A Customer Cancels a Custom Order. Now What?
Posted on September 17, 2009
Filed Under Products and Supplies
Tammy asks:
“A new customer asked me to add some items in her gift basket order that I didn’t have in stock. I agreed to buy it for her, but when I told her the basket was ready, she said that she found something else and didn’t need the basket. Now I have a basket with a special item that I paid for and no way to sell it. How do I handle this better next time?”
Try not to beat yourself up about this, because this situation happens more often than new designers care to admit, me included when I was new.
You feel foolish, but such mistakes helps remind you of what you won’t allow to happen in the future. That’s one reason why I wrote Creating a Private Label Program.
First, determine if you want to purchase custom products. If not, you simply won’t do it. If so, a rule of having the customer pay in advance for the product, through cash or a credit card, is one you’ll follow.
Second, account for all expenses associated with buying the custom product. That includes travel and time in addition to the item. The customer pays for all of it.
Last, recognize that it’s a blessing when customers decline the order because they won’t pay for custom products ahead of time. One look at the custom product that now sits in your inventory reminds you that it’s better to let this person look elsewhere for a gift.
Collect monies for custom products before you begin your search. That way, you’ll be paid in advance, and the customer will have a vested interest in having you finalize the order.
Related articles to learn, grow, and profit:
- Getting Corporate Clients to Order
- How to Decide to Keep or Lose a Customer
- Which Gift Basket Products Do I Buy?
- When Am I Making Money?
Comments
One Response to “A Customer Cancels a Custom Order. Now What?”
That is really frustrating but the safest way to do this is to ask for advance payment before processing the order. In this way you are not wasting your time and money.