No news is good news

I always wonder what my customers thought of their cake.  With most special occasion cakes, I get to see the customer's reaction at pickup/delivery, but with most wedding cakes, the only reaction I get, if any, is from the wait staff or venue manager.  Sometimes I get to see the bride, groom, or MOB, but it's pretty rare.

I have heard that some cake designers send each customer, not only brides/grooms, a thank you card for being part of their day/celebration and ask them for a review on google and/or weddingwire.  I have heard some even offer a coupon or discount off a future purchase for a positive review on these sites.  I am not either one of these folks.

While the thank you notes to customers seems like a nice gesture and supports good customer service, I just don't have the time, money, or desire to write out 2-6 thank you cards, address them, and mail them on a weekly basis.  In addition to that, I just don't see the point.  I don't expect a thank card from Lowe's or Target when I make a purchase from them.  And yes, I understand it's different as you get to know some of the brides/clients very well and it's a special event, but I guess the practice just seems odd to me.  I am sure it's my personality and dislike of thank you cards in general (I always tell folks not to send me thank you cards... I know they are thank you and I wouldn't have given them a gift/meal/whatever if I didn't want to and think they would be grateful) or maybe it is just my hatred of writing.  Regardless, it's just not something I do or plan on doing and I guess I hope my work is enough to have them come back

As for "paying" for reviews, I just think it is sleezy.  I want customers to leave reviews because they want to, not because they will get a free dozen cupcakes or whatever.  How many of us have filled out a survey, joined a website, or whatever to get something for free?  Do we really "care" about those things as long as we get that free item?

On the flip side, I do love thank you emails and cards from my customers, just because I like to know they were satisfied.  I know I may have contradicted myself a bit, but I like to know I did a good job... maybe I should call it a feedback note, instead of a thank you.  Again though, while I appreciate them, I don't expect them, especially formal ones.  For those I never hear anything from, I assume that I did an okay job, because in this case no news is good news.