Baking it Down with Sugar Cookie Marketing 🍪
👋 Hey - Heather and Corrie here with the Baking it Down Podcast with Sugar Cookie Marketing (a group on Facebook full of sugar cookiers turned business owners).
🍪 We're here to help you rise with your reach, flood with new followers, bake up new ideas, and make that all-important dough (while makin' that dough - see the pun there?)
🤑. What’s it about? We’re a Facebook Group turned Podcast, Membership, Book Club, and Baking 101 that’s dedicated to assisting bakers in effectively marketing online to generate more sales and better manage their businesses.
🧠 With free Facebook Live classes, hundreds of resources, and thousands of like-minded bakers, there’s a lot to learn in "SCM" (aka Sugar Cookie Marketing). ️🎧 As an extension of our Facebook group, this podcast is here to let you learn by listening. 📈 We'll cover group topics, marketing trends, and more (leaving this wide open in case Corrie wants to start singing).
💸 We take the sweet art of selling online to the cottage bakery world with marketing methods that move products (and pastries).👂 So open up those glorious ear canals because we have a podcast! Just when you’ve thought you’ve “heard” it all with those marketing "miracle" twins (that's our last name - not a proclamation), we’ve got something just for you each week!
🥣 As a baker, you don't always have the luxury of two hands needed to scroll in Sugar Cookie Marketing Group or crack open a book in Sugar Cookie Bookies, but what you can do is listen (unless you're my kid asking “what’s for dinner” for the millionth time).
👐 Hands full of flour? No problem! 👍 18 dozen iced cookies due tomorrow? Let’s do this. The Baking it Down Podcast by Sugar Cookie Marketing is a weekly podcast geared toward helping you grow your bakery business - dropping (almost) every Tuesday.
📅 We choose a topic each week that's either something new and emerging in the world of social media or something that we saw in "The Group" that was a hot topic and we bake it down... I mean, "break" it down for you. 🗯️ What you can expect in the podcast is about an hour of chit-chat with the meat and potatoes right at the beginning of the episode.
🥔 That’s when we dive into the marketing topic of the week! 📞 Oh yeah, folks can call / text / email in with their questions too - a fun way to hear from other bakers out there.
Our promises to you:
1️⃣ We always make it clean = no cursing. We understand that you are busy and could be around little ones while also trying to get your weekly dose of business growth so we make sure that each episode would make our grandma proud and keep it clean so you can listen while also living your life.
2️⃣ We always make it fun. There’s a lot of negativity in the world so we try and make the podcast an upbeat and fun learning experience for you. I mean, we try to make the Instagram updates and changes as happy as we can, but come on Instagram! Give it a rest! No more changes!
3️⃣ Other than that, we take a positive approach to marketing We are also *not* professional podcasters. I feel like we need to say this because, hey, sometimes we get giggles! We do our best to extend our marketing knowledge to you all free of charge each week at the cost of listening to our higher-than-normal pitched voices and the occasional giggle spree.
4️⃣ You can find the podcast on all the major platforms and you can typically expect a new episode each Tuesday afternoon (unless life happens). We invite everyone to listen.
Either start from the beginning or work backward! The episodes don’t build off themselves so you won’t be confused hearing one before the other. You just might miss new Lives we mention but you can always catch the replay in the Sugar Cookie Marketing Group on Facebook!
Baking it Down with Sugar Cookie Marketing 🍪
276. Baking it Down - How To Turn Down Orders When You Need Orders
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🛑 How 2 Turn Down Orders - When you’re new and need orders.
In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 276 - How To Turn Down Orders When You Need Orders, the beginner baker needs to turn down orders - yes, even when they need orders. Sometimes the client isn't the right match, the client has expectations that exceed current skill set, or the baker just doesn't have the time to handle as much back-and-forth as a specific client needs to feel comfortable.
So how do you turn down orders when you need more orders? The typical recommendation is to say you're booked - which works pretty well for an established baker who is well... typically booked. But for the new baker, it puts them in a bind. They reject the client by claiming they're booked today, but are posting in a Facebook group looking for orders tomorrow. It's a fast way to lead to an upset client and an awkward conversation.
We have a better strategy (actually copy templates) you can steal.
❌ Client is coming from another baker
Issue:
"I recently had a potential customer who has been a little strange and kind of insulted my work. She normally gets her cookies from another baker who has been doing this for a decade, but tried my cookies at a market and likes my flavor better. So when we discussed her cookie designs, she kept saying whatever “I’m most confident in” that I can make look like this other person because “she’s been doing it for a decade so you should check out her work.” Basically saying my designs aren’t up to par with this person who has been doing it for much longer."
(this was an actual thread posted in the Sugar Cookie Marketing group)
Response:
"Hey client! I really gave this order some thought, and while I appreciate your confidence in me, my goal is to ensure my clients are 100% happy - even if that means referring them to another baker.
I don't believe my current skillset will knock this out of the park in the way your order deserves, and having a client that I've missed the mark with is far worse than losing a sale. Thanks so much for considering me, and I hope XYZ baker can really stick the landing on these! In the meantime, I'll be in the kitchen working on new techniques, and I'd love the chance to work with you on a future order when I've had more time in the saddle!"
Now, I understand my wording puts a lot of the "accountability" on you and not on her being high maintenance, but we feel like this delivery softens the blow of "I don't want your order." Tweak, delete, or steal it!
❌ Client needs some babysitting
Issue: Client is asking for too much babysitting back and forth.
Response:
“Hey client! Love the direction we’ve gotten with this order - it’s going to turn out really amazingly. Let’s firm up the details in the next two emails so I can make sure I meet your due date on this order - I don’t want any snafus with the postal system causing any delays.
Here’s what I need from you: [list of outstanding design choices]
Once I get that, I’ll start gathering the supplies for your order. We’ve got your invoice paid, and then I’ll be in the kitchen! If you want to reply to this email with any outstanding questions about your order, I’ll knock those out in my final response, and we can finalize this!"
❌ Client is asking for a more advanced set
Issue: This person is asking for designs outside the skillset you’re comfortable with:
Response:
“Hey client, thank you so much for considering me. I just reviewed your cookie inspiration photos you sent over, and I want to be 100% with you and my abilities. I don’t think I’ll be able to nail the look you’re going for, but I also know you deserve someone to knock this set out of the park for your big day.
I wouldn’t be comfortable with taking your order, but I do have a few bakers I’m going to recommend that could probably nail this specific look for you.
I don’t know their availability, but here’s the link to each Facebook Page so you can see their past work and review it before reaching out!
Thank you so much for even considering me. I’m going to work hard on my decorating skills so I can be confident in this look and earn your business down the road!”
❌ Client is anxious about the order
Issue: Client is anxious about the order process and feels distrustful of the baker.
Response:
“Hey Client! Thank you so much for trusting me with your big day and cookies. I am so excited to bake these up for you!
I just want to let you know how the process goes so you can feel at ease and know that your cookies are being taken care of and are my utmost priority.
Since we booked you already and we've got about 2 weeks before I start prepping your order, what I’m doing now is reviewing everything, and I’m going to send you an update email 1 week out from pick-up. After that, I’m going to start the prep process by getting the dough mixed, finding the corresponding cookie cutters to the ones we discussed, and then I’ll begin baking.
I don’t send update photos as I go since they won’t make sense until I’m done. An eye-less Elsa isn’t for the faint of heart! Once I finish the set, I’ll send you an email with an order update, a look at your finished set, and we can nail down a pick-up time for the next day."
👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 276 - How To Turn Down Orders When You Need Orders.
