The simpler your guarantee, the greater its value to your business
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If you want to see fear flicker in the eyes of the most confident businesspeople, suggest they back their confidence with some kind of simple public promise. Like a guarantee that doesn’t have to be accompanied by a page of small type.
Why do I say that concept frightens business owners and managers? It’s usually for one of two reasons. The first is their internal level of confidence in their product or service doesn’t match the public pronouncements about quality and innovation the company has been making. The second and most common is a fear dishonest people will take unfair advantage of them. They worry there are people ready to pick their pockets by making spurious claims. And you know what? They’re right. There are people who will take pride and delight in cheating you.
But you don’t shut down your retail store because you know a certain percentage of browsers will shoplift. You don’t stop hiring employees because a few may have light fingers or poor attendance. You accept checks from buyers despite knowing some will bounce.
You recognize and take steps to mitigate those risks. You treat guarantees the same way: mentally prepare for a certain amount of loss, and where appropriate (and legal), create an allowance for that potential loss on your books, then build it into your planning.
Why put so much emphasis on a simple guarantee? Guarantees remove a prospective customer’s final barriers to making a purchase. Usually, by the time the guarantee enters the thought process, the customer is already convinced they want what you’re selling. Your ads caught their attention, the pitch delivered the details needed to turn them into a likely buyer, and the pricing has nearly sealed the deal.
They need just one more push to get past some nagging little questions, like: What if I really don’t like it? What if it doesn’t work? What if it doesn’t fit? What if I change my mind? The guarantee steps up to say, “You don’t have to worry about any of those things. We’re so confident that you’ll be satisfied that we’ll give you your money back.”
I frequently look to the folks in the direct marketing community for inspiration. They succeed because they constantly test every possible permutation of approaches to determine which one works best. Whether it’s a low-budget commercial with a long-forgotten athlete pitching long-term care insurance or an email for a remarkable new product, you’ll find some sort of reassuring guarantee. Their testing proves the power of guarantees … and if they gave you a peek at their data, you’d discover only a tiny percentage of buyers demands refunds.
The simpler the guarantee, the more value it brings to your brand and reputation. That’s something the Trader Joe’s grocery chain understands. Visit one of their stores, and you’ll see this message: “Try it. We think you’ll like it. If you don’t, bring it back for a full refund.” No legalese, no weasel wording, no complex return processes, no validation necessary.
The guarantee is especially important because they offer unique products, some of which may even border on terrifying. (“They’ve combined what with what?”) The guarantee makes testing something new a risk-free experience. Many of the products I buy regularly began as experiments, and the handful of returns were nonevents.
Do customers rip them off? I’m sure a small percentage takes unfair advantage of their generous offer (like the restaurant diner who doesn’t bother to complain about the steak until the last piece), but they recognize those folks are decidedly in the minority. Meanwhile, increased sales to other customers more than makes up for any losses they suffer.
Make your guarantee as simple as can be. Honor it in that same spirit and promote it with complete confidence. Customers will take you at your word, buying more confidently and eagerly. When you handle the inevitable returns cheerfully, you’ll build repeat business and powerful word-of-mouth (especially in this age of online review sites). Although I can’t guarantee that offering such a guarantee will ensure your success, I can promise that you’ll be far more likely to achieve it if you do.
Scott Flood creates effective copy for companies and other organizations. His guide to evaluating freelance creative talent, The Smarter Strategy for Selecting Suppliers can be downloaded at http://sfwriting.com/freeguide, and his blog is at http://sfwriting.com/blog.
