They Didn’t Ghost You. You Ghosted Them. Stop Sabotaging Your Wedding Bookings.

In this episode we’ll cover:

• Why your follow-up process might be the real reason leads are ghosting you
• What today’s couples need to see before they’re ready to hop on a call
• How to shift from “just checking in” emails to follow-ups that build a connection and book clients
• The biggest mistake most wedding pros make in the inquiry stage, and what to do instead
• Simple ways to show you’re a good fit before a consult, including using pricing context and clear service breakdowns
• How to stop sabotaging your wedding bookings and start booking more of the right clients

They Didn’t Ghost You. You Ghosted Them. Stop Sabotaging Your Wedding Bookings.

0:00:00 – Heidi Thompson
You think they ghosted you, but what if they didn’t? What if they were just waiting for a nudge and you just assumed your way out of a booking?

0:00:11 – Intro
In a world where wedding professionals are struggling to market and grow their businesses, one podcast brings together top experts and actionable strategies to help you build the wedding business of your dreams. This is the Evolve your Wedding Business Podcast. Here is your host, Heidi Thompson.

0:00:43 – Heidi Thompson
Hey there, my name’s Heidi Thompson, I am your host and I am all about helping wedding pros make their marketing easier, book more weddings and build businesses that give them freedom and flexibility. And we need to talk about something that came up a lot During the Fix your Follow-Up Masterclass I hosted with Kaitlyn Blair inside of the Wedding Business Collective recently. It wasn’t in the slides, it wasn’t part of the official curriculum, but it was loud and clear in the chat, wedding pros of all different kinds saying things like well, I assume they ghosted me. I don’t want to bother them. If they wanted a book, they would have replied. I just cancel consultations if they don’t reply to my email. That last one especially made me stop in my tracks. You’re canceling consultations because someone didn’t reply to one follow-up reminder email. That is not a sales strategy. That is an assumption, and it’s one that’s costing that person real bookings. So in this episode I want to talk about how these assumptions creep in, how they mess with your head and how they quietly lead you to shut down opportunity after opportunity before they even have a chance to become clients. Let’s talk about ghosting. Ghosting means someone saw your message and they consciously chose not to respond. But most of what we call ghosting in the wedding industry isn’t ghosting at all.

In the workshop, someone said I assume they ghosted me, but when we dug deeper they had sent one email to follow up Just one after an inquiry. That’s not ghosting, that’s a lack of follow-up. We jump to conclusions so fast. We send one message, wait a day or two and then assume it’s over. But what if it’s not? What if they’re still interested and just haven’t had a moment to respond? What if they never saw your last email?

As I’m recording this, I am going through the process of booking speakers for my next summit and when I’m following up with them, I’m also following up with them on Instagram, because I have found that there have been people having issues with their email lately. That could absolutely be the case for you. What if they were planning to show up to that consultation and you canceled it? How many times in your life have you needed a reminder, or maybe several reminders, to actually take action on something? What if that person made an assumption and never reminded you? You would have never taken that action.

Someone in the workshop said that they cancel consultations if they don’t hear back to confirm. They said if they don’t respond to my consultation follow-up email, which is really just a reminder and a confirmation, they just cancel the consultation. Let that sink in for a second. You could have someone who fully intends to show up, someone who’s excited to work with you, and now they’re blocked because you assumed the silence meant no. That’s a massive missed opportunity off the back of an unfounded assumption. I, for one, never respond to reminder emails and you shouldn’t expect anyone to unless you clearly set that expectation Even then. Don’t cancel booked consultations.

The dangerous thing about these assumptions is they feel like facts but they’re not. They’re just stories. Your brain makes up to avoid discomfort and they sound like this. They probably changed their mind. I don’t want to bother them. If they were serious, they would have replied. We fill in the silence with fear and worst case scenarios, but silence doesn’t mean no. Silence just means you haven’t heard back yet.

Let’s look at some of the most common assumptions I saw come up in that chat. Assumption one I don’t want to bother them. Totally understandable. I get it. No one wants to feel pushy or desperate, but following up is not bothering someone, it’s helping them. They inquired about something and now you’re guiding them. You’re keeping the door open for them. Couples are busy, they’re overwhelmed, they need reminders. You’re not being annoying, you’re being helpful, and there are ways you can make sure you’re being helpful that I’ll tell you about in just a minute. But at any point they can tell you hey, we actually decided to work with someone else and never hear from you again. They are fully able to tell you that. And if they don’t tell you that, you shouldn’t assume that you’re bothering them.

