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In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 187 - At Fault Cult, we admit it - you guys say we "run to the refund," 🥛 so if you want to sip the Kool-Aid, grab a glass because this pod is about joining the At-Fault Cult.

In all seriousness though, we wanted to explain the long-term benefits of the short-term losses "absorbing fault" can have on your bottom line. And here's the kicker - 😵 we'll be talking about absorbing the fault that belongs to the client.

⚔ You see, "🗣️ he said / 🗣️ she said" arguments are all about assigning blame. How much culpability does either party have? 👈👉 What was each person's role in this business blunder?

But once blame is assigned, we now have a "baker vs. client" scenario - a fight to the de🩸ath. So really, who loses? 😖 It's always the baker - because even if you're right, you're still wrong because you lose the client long-term.

🤔 "But I also lose if I refund, right?"

Yeah - You do - 🤏 you lose a little. 🔮 But what you don't (or can't) see is the long-term "a lot more" loss of the lack of that client returning - 😓 or worse, that client going out of their way to un-recommend you.

Instead of our typical list format, 🥺 I'm going to retell Corrie's podcast confession - a mistake she kinda made and the client kinda made, but she took 100% of the blame for it.

A few weeks ago, Corrie let Laurie (lol, 🙊 they rhyme) bypass her form when Laurie reached out through email. "Eh, simple order, what's the harm," she figured.

🗣️ Narrator: "But there was much harm."

Laurie had specified three simple designs across three dozen cookies: 💊 a pill (because he was a doctor), 🏈 a football (because he liked football), and ⚾ a baseball (because he liked baseball).

Easy right? 📧 However, Corrie's form requires inspo photos - but reeeemember, the client bypassed the form. 🖼️ There were no inspo photos to be referenced.

Lo, and behold, Corrie sends Laurie the pre-pickup picture to which Laurie replies with... dun dun duuun... 😲 "Where are the sports team's logos??" Corrie scrambled to add a few logos, but there was absolutely no way to get the order up to the client's expectations in enough time.

But the client was to blame, right? Because...

• 💢 Laurie was the one who circumvented the form when she saw her date was booked. All orders must go through the form!
• 💢 Laurie was the one who gave general descriptions of what she wanted leaving out the specific details about the logo. How was Corrie to know?!
• 💢 Laurie never sent inspo photos to help dictate her order requirements.

💸 Laurie Laurie Laurie... was refunded 100% of the order and apologized to. Why? Because so what if Laurie was to blame even partially for the cookie miscommunication? What does Corrie win when Laurie loses?

Corrie wins the opportunity to get a bad review and loses all potential future orders from Laurie. By being the "at-fault party," Corrie let Laurie save face. And guess what Laurie did? ⛔ She wouldn't accept the free order. She begged Corrie to at least let her pay half.

🤔 Her reasoning? 🙏 "I want to be able to order from you again in the future, I loved this experience."

When you take the blame, even the blame that wasn't yours to bear, you make your clients feel like your business is a safe space to make mistakes.

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In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 186 - The 5 D's of Disarming, we're back to business talking about the 5 D's of disarming upset clients. As we cruise through the "Sugar Cookie Super Bowl" that is October - December, we're more inclined to make mistakes - or to miss the client's cryptic order details amid the flurry of incoming requests and changes.

Hey - we're human. They're human. It happens.

But disarming clients can make the different between disaster (in your review profiles) or domination (in your bottom line). So defining the steps to make sure you get your desired outcome is what we designed today's podcast on (can you see I'm forcing the whole "starts with the letter D" thing?).

The key to each of these approaches is to make the client feel that you've heard them and plan to make it right. Now how you go about making it right is subjective - but making it right? That's a business requirement.

🖐 1. Dispel their Worry.

When people get the guts to reach out and tell you they have a problem, see that as being gracious. Because their other options were to either never order from you again (bad), or to leave you a bad review (worse). So when a client says, 🫣 "Heeeey, I'm not 100% happy," they're choosing to be kind by giving you the chance to make it right. 😥 I'm a HUGE fan of, "I'm sorry that the experience didn't meet your expectations." You can say sorry while also not agreeing with the client - but the client's feelings are 100% valid even if they're not right.

