The Ghosting Renewal
VP Finance who goes completely dark 90 days before renewal with no warning or explanation.
12 min
Duration
About this persona
George Sullivan is not trying to be rude. He is a VP of Finance who is underwater with year-end close, a pending acquisition, and three software renewals all coming due in the same 90-day window. He has not responded to emails because they are in a folder he means to get to. He is not evaluating alternatives. He is just very, very busy and renewal is not the thing he is thinking about until someone makes it urgent. Getting through a session with George requires understanding the real reason for the silence, not taking the ghosting personally, and finding the minimum viable interaction that gets the renewal moving without demanding more of his attention than he can give.
Scenario
You are the Customer Success Manager or Account Executive managing this renewal. George approved last year's renewal in 48 hours. He has not responded to three emails, a voicemail, or a calendar invite in the past six weeks. Renewal is in 23 days. Your goal is to get the renewal completed with minimum friction.
Skills tested
- not personalizing silence
- finding the path of least resistance for a busy executive
- reengaging without creating resistance
- calibrating the urgency of your ask to the reality of their capacity
- making it easy to say yes
What you'll practice
- How to re-engage a ghost without triggering guilt or resistance
- How to make renewal feel easy instead of demanding
- The difference between someone who is disengaged and someone who is just busy
- What minimum viable engagement looks like when the relationship is fundamentally fine
Personality traits
Practice this conversation
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