Hi! Tomorrow night I am supposed to meet with a couple for the first time about their wedding cake for next year. They e-mailed me 2 weeks ago about a meeting tomorrow and I responded and have not heard back from them.
I e-mailed them tonight about where and what time. Do you generally do a tasting on the first meeting? Since it is 7:30 and they have not responded, I hate to create all these samples and be left holding the bag!! Of course, my staff would love it because it has been a while since I brought cake, but that seems like a lot of work for a meeting that might not happen.
That's a hard one...this is something that happened to me last week actually. A customer had contacted me about a sampling - I set up the apointment and e-mailed them directions on a Friday. The appointment was for last Tuesday. Tuesday morning I got a message from a friend of the bride saying that had been waiting for confirmation from me and directions and that they weren't sure of the appointment time. At that point - I re-sent the e-mail I had sent them and tried to call them to confirm they were coming. I make all my samples fresh and did not want to make them if they weren't coming. I let them know that I needed to hear from them by 10:00 in order for them to keep their appointment and that if I didn't hear from them I would assume that they needed to reschdule.
I didn't hear from them so I just figured there was a huge miscommunication - they would call and reschedule and then all would be good. Well - that was really bad on my part because while 1 person left the message that they weren't sure of the appointment and didn't get confirmation - the bride HAD gotten this and actually showed up for the appointment. (They were both using the same e-mail but apparently didn't communicate to eachother) I was not there when they showed up and the sampling never happened. I contacted her through e-mail after this but never heard from her so I lost this customer.
In hind sight I wish I would have just made the samples and waited in case they showed up. I could have brought them home to my husband instead of worrying about the waste!! Even though they may break the appiontment I would go ahead and prepare if I were you just to be safe....
Hi and thank you for your input. I think I will prepare a few simple samples. I had to make an Anniversary cake tonight any way, so I just skimmed a little batter from it.
I am sorry you lost the customer. The world of e-mail is wonderful, but when you are using it to plan your Wedding it is a little scarey to me. I have sent a few e-mails to them asking questions, but when they respond, they only answer the first and ignore the rest. They have my phone number, but I don't have theirs. They were refered to me by a friend so I could call her, but I hate to get her in the middle of it all.
I will just prepare and hope to get an e-mail. I will let you know how it turns out!!
Can't you call them?! Sometimes email isn't so reliable... Always get a phone number!
Well, they finally contacted me. They each thought the other had contacted me. I met with them and they are kind of all over the board with ideas. I am going to draw something up and send it to them.
And I did go ahead and get their phone number! So... from this point forward, I can call them.
Thanks for all your input!
I don't know how you worded your questions but after years of working with surgeons, I have learned a few tricks. They will usually answer the first question but no more if questions or in paragraph form. If it is a either/or question they will just say "yes" or "no" and you don't know which one they meant. No reflection on them but they are just extremely busy. Here are my tips:
1. Get to the point quickly
2. Don't ask either/or questions such as do you prefer white or chocolate cake. Instead, ask what flavors...
3. Number your questions in format I'm using now.
4. Keep it as short as possible
Hope this helps!
I had a consultation scheduled last Thursday. The bride had called me the week before and sounded very interested. She was wanting a cupcake tower and I told her I would put together some pictures for her and we could discuss all the options. I sent her an e-mail just to confirm the meeting place/time. The evening before the scheduled consultation, I called to confirm the appt but had to leave a message on the answering machine.
So then...the consultation time comes up, I arrive at the meeting place, a little coffee shop, and she no-shows! I was pretty ticked because we'd made the appointment only the week before. After waiting for 1/2 hour, I called her place and left a message saying that I'd been waiting and that she didn't arrive so I'd be leaving and that if she had any questions or problems, let me know.
I still haven't heard from her. It's really weird. I just wish she'd have given me a call or written an email just to let me know she couldn't make it. What a waste of my time!
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