Leaving a Bad Taste in My Mouth

I recently went to a cake tasting for my upcoming wedding that left me hungry for more.  After doing my homework in finding the best bakery in town I set up an appointment to meet with him.  Upon arrival I waited for ten minutes for them to heat up pre-sliced cakes in the microwave.  I guess a part of me was expecting the “Cake Boss” experience when developing my wedding cake but that image was clearly not a reality in this store.  Although they have received numerous prestigious awards and several wedding vendors praised his work, I didn’t feel like I was in an “up-scale” bakery.  In fact, I didn’t get a “congratulations on your upcoming wedding” – which is usually the first greeting that comes in all wedding vendor’s meetings.

The flavors and icing were fine.  I only had a few options to choose from and interestingly, the cake tastings only included four so I couldn’t sample the ones I actually wanted to order.

After constructing the cake he provided a quote at which time I posed the question, “If I pay in full today, what kind of discount can you give me?”  This is the part where a seasoned marketer would get excited however any proactive sales techniques were completely void in this conversation.  Instead of saying, “I have one of the best bakeries in town so I assure you, the quality of your wedding cake that you’ve been dreaming about for years will be in the best hands therefore I can’t offer you a discount.”  He simply said, “No, we don’t do that.”  He completely lost control of the conversation at that point.  In these economic times, he doesn’t understand consumers are looking for something, anything that will make their buying decision feel like they are getting the most of their hard earned dollars.  He could have offered free delivery, or said he would comp a $25.00 rental fee for the cake holder… ANYTHING.  It’s not always about how deep the discount is (20% off or 50% off)- it comes to working with a client to gain respect,  earn trust and make them feel important.

I walked away without signing a contract and a few weeks later, I still haven’t made a decision.  Maybe I will just pay the price for his quality cakes, or I’ll find another store that can give me the “wow” effect.