Expanding Your Customer Base as a Baker
If you have a baking business, or want to start one, understanding what different customers need from you is key to being able to expand quickly.
In this article, we are covering the differences between cold and warm clients, and how to best approach these categories of clients to gain orders and grow your business.
So let’s get to it!
In the video below, enjoy a full training made specifically for bakers looking to expand their audiences and provide better customer service.
Strap in, this is a full, juicy training pulled straight from our live #thursdayfav sessions in our Bakery Business School Facebook Group. Apply to join for more videos and opportunities to work with me!
Important Notes from the Video
What category of clients should you focus on selling to first?
That would be the warm clients, y’all.
Why? Because they already know/like/trust you. Most of the hard marketing work is already done!
You don’t have to do the hard labor of intros, and stories and “getting to know me” posts.
This group is usually ready and willing to help out a friend with their business, IF you can entice them to do so.
Your warm circle of clients could include:
spouse’s/partner’s friends and coworkers
your coworkers
neighbors
friends or family of current friends
family members (be careful here and make sure you are charging them for at least materials, in the beginning of your business)
community members you see often or are in groups with
businesses that your friends work for
What can you expect from this client group?
You can use this group for more personal business tasks, like surveys, samplings, testing recipes, etc.
Market research works well with them too IF your circle can be fully honest with you.
Use this warm circle opportunity to create orders that you can photograph for a portfolio, test out how long certain items take you to make, find out which items you like/don’t like to make, and get experience with customer service.
I HIGHLY suggest getting a contract in place before selling, even to your warm clients.
Setting boundaries on the fly with your warm clients will be harder than cold clients, as you already have pre-set relationships and expectations.
What will this group expect from you?
To not be directly sold to every second of the day.
The trick to this is to use your personal social profiles to show HOW your business fits into your life, rather than selling anything outright. If your warm circle wants in, they should have the confidence to ask how to order, because they already know you.
Example for posting on personal profiles: Do not post “I have cookies for sale”, instead post “these cookies made my home smell amazing today!”. If they want some, they will ask you how to get them.
2. They MAY expect discounts or special treatment.
This isn’t always the case, but if it is, start off early and strong letting them know that you are honored to be serving them, but that you do have business prices for a reason.
If you want to know, for me, I do make baked goods for parties I attend as my gift. And sometimes I let my friends know when a sale will take place early or tell them slots are filling up, if I knew they wanted to order.
Besides that, my friends and family have always respected my prices and are some of my most consistent customers!
You may find yourself being frustrated or hurt within these transactions if you do not have a clear procedure for everyone to follow. Simply post your contract or show it to them before they order, so they know how your business operates.
If you need a contract made for bakers, we have our template up in the Shop AND a step-by-step mini course with a full explanation and video walkthrough.
How do I sell to my warm circle without feeling weird or pushy?!
Another great question.
With our warm clients we often stop ourselves from talking about our business at all because it might seem "pushy".
But I will say almost every one of my friends and family ask about my businesses right away when we chat, so they must want to know!
Remember these mantras to help yourself relax into sharing about your business in a healthy way.
Selling is Love. When you are trying to share about your job with others, it's because you LOVE what you do.
Your family and friends may forget about your business if you LITERALLY never bring it up or chat about it. If you don't want to chat, simply hand them a business card or brochure and let them know that they can refer their friends to you for your services. (This allows them to see the offer without feeling pressured).
If you mention your services to a warm circle client and they aren't interested, RESPECT THAT! You never know why someone doesn't buy from you. It could have literally NOTHING to do with you or your products, maybe they have a health condition or someone in their family does.
Try not to take this personally. If you find a warm circle client who used to order and stopped, it may be worthwhile to send a no-pressure, curious message asking if there is anything you could improve to gain their business back.
Something like, “Hey Kelly, I noticed that you used to order cookies from me every month, but I haven’t seen an order from you in a while. I was wondering if there was anything I could improve to get you interested in ordering regularly again? Looking forward to chatting soon! ”And then, YOU have to be ready for some constructive criticism. It may be something you can’t change (like pricing or availability), or maybe it’s something like a new flavor or different ingredients, which can be changed!
