Hey y'all, I've been working on my business for about a year now. In that time, a lot's happened — I ran into some unexpected financial trouble, I had some health problems, etc.
So needless to say I was pretty fucking stoked when I could start doing outreach this month, and so far it sucks. I already knew it would due to a past career path, but after a week of zero responses I was over it, and handed the responsibility over to a freelancer.
Now here's the thing: one of the prospects was interested enough to setup an interview for 9 AM this morning. Of course I agreed, I was ecstatic to finally have a meeting with someone. Only they didn't show up. I called them after waiting for ten minutes and asked if we were still on for 9, and she asked if we could move the appointment to 10 instead. Fine, whatever.
10 rolls around. Again, doesn't show. At this point I'm frustrated but I also don't want to obsess over one client. Like is it the right move? I feel like it's so difficult to gain momentum when you're first starting out, no one wants to give you a chance, and part of me feels like I'm throwing an opportunity away, but part of me feels like moving on is the smart move, too.
wwyd?
To chase, or not to chase?
byu/ZealousidealBank8484 inEntrepreneur
Posted by ZealousidealBank8484
6 Comments
A year in and honestly… don’t let one flaky prospect kill your momentum. A lot of startups and new businesses are chaotic behind the scenes. I work with startups as a VA and marketing lead, and half the battle is knowing when to follow up once and when to move on. Keep your pipeline full so you’re not emotionally tied to one client. The right ones usually respect your time from the start.
tbh move on from this one.
someone who no-shows twice in the same morning isn’t a serious prospect. it doesn’t matter how much you need the win right now, starting a client relationship where you’re already chasing them is a bad sign of how the whole thing will go. the disrespect doesn’t usually improve once money is involved.
I’ve been there early on where you’re so hungry for that first yes that you’ll tolerate almost anything to get it. but the clients you bend over backwards to land in a desperate moment are often the ones who make your life hell later. the ones who respect your time from the jump are way easier to work with and way more likely to actually pay without drama.
follow up once, something short and neutral, just to close the loop. if she comes back with a real explanation and wants to reschedule, fine, you can decide then. but don’t chase it. put your energy into the next ten prospects instead.
the slow start is genuinely just part of it. a year of building through personal problems and financial pressure is not nothing. you’re further along than it feels right now.
if someone reschedules twice and still ghosts, that already tells you how future projects might go 😂
one no-show usually isn’t a signal to bail. two no-shows without a real apology? that’s different. send one follow up, something like “hey totally understand things come up, here’s a link to reschedule when it works” and then move on to the next prospect. the worst mistake early on is overinvesting attention in one lead when you should be filling the top of the funnel. you want 10-15 conversations going so one flake doesn’t tank your whole week.
You’ve already put in a year of grinding through real obstacles; don’t let one flaky prospect shake your confidence.
The more prospects you’re talking to, the less power any single one has over your mood or momentum.
Send the prospect a
“Hey looks like this didn’t work out reach out if you’d like to continue the conversation”
Also just for a different piece of advice
Inbound marketing is night and day to outbound
If people reach out to you and say hey I’m interested they’ll almost always take your calls
I’ll never do outbound again since inbound scales so much better