A bride's mother called today....very nice...wanted some info. Says her daughter wants a wedding cake with cheesecakes around it and needs some info. No problem. I ask for her email and send her a link to my website and send along my general information letter with questions to answer if she wants an estimate.
So her daughter, the bride emails me back tonight asking for an estimate.....and in answer to my questions......sends along pics of 3 completely different cakes, for somewhere between 100 and 350 servings (she's not sure yet how many she's going to invite), doesn't know if she wants buttercream or fondant, doesn't know what type of filling she wants, doesn't know if she wants enough cheesecake and cake both to serve everyone or half and half or what, wants marble as the traditional batter (does this mean she wants marble....white???? hehehe). WHAT????.....oh and just now I got the exact same email from her mother with the same exact information on it.....
I sent it back to her and told her based on the information she supplied, my estimate would be between $800 and $2,000. hehehe Told her if she was able to answer my questions with definite answers and pick one design, I would be glad to give her another estimate.
What is with people anyway? Can you imagine how many combinations I could make with the information she supplied me with? And if she comes back with more vague information, I'm going to tell her she can schedule a consultation for $35. Arrrgghhhh!!!!
Can I just tell you how many times I get the following from my website contact page:
Name: Lisa
Email lisa234@ (yep, they leave that part off!!)
Phone
Comments: how much is a three tier cake
It just boggles my mind. I don't claim to be super smart, but I do know that if I call a pizza place, they are going to ask if I want a small, medium or large, and I should know that in advance!
Irish, I think your reply was spot-on! Vague questions get vague answers.
Jill, when I first got started I got the "how much for a 3-tier cake?" all the time. I finally started responding with "A 3-tier cake to serve 30 or to serve 300?"
I totally understand...when they submit their form on my website I get the:
Name: Maria
E-mail: [email protected]
Number: 000-000-0000
Comments: How much would it be to make a cake for my wedding? The cake is for March 1, 2010.
Thanks!
I get the same thing with the 3 tiered cake.
I also get the people who have no idea what they want aside from cake, and when I try to work with them it justs gets super confusing.
They want this but not that and maybe this but change that and if you could can you do this and oh I saw this on TV once can you add this but change it this way blah blah blah.... it drives me crazy.
I'm really anal though when I grocery shop I make a list and I put in in order according to the aisles in the store and with the product price next to it.
So when I shop I start in produce and go up and down every aisle only stopping long enough to grab what I need and mark it off of my list. I'm not a "shopper", I know what I want, where it is and how much it cost and I get outta there.
I even calculate my total and tax so I know alomost exactly what I'll have to pay when I checkout, I don't like surprises.
So when I have deal with "shoppers" it's very frustrating to me because in my mind I'm screaming "why don't you know what you want!!!!"
But on the outside I'm smiling, nice and helpful because thats my job. And for the most part I can steer them towards a cake design that I like and make them think they designed it themselves.
I totally understand...when they submit their form on my website I get the:
Name: Maria
E-mail: [email protected]
Number: 000-000-0000
Comments: How much would it be to make a cake for my wedding? The cake is for March 1, 2010.
Thanks!
Send them this as your qoute....
I totally understand...when they submit their form on my website I get the:
Name: Maria
E-mail: [email protected]
Number: 000-000-0000
Comments: How much would it be to make a cake for my wedding? The cake is for March 1, 2010.
Thanks!
Send them this as your qoute....
Too funny!
I get the same thing - customer calls "how much are your cakes?" Welllll....that depends. I think as my son says, there is so much the non-caking world does not know about cakes! LOL!! They don't really know how many options are available and it does confuse them.
Most people want a cake just like one they've seen on my website. I usually try to steer them to make at least a few changes because it gets boring making the same cake over and over. But it is a starting place with them.
But those that don't have any idea what size, what colors, what flavors, what budget, etc. yes, they get on my nerves too!
Can I just tell you how many times I get the following from my website contact page:
Name: Lisa
Email lisa234@ (yep, they leave that part off!!)
Phone
Comments: how much is a three tier cake
It just boggles my mind. I don't claim to be super smart, but I do know that if I call a pizza place, they are going to ask if I want a small, medium or large, and I should know that in advance!
LOL - even if you could come up with a price, it's not like you could contact them. Idiots!
haha I love it ^^^^^
I definitely don't have a business or anything but I've recently been getting requests to make cakes for people/events. I've been getting a lot of people who think they know exactly what they want, but they really don't.
I have a wedding cake that I'm making on the 7th and they've chosen a 3 tiered 6,8,10 inch cake..........FOR 25 PEOPLE!!!!!!!!
Arrraaahhhhh!!!!
