155. Baking it Down - Upsetspectations

Baking it Down with Sugar Cookie Marketing 🍪

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😡 Upsetspectations - How setting expectations up front can keep us outta hot water.

Upsetspectations - the tongue-twister we came up with to describe what setting expectations as a baker and then not meeting them as a baker creates in your clients.

🛫 Listen - you're the one piloting the plane here, you get to set the expectations because likely your clients don't really have a clue what goes into baking. But when you're the pilot 💺 and don't tell the cabin to buckle up, you set yourself up for some troubled turbulence (and a bad review).

In this week's podcast, 😳 we cover things we find sugar cookiers forget to set flexible expectations that blow back in the baker's face (😭 and land you in Sugar Cookie Marketing group begging the comments not to client bash so your thread doesn't get prematurely locked).

When we see these threads pop up in the group, the first question always asked is: 🤔 What were the policies in place before this became an issue?

You'll live and die by your disclaimers, TOS, expectations, and heads-ups.

Here's the most common complaints that we see posted in the SCM group. When you find out one of these bad boys is causing an "unset expectations" issue for you, you'd pay just about any amount to travel back in time and tie these loose ends up. 🪡

• 📑 Color Accuracy - "colors will be close, but aren't guaranteed to be 100% accurate."
• 📑 Hand-Made Disclaimer - "cookies are a hand-made product and made include some minor defects. While kept to a minimum, please remember these are delicious, but not perfection."
• 📑 Follow-Ups - "thank you for your order - you'll hear from me again 2 weeks from your pick-up date to confirm details."
• 📑 Refunds - "my bakery has a no refund policy - if you're unhappy with anything about your order, please let me know and we can find a resolution that works for you."
• 📑 Invoice Paid to Reserve - "here is your invoice - please note that the invoice must be paid to reserve your date, and I cannot guarantee the dates availability after today"
• 📑 No Show / Porch Pickup Policies - "your pick-up time is X:XXAM. in the event you cannot show up for your pick-up, your cookies will be..."
• 📑Price Transparency - "my custom dozens start at $X and increase based on design and set complexity and order size."
• 📑Delayed Disclaimers - "in the event that the baker cannot fulfill the order / teach the cookie class, the policy is..."
• 📑Cancelation Policy - "we do not offer full or partial refunds if your event is canceled - but these cookies will taste delicious regardless."

These will only get ya started. The key to remember is: NO ONE IS READING YOUR TOS, DISCLAIMERS, OR WARNINGS. So you have to keep reminding clients bringing to light the expectation that fits them best.

👀 Tune into a client you suspect really wants exact color matching - then set their expectations on colors and icing.

👀 Look for clients you think may want really frequent communication schedules - then set their expectations about your response times.

👀 Check for clients with spotty communication once you've sent the invoice - then set their expectations on your "pay to reserve" booking system.