Guarantees have long served marketing organizations as a way to shift the risk from buyer to seller. By assuring that a prospect can get a 100%, no questions asked, no hassle full refund if not thrilled guarantee, the thinking is that the buyer has nothing to fear if the product doesn’t live up to expectations.
I believe that every company can explore some form of a guarantee as part of their marketing offering. If you think about it you probably offer an implied guarantee of satisfaction to your customers whether you advertise it or not.
There are many examples of simple, straightforward, unconditional guarantees but I think there is one very important condition that you must add to your offer of guarantee to make it a powerful marketing tool.
When you offer a money back guarantee also clearly spell out that the only condition the buyer must meet in order to receive a full refund is that they suggest to you ways that you could make the product or service better or more in line with what they wanted or expected.
- I believe that this simple condition does several beneficial things:
- It helps you get valuable feedback that may indeed allow you build a better service
- It sends the message right upfront that you care about the experience in the future as much as you do about the sale in the present
There are lots of marketers that offer guarantees simply to get the sale. They figure that they can handle the few who bother to ask for a return.
With a “oneconditional guarantee” you invite participation and conversation – you and your products continually improve – and you will likely win back clients who otherwise would simply move on to another product and silence, or at least muffle, potential detractors.