And last week I dealt with someone who wanted a baby shower cake for 80 people and when I gave her a price quote she replied "oh, that's a bit expensive, I was thinking of only spending like $30"
HAHAHHAHA she wanted to spend $30 to feed 80 people cake!!!...and then she said she was just going to go buy one at the store.....GOOD LUCK!
Come on people.......THINK!!!
I know!!! I wish I could just be a little fly on the wall when she realizes how much cake she needs and what it's gonna cost even from Sam's!
I had a lady email me to request a 3d pumpkin cake for her son's 2nd bday on Halloween. She said it was to feed about 10-15 people. I found a pumpkin pan by Nordicware on ebay (for $26 incl. s&h), because it was smaller than using my bundt pans and I would certainly use the pan again. I had been waiting for her to reply on what her budget was so I knew how to elaborate to get with the cake. She finally did and said she was thinking about $20. $20! I am not going to even turn on my oven for $20! I politely emailed her back and said that besides my materials, there is alot of time invested in custom cakes, told her where my price usually starts, and that I really couldn't do anything for $20. She politely emailed back, "uh, no thanks." Oh...these people.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH! IS RIGHT!
I've got prices, examples, and servings charts on my website so that one can guesstimate for themselves how much a cake would be...at the very least, they could get an idea what the minimum would be. Still, I get emails telling me they've visited my site and would like to know how much a cake would cost for X amount of people... I don't get it! I thought I was making it easier for them and me....as my kids would say, "You did two things wrong...You thought. and You thought wrong."
as my kids would say, "You did two things wrong...You thought. and You thought wrong."
That's hilarious
Asking "How much do your cakes cost?" is like calling a car dealership and asking "How much do your cars cost?" And they wouldn't do that, would they?
Okay, some idiot might, but the other 99.9999% wouldn't.
Although I have had similar crazy questions from potential customers, my all-time favorite came at the end of September. I received an email from a grandmother asking if I was available to make an Elmo cake for her grandson "in November". That was it--just "in November". No date, no size of cake, no number of guests--nothing!
I politely responded via email (no phone contact info from her) that I needed a bit more information--the specific date being the most important. And guess what? I never heard back. I guess that question was just too much for her. Or maybe some other baker in the area was willing to block out the entire month of November for Grandma!
I just had a message on my machine the other day and I swear this was the entire message:
"I need a cake for a birthday party and I need to know how much it costs."
That's it! Not only did they not give me a date or what kind of cake or anything, they didn't even leave a name and phone number. At least I didn't have to worry about calling them back and dealing with them
LOL! I get those questions all the time....."how much are your wedding cakes?"....like how random is that? Could you give me a little more info please?
Unfortunately it's not just our industry. When I worked in manufacturing, one of my Cust Svc Reps got a call from a customer who said, "I need to order a power cord." CSR said she needed a little more info. Customer said, "Black". CSR said, "Lady, that's like going into a restaurant and saying 'I want food .... hot', so I need a little more info, please!"
HAHAHHAHAHA
I love how that call was handled......I wish I was witty enough to come up with a response like that!!!
At my high school job, I checked phone messages and got one from a very cranky sounding lady who asked that I call her back. She must not have hung up the phone all the way, because after her message I heard her grumbling about how she doesn't know why she even bothers leave a message, nobody ever calls her back anyway, on and on for about 30 seconds. I wish I could have called her back to prove her wrong...but she didn't leave a number.
At my high school job, I checked phone messages and got one from a very cranky sounding lady who asked that I call her back. She must not have hung up the phone all the way, because after her message I heard her grumbling about how she doesn't know why she even bothers leave a message, nobody ever calls her back anyway, on and on for about 30 seconds. I wish I could have called her back to prove her wrong...but she didn't leave a number.
That's HILARIOUS!!!
"You did two things wrong...You thought. and You thought wrong."
Oooohhh, I like that! I'd like to use that one with my customers sometimes!
I think my daughter must've just had that used on her and decided that it sounded clever enough to use on me...she was in 7th grade at the time...imagine the look on my face when I clicked to what she'd just said...
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LMAO! I thought it was just my industry that gets these calls. We design & install custom kitchen cabinetry. Custom being the operative word in all of our ads & even our sign. It never ceases to amaze me how often each week we get the dreaded phone call, "How much are your cabinets?" You guys made me laugh this morning, Thank You!
Send them this as your qoute....
That was good! I love it!
You know when I first started making cakes I had some pretty smart ppl. Now that more ppl are ordering from me I get more idiots! They dont know what they want. They dont know, flavor, serving size, theme, colors...nothing! But they know they want something custom made and dont want to spend over $30.
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