October has long been associated with ghosts, goblins, and eerie tales of things that disappear in the night. But for credit and collection professionals, the scariest kind of “ghosting” doesn’t happen in haunted houses — it happens when a once-reliable customer suddenly vanishes from communication. Calls go unanswered, emails bounce back or are ignored, and promises to pay evaporate into thin air. For commercial credit managers, customer ghosting isn’t just frustrating, it’s a red flag that can signal deeper trouble ahead.
What Does It Mean When Customers “Ghost”? — In the consumer world, ghosting typically describes the sudden disappearance of a personal relationship without explanation. In the business-to-business environment, it’s when a customer, often one with open invoices, stops responding altogether. They may have been communicative at the start of the relationship, but as payment deadlines approach, the phone lines go silent. The accounts payable manager who once answered every email is suddenly “out of office indefinitely.” The CFO who promised a wire transfer by Friday no longer returns calls. For a credit manager, this silence is rarely accidental. It usually signals that the customer is experiencing severe financial strain, legal issues, or is intentionally avoiding obligations.
Why Do Customers Ghost Their Creditors? — There are a several reasons why companies ghost their suppliers. Some are tactical: they hope to buy time, preserve dwindling cash flow, or shuffle creditors around based on who is most aggressive in pursuing payment. Others are psychological: management may feel embarrassed by their inability to pay and find it easier to avoid the conversation altogether. In certain cases, ghosting is a prelude to something more serious — a bankruptcy filing, a business closure, or even fraudulent behavior. Whatever the reason, the lack of transparency undermines trust, disrupts forecasting, and forces credit managers into detective mode just to figure out what is going on.
Spotting the Warning Signs Before the Vanish — The good news is that ghosting rarely happens without some kind of initial warning. Payment patterns often shift in advance: checks that once arrived promptly begin to show up late, or partial payments become the norm. The communication tone may also change, with customers sounding more evasive or less willing to share details about their own receivables. Other early red flags include staff turnover (suddenly your main contact is no longer with the company), requests for unusual credit terms, or news in the trade press about layoffs, lawsuits, or declining sales. By training your team to recognize these signals, you can act before the silence sets in.
When ghosting occurs, speed and strategy are essential.
- First, escalate your outreach: use multiple communication channels, including phone, email, certified mail, social media if appropriate, and even onsite visits. Document every attempt in case legal recovery becomes necessary.
- Second, involve other departments — sometimes sales or senior management can break through to the executive management where front line collectors cannot.
- Third, tighten credit exposure immediately: put the account on hold, reevaluate open orders, and reduce risk where possible. In some cases, third-party intervention, such as engaging a collection agency or attorney may be the only way to re-establish contact.
As Halloween approaches, it’s a good reminder that the scariest ghosts you’ll face in credit management don’t come out of cemeteries, they show up in your A/R aging reports. Customers who vanish without a word can leave behind more than unpaid invoices; they can create ripple effects across forecasting, operations, and profitability.
Your thoughts and comments (nseiverd@cmiweb.com) are most welcome!
Nancy Seiverd, President
CMI Credit Mediators, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
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