🖐 2. Deter Anger (before it starts).

Having a solid refund policy set up before you even touch the client's money can deter anger. 💯 Corrie has a 100% satisfaction guarantee or you'll get a full refund. It signals to her clients that even in the worst-case scenario, they'll still be made whole. You can also accomplish this by getting good reviews - it tells future buyers that you're a green flag when it comes to solving issues.

🖐 3. Do NOT be Defensive!

😠 This is where I see most bakers make the left turn when they should have gone right. Defensiveness will only limit your options. Do NOT reply when you're angry!! I'm going to repeat it because so many folks make this mistake: ⛔ DO NOT REPLY TO AN UPSET CLIENT WHEN YOU ARE ANGRY. Wait 24 hours then ask ChatGTP if your response to the client sounds amicable or defensive. Hey, the robots can even help you rewrite it.

🖐 4. Discharge Them Correctly.

It's understandable to be upset when the client "gets one over on ya" by getting a refund. Wrong business move. 🥲 Remember - the client that reached out was doing you a favor by letting you make it right. 🥹 So respect them when you roll them off your books. Just because someone got a refund does not mean they're an automatic ⚫blacklisted⚫ client. Do your best to thank them for bringing up the issue to you and allowing your bakery to be better for it.

🖐 5. Do it like Chick-fil-A.

Does Chick-fil-A ever make mistakes? You bet. But you know why you don't hear about them as often? 🐮 Their HEARD policy to client issues. 👂 Hear, 👂 Empathize, 👂 Apologize, 👂 Resolve, and 👂 Delight is the approach that one of the largest, most successful fast-food restaurants takes when it comes to unhappy clients. And it works. A few months ago, Chick was backlogged and took about 10 minutes to fulfill my order. I didn't mind at all, but when they finally handed me my chicky-strips, they threw in a $5 gift card as an apology... for an issue I didn't even raise.

Talk about Delighted.

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In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 185 - The Vendy Blendy Episode, it's the moooost wonderful tiiiiime of the yyeeeaarrr. It's the annual Vendy Blendy Episode!

This is the one podcast where we cover all 77 Vendys, where they ship, what they sell and how much they'll sell it (not) for. As the hype builds for Black Friday, pre-shopping the Vendys on the podcast is always a fan favorite (or maybe it's a Heather and Corrie favorite and y'all just have to listen along).

There's too much data this year for me to copy and paste into this email, so I'll include the important links you'll need to pre-shop the VB:

• 🟠 The Group (pend here): https://www.facebook.com/groups/vendyblendy
• 🟠 The List of Vendys + Websites + Discounts: http://thevendys.com
• 🟠 Corrie's Vendy Product Reviews: https://www.instagram.com/sugarcookiemarketing_

Here are some facts that should get ya hyped for Novemby 29th:

🟠 We have more Vendys than we have ever had (77 this year compared to 72 last year).

• 🟠 We have higher discount minimums than we've ever had (25% off this year compared to 20$ off last year).
• 🟠 We have more door prizes this year than we did last year (10 Big Door Prizes + 71 Vendys are also offering Door Prizes).
• 🟠 We have MORE days 'til Black Friday than we've had last year (last year it was Nov 23, this year it's Nov 29th).

Bigger, better, faster, stronger - this is shaping up to be a BLAST of a Vendy Blendy, and I am HERE for it!

If you missed Heather's Facebook Lives on the Vendy, you can rewatch the replays here:

• 🟠 Live 1 - Intro to the Vendy Blendy! 🛒
• 🟠 Live 2 - Let’s Pre-Shop The Vendys! 🛒
• 🟠 Live 3 - Secrets to Shopping the Vendy Blendy 🛒
• 🟠 Live 4 - The Cookie College and the Vendy Blendy 🛒

In today's podcast, Corrie covered some of her shop favs. We also cover shipping + door prizes + and discount codes.