Got to remember to think like a business person!

Last week we had a lady contact us about a birthday cake for her daughter. It seemed really promising, because she has ordered custom cakes before, and seemed to place a lot of value on the cake, even saying that she looked at it as a piece of art, and wanted something really special for her event. Great, that's what we do! She had found our website and really liked our cakes and our overall style.

So she asks if they can try a sample of our cake before they make a final decision on whether to go with us or not. I SHOULD have required her to buy a sample cake, but I caved and said we could do a small cake for free and meet somewhere central to bring it to her (We don't have a storefront). So we brought her a 4-inch square on Friday. It wasn't much extra cost to us, because we mainly used icing and stuff that we already had to make for the weekend orders. So we meet them and once again it seems really promising, she said she just has to meet with one other cake person tomorrow that was referred to her by a friend. We also gave her a quote for the design she wanted.

Well, she emails Saturday and says they loved the sample, and they would let me know for sure tomorrow. I get an email from her this morning saying that they decided to go with the other person, but they would be sure to refer us to their friends and family and they look forward to using us in the future. Ooooook, but why we wouldn't you just use us this time?? The only thing I can figure, since she really liked us and she really liked the cake, is that the other person undercut our price. She may have even shown them our quote and asked if they could do better, who knows. At least we hadn't done a sketch for her yet!

Anyway, I have learned my lesson and with the exception of weddings and large events, there will be NO more free samples for anyone, I don't care how promising it seems!

At least it wasn't a super expensive lesson to learn...

I hate when I make an exception for someone to be nice and then it doesn't work out.

That's too bad.

I think sometimes people just feel bad about saying "no" to someone. I had a bride who came for a tasting with an attitude and therefore I knew there was no way she was booking with me. I tell all my tastings to let me know if they decide to go with someone else, and she sent me an email saying she choose someone else to make her wedding cake (YIPPEE). However she also said she loved my cake and wants to use me for a bridal shower and birthday. Really? Guess she thought I only made nice special occasion cakes!

i'm not seeing where you went wrong. Yes, you bent over a little more backwards than maybe you should have, but if she implied that it was a big order, you probably did the right thing. Maybe have bigger boundaries next time- dictate when, where and what you give someone like this, but she made it look like she understood quality and was the kind of customer you want to attract.
So, just like a bride can come to me and then change their mind or go with someone else, so can this lady. Yes, you lost the business, but you weren't going to GET the business if you didn't offer something to her.
Now, if this lady was only going to be spending $75, and you went out of your way, then yes, shame on you! But if she really wanted to spend money, then there's no need to scold you, keep your chin up and say "NEXT!"

I don't understand why you feel so terrible... You seemed to be very professional, a free sample is a great way to get business, but most of the time a person's final decision is decided by cost - especially in these times. You had to give her a quote regardless, so you can't beat yourself up because they came to you before heading to the other place.

You should feel awesome for the experience of holding a professional meeting!

I also do not have a store-front and I think sometimes people worry that I may not be as professional as the competition who does have a store-front. I am certain that I lose business when my meeting is held at Starbucks versus a bakery - when a customer wants everything to be absolutley perfect, I think they simply feel more comfortable with the latter.

I agree with jentreu and MacsMom about your not beating yourself up about this. I know it's dissapointing, but it's just the nature of the business. One thing you could do - and what many decorators do - is to charge for a tasting, say $25.00, applicable to the cost of the cake they order. You could also hand out cupcakes as samples instead of actual cakes, even 4" ones, which you still have to fill, stack and ice.

Hi Cakemaster2009, I don't run a business, but this is purely from experience. When I was planning my wedding a few years back, I found a cake decorator which seemed promising but I too wanted a tasting before I made that final decision. She told me up front her tastings were $30. However, if I booked with her the $30 went towards the deposit. That seemed fair to me. I certainly didn't want to waste her time (nor mine) and I know she did not want to run around making cakes for "maybe" orders. Cake was a small 6" round with butter cream and fondant and was to die for. I got my tasting and took the rest home and I did book. Not because I felt pressured because of the $30, 6" cake, etc., but because it was really, really good!!!! Maybe this is a direction you could take in the future for bigger orders.

Excellent advice, Debi, as usual! I'm definitely going to incorporate that into my sales pitch! It takes the pressure off the customer and off the baker as well.

Ok, so then how do you determine how big of an event merits a free sample? For example, this cake would have been about $200, including tax.

It's not even so much the sample itself, since like I said, the little 4 inch cake didn't cost us much. It's the time it takes to bake the sample, ice it, cover in fondant, and drive it to a central location to give it to them. If we had a storefront, not only would we most likely have something on hand in the flavor they want to try, they would have to come to us to get it.

The hardest thing for me in all of this is not knowing why she didn't go with us, other than just having to assume someone else was cheaper. If she hated the sample we gave her or something, then obviously that would be why. I guess she could have been lying to us about liking it, but that seems unlikely, since if they didn't like it she just wouldn't have said anything about it.

You know what your cakes taste like and you know that they're good, but not everybody has the same taste - otherwise there would only be one cake recipe in this world! Yes, she may have gone with someone else because they were cheaper. Not a reason to change your pricing structure. You'll get some orders and some will go to other people. I'd just use this as a lesson in how business works and move on.