But sometimes, certain people just aren't your target market, and that is A-OKAY!Just because a person is in your warm circle DOES NOT mean they HAVE to buy from you.
Warm circle clients can be easier AND harder to deal with. Make sure your boundaries are consistent and that all customers are treated with the same manner of professionalism. Hint… contracts and no special discounts!
DO NOT bake or provide services for free UNLESS it was 100% your idea. Otherwise, warm circle clients get the same pricing as everyone else. If they aren't willing to pay what you are asking, they are trying to bully or guilt you, and that is NOT okay.
Let’s move on to the second group, cold clients.
Lots of potential here, but it will take some work.
First, getting onto the radar of cold clients requires some sort of social media or internet presence, because cold clients will need a place to learn about you and your services on their own.
Cold clients are people who do not know you directly, but are possibly interested in purchasing your product.
Your cold circle of clients includes:
Friends of your warm circle
Facebook users
local businesses
random people asking where to find bakery goods
venues or businesses that cater to people who order your type of products
customers of other businesses that may see your signs or cards out
basically anyone you don’t already know, but you want to inform them about what you do and possibly sell to them
What can you expect from this client group?
They will want to learn about you from an indirect source (social page, website, ect) so be clear on your sites about what you offer and who you serve!
They have a high desire to start the process of knowing, liking and trusting you BEFORE they order. Only 2% of customers are ready to order, most need some nurturing first.
How can you accomplish this know/like/trust for them?
Basically, you have to give them options to see you on a consistent basis and have opportunities to like you more.
To get to the cold circle clients interested in what you do, you will HAVE to put yourself out there and get visible in your community.
People will not just magically find you because you made a business page. They will not magically start calling you because you left a business card at the dental office.
YOU have to do the work to get yourself out and in front of potential customers.
What will this client group expect from you?
They will expect professionalism, clarity and transparency.
They will expect YOU to start building the relationship ASAP.
You only have ONE chance for a first impression, so make it great!
My favorite way to instill trust is to have a comprehensive contract that goes over all the situations that may arise, an easy-to-use contact form and swift message response (to a degree ‘cause I got a life too).
On top of that, I like to spend time on my visuals and menus so when they see what I have going on for the first time, they can tell I have invested in this and am ready to serve. In our popular The Perfect Menu Mini Course, our team shows you exactly how to make a baking menu that sells consistently.
Think like a consumer, watch what you look for what you buy from a new business or person, and make the experience great for your cold clients!
After the initial trust is built, this group will expect an opportunity to be welcomed into your warm circle.
They may want to know more about you personally or your family.
They may want to see your vacation pics or help you move.
They may want to join your email list or VIP group.
Clients do often become friends, so this is where accepting clients as social friends comes into the mix and can be very lucrative.
Remember to remind your warm circle ABOUT your business, but don’t sell directly on your personal pages, to make sure they feel comfortable around you and stick around for the long haul.
If you loved this article/video and want to dive deeper, you’ll love our group coaching program, The Elite Mentorship Program.
This lesson is just a tiny snippet of the types of content we have available 24/7 to our Elites, in both live and recorded format, so any baker can take part and make it work for their schedules.
Our team of 3 professional coaches support proficient bakers through the full transformation into baking business boss.
Check out how we do it here.
1. Check out our free community for building baking businesses.
A drama free, inclusive and value packed group for any baker who is interested in making a business out of their baking talent.
2. Create a contract that builds trust for your customers, and security for you.
Would you like your customers to feel comfortable spending money with you, from day one?
We’ve got you covered in one of our most popular mini courses, helping bakers understand how to use and set up your very own contract, with our ready-to-download contract template and step by step instructional videos.
3. A contract made for bakers, by a baker.
This contract takes 16 years professional baking industry experience and simplifies it into some of the most important contract terms and policies you’ll need as a baker, all wrapped up in a ready-to-use contract template.
Simply download and customize with your business specifics, upload and share with your clients, and you are in business with your brand new contract!
Protect your business, gain trust with you clients, and land bigger orders.