I had a consult with a bride yesterday who is having her reception at a swanky country club. They have a strict no-outside-food policy except for cakes, since they don't do them.
She was kinda sad about this for the reason that her fiance doesn't really like cake, but he loves Krystal burgers (White Castle). She thought it would be funny to bring in Krystal burgers in their little boxes and stack them to look like a cake. She just thought her fiance would love it. Anyway, country club said no, so she is getting a chocolate groom's cake for me.
I REALLY want to make a little life-size cake, covered in fondant to look like a Krystal box for the groom. I mean, it would only be like, 4"x4"x2", and I thought about doing it as a surprise to both of them. It would just be the box, I wouldn't make the burger to go inside. At that size, it wouldn't cost me very much to make it for free...
What do you all think? By doing this one thing for her for free, would all of her friends/wedding guests who asked think that I give freebies to all my customers?
Yeahhhhh I can see how that would be fun...but I think it would be hard to give preferential treatment like that unless its a personal friend.
I have a "favorite customer" who is a regular, and we get along great because both of our kids have skin conditions and we talk about that some, and plus she's really nice...and I thought about giving her a birthday gift of a gift certificate for discount on cakes...and I still might...but so far I'm thinking maybe it would not be good to start giving people birthday presents unless I plan to do it for ALL my customers. All it will take is for her to tell one of her friends (and I do get quite a few cross-referrals) "She gave me this discount for my birthday" and then everyone would be asking for their birthday discount!!!
Could you maybe see if she wants to buy that for her fiance as a surprise? Maybe give her a "discounted" price since she already ordered a grooms cake? That way she would be buying it...I bet she'd go for an extra $25 or something.
Read your post again....how about if you make the box (she can pay you $10 or whatever you want) and then she can buy him a Krystal burger gift card and put it inside or something? I forgot he didn't like cake...
I don't see anything wrong with throwing that item in. It adds value to the client and that's one of those that would make them super excited...and possibly result in good word of mouth and more referrals from that country club.
I don't see anything wrong with throwing that item in. It adds value to the client and that's one of those that would make them super excited...and possibly result in good word of mouth and more referrals from that country club.
I agree, that's the kind of little touch that they'll be talking about for years. Think baby shower cake, first birthday cake, and so on...you'll be their favorite bakery forever and it won't cost you much at all to do it.
I can only think from a customers perspective at this point, but I'd be absolutely thrilled, I'd think it was so kind, I'd tell everyone I knew how great you were. And I'm guessing that on cakes you sell to other people, sometimes you put special little touches too, so this is similar, just not on the cake.
Why not do it as a "topper" to the grooms cake? Or do a white castle theme grooms cake?
I agree with the above, the little extra above and beyond means that you will be talked about quite a bit, and possibly by not just the wedding party but the staff at the event. Go for it!
Sorry if I sounded like a scrooge....after I posted I realized you weren't offering a cake, but a small gumpaste figure sort of thing... I should read more carefully.
I think that's a nice idea. One way to get around other's expecting something extra from you is to say something like "I wanted to test out this technique that I hadn't practiced and this gave me a chance to do so, so you are the lucky recipient, I hope you like it".
Do it!!!! Its called going that extra mile. You cant go wrong. If someone asks you to do something free, you can always say no...or yes or throw something else in that doesnt cut in to your costs. But in the end, you will be rewarded and your business will grow. Go with your instinct and dont pass up such a great moment to surprise someone and make their wedding that much more memorable because of our generosity! Go For It!
Alrighty then Hopefully they won't go around telling everyone, "She gave us freebies!"
I'm coming in late on this one, but I agree with doing it. They will remember it forever and you will probably see the benefits of it greatly. I see nothing wrong with a random act of kindness.
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