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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.

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In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 184 - Boo-urn Out, Corrie wanted to do our annual 😩 "Ways to avoid getting burnt out during the baker's busy season" strategy sesh.

Hey - business ownership ain't for the weak. Additionally, baking businesses reach their ordering maximums during the Q4 months (📅 October, November, and December). 🤑 It's easy to fall prey to that green we've been laying the foundation for all year, 🔥 but it's always the fast pass to closing a business when we burn the Christmas candles at both ends. 🔥

Summary: you can make the MOST money in the world, but if you close your business Jan 2025, was it even worth it? 🏈 Sustainability is the 🔑 k-e-y to success in the baking "Super Bowl."

1. Turn off your order form when you're booked.

📃 Disabling your order form is a really definite way to say, "Don't come knockin' on my door, I'm too busy settin' up my Christmas tree. 🎄" It's perfect for those of us who hate to see the look of disappointment on a client's face and struggle with saying no. 🚫 I wrote a poem for ya - "If they can't hit submit, you won't witness the fit."

2. Set your order max now. DO NOT DEVIATE

You know what your limits are. 💯 If you know 10 dozen will be the most you can handle without hating life, set your weekly max now - and when you hit that max, shut down that order form. You'll be tempted to get greedy when the order submissions are hittin' the Inbox and the DMs. 🔐 Don't fall for the green goblin - if the limit you set was 10, 10 it shall be.

3. Schedule 2 posts per week.

Corrie's rule-of-posting-thumb is 2 posts per week. ✌️ We have, what, 8 weeks left in the year? That's 16 posts - something you can likely knock out in an hour tops. And the posts don't have to be earth-shatteringly good. 💆 A simple post can keep your page audience engaged while also removing that dreaded feeling of, "Oh darn, I forgot to post to socials. I'm falling behind" when we need more bandwidth to bake.

4. Schedule days off now. NO COMPROMISING

📆 Go right now, open your calendar app, and set the days you DO NOT want to work to "busy." And then absolutely do ❌NOT❌ schedule anything on those days. That includes prep work, supply and ingredients shopping, baking, pick-ups, etc. THOSE ARE YOUR OFF DAYS - I'm yelling so you hear me loud and clear. 👂 When we get rushed and take on too many orders, we're tempted to give those days up. 💸 What's all the money in the world if we didn't get to stop and smell the roses... or in this case, the pine needles?

5. Shorten your FB Business Page Hours.

Facebook business pages work off of set hours (it affects how your page shows availability and how your auto-responders work). ⏰ In busier months, shortening your "available hours" can signal to your clients that you're not sitting by your Messenger inbox twiddling your thumbs and waiting for their next reply. Setting your page hours to 3 hours a day makes sense when you're trying to limit order inquiries.

6. Elongate the funnel.

In the world of sales, 🤏 we want to shorten the funnel. In the world of "too many sales so we're feeling burnt out," ✋ elongating that funnel ✋ can subtly curtail orders. Just as a short funnel has the fewest amount of clicks to order (think: Amazon's one-click-to-buy option), ⛹‍♂ a long funnel that has clients jumping through hoops to place orders can be a nice bumper to slow down incoming inquiries. Don't add the order links to post, don't had the form link to your auto-response message, have your auto-responder say it'll take you 3 days to get back to someone, etc.