Hi all,

I was wondering how long everyone waits for feedback from a client before emailing them?

I just delivered my first paid cake Saturday morning to my sis' friend. When I got there, she was real busy getting ready for the party that the cake was for, and I had it all wrapped up so just showed her the top tier to explain removing the center dowel. She said "oh cute" but didn't get to see the rest of the cake (3 tiers).

So I'm dying to know what she thought of the entire cake but more IMPORTANTLY, I'd like to know what they thought of the cake itself - if it was moist, if it was tasty etc. - since I was using new flavour combos and 2 new fillings.

It's been just over 2 days and I'm dying to email her since I haven't heard back yet. I know she's busy because they had a christening for the birthday girl the next day.

How long does everyone wait generally? How long should I wait?

I'd love to know what everyone else thinks and does.

Anxiously waiting...vlin28

Personally, I think that no news is good news. If someone isn't happy they'll let you know, or you'll hear about it if the cake was for a friend or relative. I get thank you notes from a lot of people, but not from all of them. I do get referrals from many of the ones who don't give feedback, though, and that's the best feedback of all.

If you can't stand it, just send her a short email asking if she has any feedback for you, but don't call. That way if she DOES have something negative to say it will give her time to think about how to phrase it. I doubt that she'll have anything bad to say, though, it sounds like she liked the cake.

I always send an email saying thank you for allowing me to play a small role in your special day and thank you for your business.. blah blah blah. If I don't get a response I never re-email. Like costumeczar said... no news is good news. They never wait to complain.

I used to send out a little email double checking that everything was fine but then eventually I got to the point where I knew that many customers would email me with a thank you and a praise.... if not, that's fine too...and if there WAS a complaint that they had, I don't want to know about it unless its bad enough for them to come to me! haha.

Its always fun to hear back, and I do often hear back...but not always. And that's ok too!

I do still occasionally send an email if the cake was particularly crazy or difficult to transport or something.

O.M.G.

Feedback - schmeedback. I don't need or expect validation, and, actually, neither should you. If I get good feedback it makes my day, but if I never hear from them again that's okay, too.

Next, please!!

I was wondering the same thing when I started and I agree with some of the others no news is good news. Since all of my business is word of mouth I have found that I usually hear what the clients thought from the new clients. They will go on and on about how moist the cake was, how pretty...etc... Just hang in there am sure they loved it and you will get more calls soon.

I don't send an e-mail to solicit praise. It's just a courtesy to say thank you for your business. I never ask 'how was your cake' or 'could you give me some feedback' or 'I hope everything went well'... it's a simple 2 liner email just to say thanks for being a customer.

I would never solicit feedback... it's kind of desperate to do so I think.

Thanks for everyone's input. I'm glad I can come here and get some perspective LOL. I know I'm just anxious because it's my first paid cake and you guys really helped me reign in my impulsive desire to email her lol.

Also, thanks for the great advice on not actually asking how everything went because surely I would have done that!

The really ironic part is that an hour after I posted this, she called me and told me how everyone thought the cake was so cute but the main reason she was calling was because people are already asking her who did her cake and wanted to know if I had a website or business cards she could hand out!

She also told me the feedback on the taste she got was that it was moist and people mentioned they could tell it was homebaked - it all seemed positive.

Phew!

** Edited to add **

Oh and if I did try to find out if they liked it, it would have been along the lines of "I hope everything was to your liking" or "I hope everything went well". I agree it can come across tacky to come right out and ask if they liked it.

I'm glad this question was asked. I was wondering how to handle this. Like costumeczar said no news id good news. If there was a problem they would call and let us know at least most people would.