Assumption two if they wanted to book, they would have replied Nope, that’s not how people operate. They’re juggling a million things. They open your email on their phone when they’re in line at Target and they forget to reply. Or they’re waiting to talk to a parent about their budget, or they’re interested, but they don’t know what the next step is. Do not mistake silence for rejection. Assumption three if I don’t hear back, I should just cancel the consultation. This one is worth repeating because it is such a clear example of how assumptions can sabotage sales. You’re setting a rule that if someone doesn’t confirm, they don’t ever get a chance to talk to you. But what if they still plan to show up? If you cancel, you’re slamming the door in their face entirely. I’d argue that’s a lot ruder and that client might have been a yes at the consultation.

Assumption four and this is more of like a belief, but it’s, I hate feeling salesy. This is a mindset block that shows up everywhere. You want to be helpful, you want to serve people, but the second you think about following up, your brain is like nope, that’s too much, that’s salesy. Hit the brakes. But let’s really take a minute Like, think about this. I want to reframe this for you.

Following up is not being pushy. Somebody asked about something. They expressed an interest. Following up is being professional. You’re not convincing someone to do something they don’t want to do. They’re their own person. You can’t make them make that decision anyway. You are helping them make a decision they’re already considering. That is not salesy, that is service, that is your job. And here’s what most people miss.

When your follow-up is manual, it’s emotional, it’s inconsistent and it’s really easy to fall into these traps. You send one email and wait and get in your head about it. You tell yourself a story about what their silence means. You put the pressure on yourself to say the exact right thing and then you freeze because you’re afraid you won’t. That’s why you automate your follow-up. So it’s easier, so it gets done consistently and so you don’t have to be a mind reader.

When it’s automated, the follow up happens, no matter how busy you are or how unsure or how unworthy you’re feeling. You don’t have to guess what to say. You don’t have to remember who to check in with. Oh my god, that’s so much excess work you’re putting on yourself. You just create a system once and let it run. It takes the emotion out of it, it keeps you from ghosting your own leads which is what I’m seeing so many people do and it makes sure you’re not accidentally shutting the door on someone who still wants to book but what are you supposed to say in those follow-up emails? Wants to book, but what are you supposed to say in those follow-up emails? If you’ve ever stared at your inbox wondering what to say to that lead who just kind of fell off the face of the earth, you’re definitely not alone.

That weird in-between silence can make you spiral. Should you follow up again? Are they even interested? What if you say the wrong thing and they get mad at you? Instead of guessing, overthinking or ghosting them back, imagine having a warm, persuasive email series that follows up for you. One that actually brings those leads back to the conversation. That’s exactly what the Ghosted Lead Fix does. It’s a tool that I created that writes your follow-up emails for you. You can even drop those emails into your CRM and let them run on autopilot.

Go grab it at evolveyourweddingbusinesscom/ghosted and never stress over what to say in your follow-up emails again, because we cannot keep ghosting our leads, we cannot keep making assumptions and being unprofessional in a way that has us just slamming doors in potential clients’ faces. That is just going to sabotage your business. So let’s recap.

How do you stop assuming your way out of bookings? The first thing is to notice. Notice when you’re making an assumption, when you say something to yourself like, oh, they’re not interested, do I know this is true? Do I have proof of this or am I just guessing? If you can’t prove it, it’s not true. Two, don’t cancel things because someone didn’t reply. If they have not said no, they are still a potential client.

Three, follow up more than once. One little email is not a strategy, and I’m giving you that tool that will give you the emails Number four, giving you that tool that will give you the emails Number four automate it so that you don’t have to leave it up to your memory or your mood. And five is to work on shifting your mindset. Following up is not salesy, it’s service. Someone said they wanted something. They forgot about it. You’re reminding them of that. That is good customer service. Now, before we wrap up, if you have been guilty of assuming, instead of following up or ghosting your leads without meaning to, without realizing it, go grab the Ghosted Lead Fix.

It’s super low cost, it’s fast and it gives you warm, value-packed emails to win those leads back. Go get it over at evolveyourweddingbusinesscom/ghosted and please stop assuming, start following up and go book the client.

Links & Resources:

The Wedding Business Collective
Get your Ghosted Lead Booking Wizard
What Happens After the Wedding Inquiry? How to Book More Clients with Better Follow Up with Kaitlyn Blair

Want more? To subscribe to the podcast, please use the links below and be sure to leave a review:

Click Here to Subscribe via Apple Podcasts

Click Here to Subscribe via Spotify

And please take 2 minutes to leave me an honest rating and review on Apple Podcasts by clicking here. It will help the show and its ranking immensely! Thank you – I appreciate it!