I've had a great week with lots of brides emailing and calling, saying "We totally want you to do our cake" and asking for quotes, etc. I am very clear that their date is not reserved until they pay their deposit, but I'm fine with emailing back and forth a bit, looking at their idea photos, and giving them general quotes.
What I'm wondering is, how long should I wait if I haven't heard back after sending a quote to them, before I email them and say, WELL?" (just kidding, but you get the idea)..
I'm thinking more of a note like: "Just touching base to see if you've had time to look over the wedding cake quote you requested. " etc...because I'm getting lots of calls and I don't want to miss a booking because they're dillydallying, but I don't want to hold a date for them if they're just shopping around.
Should I follow right up like the next day or two, or give them a couple of days. I understand people are working and busy etc., and some don't check their email like every.five.minutes like I do, but I'd think after frantically emailing me for several hours back and forth, they'd be waiting anxiously to see the quote and either book it or move on.
What do you do?
After I give them a quote and send them pics or direct them to my site..I leave it up to them. I specifically tell them that their date is not reserved without a deposit.
I get almost all my business through email so I totally understand your dilemma here. I personally have decided not to chase brides up after sending them some ideas, I think it looks a bit desperate. Once I've sent a quote I think it's their chance to decide if they're going ahead or not. If I don't hear from them I assume they're not going ahead. In my quote I usually say something like 'I am provisionally holding X date for you, a deposit of X is due before X date to reserve your date (a week later)' This gives them a week to respond after which they know I'm not holding their date anymore.
I get almost all my business through email so I totally understand your dilemma here. I personally have decided not to chase brides up after sending them some ideas, I think it looks a bit desperate. Once I've sent a quote I think it's their chance to decide if they're going ahead or not. If I don't hear from them I assume they're not going ahead.
I agree with emma... I tell them this price is good if they booked the cake today. Today I am available for xx date. I don't chase them but I do save a copy of the email... because some have surprised me and showed up in the shop to order the cakes.
mpc
I get 99% of my brides via email and I just cannot chase down this many brides. For 2007, I've sent out over 200 quotes already (I keep track on a spreadsheet). I have a pretty lengthy intro email that I send them with their intro package and it includes an invitation to contact me and set up their free, no-obligation sampling. If they do, fine. If not, I move on to the next one.
I agree with Emma too. I give them a quote and remind them that they are not locked in until they give me their "nonrefundable" $50 deposit and leave it at that. Then you have to decide if you have a limit on the number of weddings you will take for a certain weekend.
I don't chase, but if I don't get some kind of response I follow up. I've noticed that my emails with photos or links often get zapped by email filters as spam. I send a plain email if I haven't heard within a week just to be sure they got something from me. "I'm just making sure you got my email with photos and quote. Sometimes they are deleted by spam filters. Please let me know if you have any questions!" It has often gotten a response that they never received it and to please send again. I don't want them to think I'm ignoring them!
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