. To accelerate and maintain progress, cast the right team members based on client needs, address unexpressed needs such as open role referrals, provide research on emerging tech, build consensus among client peers, and offer to write briefs. Clear and open communication is crucial, especially with complex consultative work.”

Meryl Burman, VP, director of business development, Betty: “For me, it comes down to knowing yourself as an agency and being confident in that shared knowledge as a team. We all individually learn everything we can about the client, industry and audience, studying every bit of material made available to us so we understand their needs from our own unique points of view and know whether the partnership is a good fit for us. From there, you can’t fake authenticity and chemistry – they serve as the necessary foundation for all the client-first content that we create to keep conversations moving and keep the prospective client engaged.”

Nadja Kent, business director, Ingenuity: “The most effective action is to stay in the know at every step of the process. This means before the initial call, carrying out research to show the prospect you’re familiar with them – and that you’re a fan! Use the initial conversation to get under the skin of the business; get to know the team, the pain points, and ambitions. Stay up to date on the prospect’s movements, keeping a watchful eye on LinkedIn. Share any new work or insights you have that you know will resonate, showing you’re genuinely interested in the business’s progress. Also, stay across the team, ensuring you know multiple people; you never know when roles are going to change.”

Siena Shuttler, business development director, Saatchi & Saatchi: “Business development is like dating in NYC or any major city: elusive, but hopeful. However, the analogy of a ‘marathon’ is a good one. As with dating, there really are no shortcuts to lasting success. You have to go the distance to build the foundations of a committed relationship between client and agency. Key to this process is a commitment to ongoing, sincere, and honest face-to-face engagement with the client. Remember, they are human first; your strategy is not to succeed from just one meeting. It will take time, but it is undoubtedly the speediest way to forge the deep-seated level of commitment essential to any client/agency relationship. Oh, and if they ghost, they’re not your guy, girl or client partner!”

Lucy Taylor, chief growth officer, MullenLowe: “To move quickly from initial contact to signed contract in new business development, follow these steps: Use direct, agile approaches and focus on low-cost production. Leverage the rise of social media by showcasing expertise in big brand thinking and the ability to tap into big cultural moments. Treat new business as both a marathon and a sprint – aim for quick wins while refining a long-term strategy. Engage the entire agency behind the strategy, stay focused on fewer, bigger, better opportunities, and maintain a human touch with personalized approaches. Persistence and resilience are essential – keep pushing forward and enjoy the ride!”

Laura Bianchi, head of integrated strategy, Madwell: “In any relationship, whether with new business or existing clients, trust is absolutely paramount. The courting process during the new business phase is just as much about the work and the thinking as it is about how the two teams (client and agency) can work together. Often, at Madwell, we partner with new business prospects to provide the strategic reasoning for barriers they face with their boards or leadership teams. Other times, we focus on small tests to determine if a theory or idea can work before making a larger-scale investment. These small steps for partnership at the beginning of an engagement help to create the foundation of trust.”

Zion Pool, account manager, Maverick Media: “For us as an agency, new business is an important cog in what is a colossal games marketing machine. As part of the client services team, my role is to ensure that conversations about new briefs move quickly and efficiently to get the best end result. Effectiveness means making sure we’re prepared with research, knowledge, and the ability to offer solutions to our clients. No matter how small these aspects may be, they all have an impact on the outcome. Above all else, we always strive for a human approach – we listen, we reflect and then we respond accordingly.”

Corinne Lowry, chief client officer, Something Different: “New business, like the rest of our business, leverages our senior leaders’ insights and expertise, which are critical to the success of any engagement. When agency leadership reaches out to a prospective client with a relevant POV on their business, it can help conversations evolve in a way that demonstrates what a partnership would look like with our agency. So we treat new business like we treat the business of advertising – we find a reason for someone to care and then deliver that in ways that are both meaningful and impossible to ignore.”

Bethany Steffen, head of growth strategy, PXP: “The fastest way to move an opportunity through the agency is to ensure it’s a well-qualified opportunity that the agency has a high probability of winning. This should be managed through a previously defined qualification process that combines both art and science to quickly give a qualification score and help business development leads make an informed recommendation on ‘go’ or ‘no-go’ to leadership. If you follow this process consistently and get to ‘no’ faster, you’ll find that when something is a ‘yes,’ leadership knows we have a high probability of winning and will rally teams and attention to support.”

Ed Davis, director of international client relationships, BBN: “The biggest hurdle is getting the prospect to engage beyond talking on the phone or replying to an email. So I go the extra mile. I might ask for examples of previous content and provide a SWOT of their content, and I may request their company’s business plan or answer detailed questions about it. These steps force prospects to invest more in the relationship. Also, agency business development people need to learn to say no. Not every opportunity is worth the effort. You need to have agreed criteria for evaluating and pursuing opportunities that match your expectations.”

Annabel Engels, managing director, Mother Design: “New business is a bit like the tortoise and the hare. You can’t rush it and think that you’ll get the result you’re looking for. So, STOP and ask yourself: Strategic – is your approach both in line with your strategy for growth and informed by insight on your target? Tenacious – have you got the resources to employ the appropriate contact strategy, which requires both time and tenacity? Originality and authenticity – are you being true to your agency proposition and culture? Patience – are you being realistic about how long it’s likely to take to convert this? There will be setbacks and leads that go nowhere, but remember not to take it personally.”

Dan Eisenberg, CMO, Blue Chip: “Show clients you understand their business situation beyond the brief, have tackled similar marketing challenges, and have a great team ready to go. With that credibility established, you can point out that a long RFP process will just delay finding the right agency partner, getting into the market, and driving business forward. Provide them with a timeline and key steps, which demonstrate how to gain internal approvals on agency selection (you’ve been there more times than they have) and also to develop the work. And bring up costs/budgets early – it’ll raise essential discussions and ultimately speed the contracting process.”

Bex Berry, growth director, Golley Slater: “Not only is it about persistence, consistency and patience, it also about remembering those we talk to are humans and understanding them is the key. Which means the solution often will be different for each individual. If you can work out their barriers, then you can help get over them. For example, do they need help adapting your proposal for procurement to see it through or if the time isn’t right for the big project, can you offer consultative work until they are ready? Ultimately, it is about building a relationship with someone and that isn’t something that can always be automated.”