Need Advice....got that "gut feeling" about a potential client

I don't see any red flags. Sounds to me like she's trying to negotiate a price within her budget. She also mentions she won't be able to attend a consultation. This may be one of those you do all by email/phone.

You do still need to be cautious. Be sure to get a deposit, cake paid in full before delivery, detailed signed contract, etc. final payment must be in your hand with time to clear the bank or made by cashiers check/money order.

In my case, I email a copy of my policies & procedures contract along with te consultation guide. I want people to know very quickly the limits of my responsibility as well as what to expect in various situations. Doesn't worry me that she wants to see yours. It's a good sign that she is seriously considering you.

Customers should ALWAYS ask to review the contract before signing it. 

 

In this case the caution would be due to the serious illness.  They have to see the details about a cancellation at the last minute.  You are being given the heads-up to make sure that you spell all this out, if your normal contract does not address such circumstances.

 

These people are not asking you to compromise your payment schedule.  If your gut feeling doesn't settle, then you would be best off suggesting that this customer can save the delivery fee by using a more local baker.  I mean, MA has to be crawling with them...

 

Added later: When I lived in MA many people swore that ALL prices were always lower in NH.  These people may have heard the same fiction.

Edited by BakingIrene - 1/26/13 at 11:06am

I always email a copy of my contract before the consultation so they can read it beforehand. That way they can have any questions ready and not waste time at the consultation reading it.

First, I think you should always go with your gut.

 

This could just be a situation where, given their particular case with the illness, they want to see if they will be able to get any of their money back if they have to cancel or postpone.  Maybe they read somewhere that you should ask for a copy of the contract before you seal the deal.

 

If they know you are firm on price then it shouldn't be a problem.  But if your gut is telling you this is not a good order to take you can simply tell them you are unable to make their cake.
 

If you are getting the feeling that she is going to be trouble, I would tell her you are now booked on that weekend and leave it at that.  I have had 2 clients that seemed like trouble, for whatever reason, and they ended up being  major headaches.  The first lady, I proceeded with the order only to field a stream of hysterical phone calls the next day because the cake was "gaudy" (it was literally exactly what she ordered - not my fault you have bad taste lady).  The second lady, after a miscalculation on my part, and 7000 emails for a first birthday cupcake tower, I cut her loose.  Now, if I get a hint of crazy, I stop it in its tracks.  I do not have time time or energy for that!

 

You can't afford my cake?  Tough, go somewhere else!  If $3.25 is the lowest per serving you do, then her only choice is to order less servings, or go elsewhere.  I don't know how you can tell her this any clearer.  She will most likely be the "complain to try and get $$ back" type.  

She sounds really reasonable to me.

I actually had a bride look very carefully at my pricing chart, do her own math and figure what the price of her cake would be, calculate delivery and ask to review the contract before the consultation. I find it refreshing! Most expect a 100 serving cake with a base price of $2.75 to cost about $50. 

I don't know...if she used the magic words "dry cake" and is trying to wheedle the price down I might pass. The dry cake thing seems to be the basic complaint that people use when they try to get refunds for no reason, since there's no way that you can disprove that after the fact. I would also take notice of the mention of a serious illness, since that's a nice sympathy ploy to get you to drop your price. Maybe it's true, maybe it isn't, but it has nothing to do with the price of your cakes. My concern wouldn't be with the contract, I always give clients the contract to take home and look over before they hire me. It would be with the story she gave you and the bargain hunting.

I did recently have a client try to get me to price match someone else, then asked me to change a couple of things in my contract when I wouldn't. One was the clause about who pays court costs if something goes to court, and the other was the amount of a refund they would get if a natural disaster happened and I couldn't deliver the cake. I told him no thanks, see you, have a nice day. If someone is that picky before they even hire you it isn't going to get any better after they hire you.

I'm with costumeczar on this one. Gut feelings should be noted. As should odd questions, sob stories, requests for price-matching, and concerns about 'dry cake'.

If it was me, I'd not bother. But then I have to turn away a lot of business, so it's not like I need to kowtow to any potentially difficult client.

Red flag. Needy. Weird. What does the cancer have anything to do with the price of cake? The line about dry cake and guests enjoying it? I agree it sounds like they're setting up a case for complaining later, even if its unconscious on their part. If you don't need the business, I'd take a pass.

If something makes you feel weird, you can't ignore it. I had a back and forth with someone awhile back, a first birthday mommy who booked me online, with odd questions and just a general tone of distrust and buyers remorse (before I even made the cake). The last straw came when she emailed me after being at a party with what she thought was one of my cakes, and wondered why hers was going to cost so much more and that one was so much bigger, and the taste was funny, etc. She said "I'd like to get together and go over a few things in person." Uh, no. I ain't getting together with you for a $150 cake, in fact here's your Paypal payment back, go bug someone else. Bam! 

Go with your gut feeling, I always do, exams, situations, etc. Gut feeling is usually your 6th sense telling you something is maybe awry. Listen to it carefully. Good luck

This.

I don't see a problem with the attempted negotiation as long as the customer is willing to go ahead with the order for your original price. But keep in mind that this order is at a much higher risk of being cancelled, so whether or not you want to accept the order is up to you and will largely depend on how much other business you have.