When someone leaves a voicemail that they need a cake on a date I'm no longer taking orders for...do I NOT call them back and risk them thinking I have bad business practices, or DO call back but then they get all excited and ready to order a cake and then I tell them I am booked and they get upset and feel stupid.

Anybody have ideas? Just called a lady back, she called me three times today (two voicemails) while I was out..called her back tonight only to have to break it to her I'm booked for May.

Unless you list a calendar on your website when your free, I think as long as you return the phone call and tell them that your booked thats the most professional thing to do. If you dont return their call then to me that is being unprofessional and that would upset them more! But thats just me!

If I were the potential client, I would want to know so that I could make other arrangements. While I would be disappointed that I couldn't have a cake from you for that specific occasion, because you took the time to tell me, I would likely come back and order from you for a future event.

If I tried and tried to reach you...and you didn't get back to me....I wouldn't try again in the future....you would have lost my business entirely...and likely my friends/family would have heard about my experience.

HTH

IMO, the best business practice would be to return every inquiry from any customer - regardless of the news!

I do call them back and let them know I am booked. Sometimes, if they have a small order, I will go ahead and book it anyway.

[quote="Kitagrl
.but when I do call back they seem like they feel like a fool and they quickly say good bye and they seem upset. [/quote]

You do beautiful work....I am sure that they are so disappointed that they can't have your cake this time and are (while speaking with you) processing that disappointment and starting to rethink their game plan...."what do I do now?" People often don't understand how much time is involved in the whole process of a cake...and how far in advance an order needs to be placed. When they hear that you can't do it....may be worried they will not be able to find anyone and will end up with a grocery store sheet cake.

I agree that you should always call back just so that they can make other arrangements.

I always let people know if we are booked, how much notice we typically need and if possible, I can refer them to another trusted baker in the area. I always end the message/convo with "We hope that you will still consider us for your next event."

I agree, always call so they can have an answer. If you can get a hold of them, that is.

I always call back and refer them to my friendly "competitors". I have a group of friends and acquaintances that are decorators and we help each other out with referrals when we're booked.

I agree with Julie. Always call back so they will be more likely to come to you in the future.

I too call back out of common courtesy to the customer. I've actually had someone whom I've had to tell that I was booked refer me to their friends/family or book themselves for future orders. If nothing else, it lets them know you're professional and that the early bird gets the worm!

It kinda makes me wonder if it's a good idea to mention on your business answering machine/voicemail what your availability looks like.

"Thank you for calling XYZ Custom Cakes. I'm up to my ears in frosting right now but if you leave a short message and a phone number I'll get back to you as soon as I can. I am currently booked for this weekend and next" -or- "my next available date to book a cake is XX/XX."

You'd obviously have to update this each week so maybe it would be too much of a hassle. Or you might get people that would assume you're too busy for their order and just not bother when you probably could have taken the order. Hmmm.

Don't mind me, just thinking on my keyboard here. . .

My availability is on my website

I always call them back so they can make other arrangements. I do have on my website that the order should be placed at least 2 weeks prior to their event no later then a week. Sometimes that still not enough notice. I only do a certain amount of servings in one week. Thinking of putting a calendar on my page also.

I have had to refer a few out lately, and also I had one lady tell me she was glad to hear a local business was busy...