Issue #25 · Ops & Om · How I'd Fix It
It's Halloween, so let's talk about ghosts.
Not the kind in the costume aisle. The kind in your inbox.
Someone books a call. You have a great conversation. They tell you this is exactly what they need. Then nothing. No reply to your follow-up, no reply to the one after that, and eventually you file it under bad timing, or budget, or "they weren't serious."
I hear some version of this a lot from founders and small business owners. When we actually trace what happened, a lot of the time the lead wasn't the one who went quiet first. Someone on our side did. Or nobody was ever assigned to speak up in the first place.
This is the first issue of a new segment I'm calling How I'd Fix It. I take a problem I hear about often and walk through the system I'd build to solve it. You can steal the whole thing.
Here's what we'll cover in this issue.
What a ghosted lead actually costs you
That lead didn't show up for free. You paid for it with something: a piece of content you made, an ad, a referral from someone who vouched for you, or an hour of your week on a free call.
When the follow-up never happens, all of that walks out the door. And it's the warmest lead you'll ever get, because they already raised their hand.
The bigger cost is quieter. People who feel dropped almost never say so. They just don't come back, and they remember it the next time a friend asks who they'd recommend.
Most businesses can't tell you how many leads went quiet last month. You can't fix a number you've never looked at.
Why leads go quiet
When I dig into it, it usually comes down to three gaps.
No home. Leads live in an inbox, a DM thread, a notes app and somebody's memory. Nobody can see all of them at once.
No owner. Everyone assumes someone else has it. Whoever handles first replies thinks the person who took the call will reach out. The person who took the call thinks it's already been done.
No clock. "I'll follow up soon" sounds like a plan and works like a hope.
None of that is about the lead. It's all fixable on our side.
How I'd fix it
Here's the system I'd build. You can run it in a spreadsheet if that's what you have. The rules matter more than the tool.
Give every lead one home. One list, one place. Every form fill, DM, referral and booked call lands there. I just did this for my own business, moving every lead into one CRM I control, and being able to see the whole list at once changes how you think about it.
Name one owner per lead. A person, not "the team." Often that's whoever handles first replies, then whoever runs the decision call. If a lead has no owner, assume nobody is following up.
Put a clock on it. The rule I'd set: every new lead hears back within one business day. After a call, send a recap and one clear next step within 24 hours. If it goes quiet, check in again on day 3 and day 7.
Close the loop on purpose. After the last check-in, send a short note asking if you should close their file for now. It's kind, it gives them an easy way to say "not yet," and you stop carrying a maybe forever.
Review the ghosts every week. Fifteen minutes, same day every week, on the calendar. Pull every lead that's been quiet more than seven days. Each one gets a decision: follow up, hand it to someone else, or close it.
Want it to run itself? You can hand most of this to AI. I do it now: I open my CRM agent, which is basically a chat, and say, ‘Just talked to so-and-so, here’s what she said,’ and it updates the record. It pings me when it’s been 24 hours or a week since we talked, and every week I get a rundown of who’s waiting on a reply and what I want to do about each one. You can even have it send the follow-ups for you.
Count your ghosts
Two quick ways to find out where you stand.
First, run the count. Pull a list of everyone who reached out, booked a call or asked about working with you in the last 30 days, with any notes on what happened next. Strip out names before you paste it anywhere. Initials work fine.
Then run this:
I want to find out how many leads went quiet in my business in the last 30 days, and why.
Below is a list of everyone who reached out, booked a call, or asked about working with me in that time, with any notes I have on what happened next.
For each person, tell me:
1. When they first reached out and how (form, DM, referral, call)
2. The last time anyone on our side contacted them
3. Who was supposed to follow up, if anyone
4. Status: active, closed, or ghosted (no contact either way in 7+ days)
Then give me:
- My total ghost count, and what share of all leads that is
- The point where things most often went quiet (before the first reply, after the call, or after a proposal)
- The three people most worth reaching back out to this week, with a short, friendly message for each
If anything in my list is unclear, ask me before you answer.
My leads from the last 30 days:
[paste here]
Then score yourself. One point for every yes.
☐ Every lead lands in one place I can see at a glance.
☐ Every lead has one named owner.
☐ New leads hear back within one business day.
☐ Every call gets a recap and a next step within 24 hours.
☐ Our follow-up schedule is written down somewhere.
☐ Quiet leads get a closing message instead of silence.
☐ Someone reviews quiet leads every week.
☐ I can tell you last month's ghost count without digging.
7 or 8: Your follow-up is in good shape. Fix the one you missed. 4 to 6: Leads are slipping out somewhere, most likely at the handoff after the call. 0 to 3: This is costing you every month. The good news is it's one of the easiest fixes in your whole business.
Hit reply and tell me your ghost count. I'd love to see where you land.
Find the rest of the leaks
Leads going quiet is one leak. Most businesses have a few more hiding between the website, the inbox and the calendar.
I built the Leak Finder to help you spot where yours are. It's free and takes about 10 minutes.
Happy Halloween. I hope the only ghosts you deal with this weekend are the ones knocking for candy.
Baldomero Garza — Find me on X, LinkedIn, Instagram, or book a 1:1.
WORK WITH ME
The Ecosystem Architecture Audit
If you want me to look at your leaks with you, this is the next step. Before we meet, I map how your store, email, content and community connect today, and where revenue is leaking between them. Then we go through it together on a 60-minute call.
You leave with a written scorecard, a prioritized fix list, and a clear read on which pieces a teammate plus AI could own.
$500. You pay, then pick your time.
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