🧲 Are Your Cold DMs Getting Ghosted?

You send a cold DM. They open it. Then... nothing.

Silence isn’t always rejection. It’s often just bad timing, a weak ask, or inbox overload.

Here’s how sales experts follow up and turn ghosts into replies.

1. Don’t follow up like everyone else

Most follow-ups are lazy: “Just checking in.” That tells them your message wasn’t worth a reply.

Sending effective follow-ups is a crucial part of Tim Keen's method to sell $3,000+ packages.

Sending dull DMs like "Were you able to check my last message?" doesn't add value. Plus, you remind your lead that your message was not worth a response.

When Tim Keen sends a follow-up, he applies one of these approaches:

• Reconnect through context
  “Hey [FIRST_NAME], I saw your post about hiring. Did you end up finding that ops person?”
  It sets up a natural connection, and the question feels natural.

• Drop something useful
  “Saw this new data on agency pricing—thought it might help with your Q3 planning.”
  A tiny insight can reopen the conversation.

The shift: Don’t remind them you exist. Focus on making replying to you worth it (for them!).

2. Use a pattern-break follow-up

When a prospect ghosts you, don’t resend your pitch or beg for a reply. Shift the tone entirely.

Alan Ruchtein (founder of WarmLeads) used this pattern-break follow-up to get a 60% reply rate from cold prospects who had previously ignored him.

Instead of chasing or guilt-tripping, he flips the script by showing self-awareness, injecting humor, and giving them a way out.

DO NOT push for a call when the first invite has been ghosted.

What to do instead:

• Break the pattern. Surprise them with a different tone–self-aware, playful, or curious.

• Give them options. Make it easy to clarify where they stand.

• Stay human. Don’t be robotic. Even a light joke can work.

Check the template Alan uses:

This works because it lowers the pressure with a bit of humor. It’s clean, casual, and gives your leads an easy out or a reason to re-engage.

3. Try a completely new channel or message

Sometimes your follow-up gets ignored not because they’re not interested, but because they’ve archived your entire thread.

Nick Abraham, growth expert and founder of Leadbird suggests breaking the pattern entirely. Instead of replying in the same DM thread or email chain, send a fresh message on a different platform, or start a new email with a new hook.

Why it works:

• Pattern interrupt. Almost every follow-up lands in the same thread. A new one looks and feels different.

• Higher chance of getting opened. If they already decided your first message wasn’t worth replying to, you need a second chance. A fresh email or DM gives you that.

• Feels like a new opportunity. With a new subject line or angle, it’s not a nag, but an entirely new pitch.

This gives you another shot, without sounding like a broken record.

That's now, everyone! We’ll meet again next week to discuss some more of this!

Feel free to reply to this email. It goes directly to me.

Cheers,

Yannick