I hate it so much. It’s insipid. It’s contagious. It’s seeping into every corner of our industry. And it could easily be the reason even more talented people abandon Adland entirely.

I’m talking about ghosting.

I’ve written a rant about HR departments previously – specifically that we should demand they typeset the department name as “human” in 9pt lower case and “RESOURCES” in all caps 40pt bold. They’re not “people” people.

Sadly, some of the bad behaviour I talked about then has now infected other parts of the industry. Marketing clients. Advertising educators. Agency staff. And, yes, creative departments.

Let me explain.

Like every other freelancer, I’m always on the lookout for business leads. A writing opportunity here. An in-house project there. Pitches. Websites. Scripts. Banners. Buttons. Posts. I scour LinkedIn. I’m on job sites. I’ve joined Facebook groups. I leverage my network. And every now and then, people find me.

And I track every, single one.

Here are the numbers. In the 5 years I’ve been freelance I’ve had 321 leads – that’s a little over 1 a week. Of those I’ve converted 68 into clients. That leaves 253 knock backs. And that’s completely understandable. Maybe I was too expensive. Maybe the job didn’t match my skills. Maybe another creative had an existing relationship. Hearing “no” is not the problem.

But of those 253 rejections, only 83 closed off the conversation. Only 33% got back to me. Said, “Thanks but no thanks.” That leaves 170 who simply didn’t get back to me. Two-thirds.

Here are just three recent examples.

Imagine you got an email from a car company. They need help reworking website copy that was written overseas. The deadline is tight and they’re keen to get moving. They book a meeting with a senior client and you even sign an NDA. The client has a last-minute diary clash and cancels the meeting. Then nothing. Your follow-ups are ignored. The clock keeps ticking. Eventually, like a jilted lover, you give up. Remember, they approached you.

Similarly, imagine you’ve been introduced to a prestigious university by a senior academic. You know they’re looking for industry people to tutor young, keen students. You arrange multiple meetings, but each is cancelled at the last minute. You follow up each month and then, the university year starts. You wave the white flag.

Or, imagine you spot an overseas opportunity at an agency group where you’ve spent years delivering business. The required job skills and required experience look like they’ve been written with you in mind. You even have a contact put in a good word for you. Then, tumbleweed.

Look, I get it.

It’s a slightly uncomfortable conversation, “Sorry, you’re not right for this gig,” or “Sorry, our priorities have changed,” or “Sorry the project was shelved.” You can never be 100% sure how a potential recruit is going to react. Shout? Scream? Throw things?

But here’s the real reason. It’s gutless.

We’re now in a world where you don’t have to actually talk to anyone. You can do it all by email or text. You can get AI to write a rejection letter. Your fingerprints don’t need to go anywhere near the knife.

So, please stop it. If you have put a red line through a potential candidate, no matter who they are or what the job is, please do the right thing and say, “No”.

It’s the least you can do.

Rob Morrison is a rarity in advertising – a grey-haired creative. Rob’s experience includes time as a Creative Director at Ogilvy, BWM (now Dentsu Creative), George Patts (now VML), Campaign Palace and Wunderman. He now runs his own consultancy – morrison.collective.

Here are two more opinion pieces from Rob Morrison:

Photo by Dan Meyers on Unsplash