1 min read –
The New Art of Ghosting –
It’s Time to Call the
Ghostbusters –
When I started my career in the late 1990s, there was no such thing as ghosting.
In fact, the word didn’t even exist in our professional vocabulary.
If someone sent you a business message, you replied.
Maybe not immediately. Maybe the answer was simply, “No, thank you.” But you replied.
It was considered basic professionalism, courtesy and respect.
Fast forward to today, and ghosting has somehow become… normal.
Silence has somehow become an acceptable business response.
Emails, LinkedIn messages, WhatsApp, Teams, Slack, SMS… we’re all drowning in communication.
Spam is everywhere, inboxes are overflowing, and I genuinely understand that keeping up has become harder than ever.
But somewhere along the way, we seem to have accepted a strange new default: don’t reply at all.
“I’m too busy.” We’ve all heard it.
Let’s be honest, most of the time, that’s not really the reason.
Yes, occasionally an email disappears into a spam folder.
Sometimes a message genuinely gets buried.
Technology isn’t perfect.
But most ghosting isn’t a technical problem.
It’s a behavioural one.
As someone working in sales and business development, I see it every day.
Salespeople invest time researching companies, understanding challenges, preparing proposals and reaching out professionally.
They are not asking for charity.
They’re asking for a response.
Customers are often described as “king.” Fair enough.
But that doesn’t mean suppliers, salespeople and business developers should be treated as if they don’t deserve the same basic respect.
Ironically, the very technology that overwhelms us also gives us incredible tools for managing communication: filters, folders, AI assistants, automatic rules, and smart inboxes.
We have better tools than ever to organise our messages.
Perhaps what we’re missing isn’t better technology.
Perhaps it’s better habits.
A simple “No thanks.”
“We’ve chosen another supplier.”
“Not interested.”
“Maybe later.”
These replies take a few seconds, and they give the other person something invaluable: closure.
Ghosting doesn’t just waste time.
It quietly erodes trust, professionalism, and the small acts of respect that make business relationships worth building.
Have we normalised ghosting because communication has become overwhelming… or have we simply lowered our standards?
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Replying doesn’t always require courage. Sometimes it only requires 15 seconds and a little respect.
Who are you gonna call?
We are CINTASIA, and we help you develop your sales and operations successfully in Indonesia. We specialize in technology and industrial equipment.
PS: If you enjoyed this article, check out our blog for more. We have published 200 other articles.
Go to https://cintasia.com/news-insights/