November 8, 2021
Ghosting – A growing communications approach in the business of design.
After reading a LinkedIn post recently on the experience of ghosting by potential clients after firms invest serious work and efforts to meet, submit work and provide additional requested information in pursuit of a project, I had a discussion with Vanessa Brady, the CEO and leader of the Society of British and International Design (SBID) about the subject in general during our regular zoom call.
This one really hit home, and provides a learning point for all of us in design and business in general. For reference, here is the original, most eloquent and to the point post by David T. Jones on LinkedIn, that set us both off!
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/david-t-jones-3263233_ghosting-is-such-bullshit-i-know-it-is-activity-6854200374530752512-Is-E)
David T. Jones, CCO of Third Street, an ad agency here in Chicago
If we do not hear back from a client after numerous follow ups over a long period of time after an engaged pursuit, especially when the communications up to that point were going well and somewhat immediate, our team will follow up with a request for a short download feedback discussion to close out the proposal.
We do so to get feedback about our communications, packages and approach, to improve our future pursuits. We let potential clients know we understand that it is normal that potential clients decide to take a different direction or not pursue a project after understanding the scope and requirements of what they are requesting, or just have selected another practice to move forward. We also tell them we have “thick skin” and can take the criticism to assure them they can be honest with us.
This is some of the most valuable information a design practice can get, from those projects we do NOT land, and in situations where we are ghosted after a huge effort to land them.
Most potential clients will respond. Some, because the work is still in play and our r
equest gets them to update us. As well, a good number will respond and provide their change in intent, and a short call providing us invaluable feedback, that will improve our future pursuits. And for the rest, who do not respond we have closed out our end of the communications professionally and hopefully in line with our communications and participation up to the point of the ghosting. Those are probably the potential clients we are lucky to not have landed anyway, as complete ghosting reveals the potential problems they may bring to a project that we may not want to engage anyway.
Ghosting is nothing new to me as a business owner with over three decades of proposal writing and competitions pursuing projects. It was refreshing to read a post, calling it out for what it is, unprofessional, but honestly, ghosting is not limited to potential clients and project bids disappearing into the ether. We ourselves as practices engage consultants, contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, building management teams, real estate organizations, municipalities and the like, even in advance of landing a project, and many of us, intentionally or not may find ourselves guilty of the same behavior, and potential perception!
It is critically important to also keep everyone we interact with up to date, and when the tables are turned and we are the potential client, we need to make sure those we work with as a team, are kept informed and up to date, as we hope to be kept ourselves.
This has been a large part of my coursework when teaching up and coming professionals in design education and with on boarding new employees and consultants. The solution is to make professional communications a critical part of ANY interaction in the process of the business of design and is the foundation of every successful project we have executed.
If we cannot learn how to communicate within our discipline, we can never succeed with any work without burning bridges we may need to cross again in the future. None of us work in a vacuum, even when a designer is working alone. We need a team of people to realize and execute our work, and the key to long term success, is respect and inclusive communications throughout the process to prevent project problems, unnecessary cost overruns, loss of profit margins, and at the end of the day, damage to ourselves and the reputation of our industry.
Vanessa Brady has a lot to say about this on her blog, especially regarding the commitments we all make to pursuits, and goes into great detail in her take here at this link: https://www.vanessa-brady.com/change-tendering-process-interior-design/
