We have great service after the sale!"
We stand behind our product!"
We are family owned and operated!"
We're locally owned and operated!"
Here's what your prospects hear:
We have great service after the sale! (Once I have your money, you're stuck!")
We stand behind our product...(but you'll have to hire a private investigator to find us to service it.")
We are family owned and operated! (We bring our family dysfunction to the workplace!")
We're locally owned and operated!"
Want to grow your sales and beat the competition even if they are bigger, better-funded, and have a larger staff?
Take away any perceived risk of buying from you.
In the world of marketing, it's called a "risk reversal."
Maybe it's a free trial or 30-day money-back guarantee or a lifetime warranty.
Whatever it is, make it big and state it boldly and proudly so it cuts through the noise and the clutter and separates you from your competition.
Need an example?
The nice thing about offering dramatic guarantees is that it's easy to implement, easy to measure, and it will help you grow sales.
You and I and our customers are driven by fear and greed. We're either moving towards pleasure or away from pain.
If your prospects are afraid you can't eliminate their pain, they'll hesitate when it's time to order, and time kills deals.
A strong guarantee eliminates fear and gets your prospects moving towards you as the one who can increase their pleasure and reduce their pain.
People like to spend money.
People like to brag about buying "the best money can buy."
When your customers finish bragging to the world about how wonderful and great and powerful and savvy they are, they are far more likely to appreciate what you provide, and give you the benefit of the doubt when things go wrong, which they will since we live in an imperfect world.
So assuming you are a good, moral, honest, ethical provider who stands behind what he offers to the world, you'll have the money to give the customer a loaner or expedite their repair when something goes wrong, which will actually help you endear yourself to them even more.
People will pay for experiences and exclusivity, so raise your prices.
The “30-day money-back guarantee” is the de facto minimum these days, especially when you're competing with Amazon, but is your goal just to be average and ordinary?
Do you have the guts to offer a 90-day, one-year, or even a lifetime guarantee?
Start with a better guarantee/warranty, but make sure your marketing and salespeople have their acts together.
If you have cheesy, pushy salespeople who will say anything to make a sale, DO NOT OFFER A LARGER GUARANTEE!
Instead, start here...
Additionally, refunds will decrease because your prospects will be happy to pay higher prices for a better product with better support.
When you have happy customers, they will tell their friends, which means referrals, testimonials, and repeat orders will grow.
It really is the gift that keeps on giving.
Want an example of a great guarantee?
Try my "alligator guarantee" that goes like this:
“If, after using our products for a full year you're not so thrilled you'd swim across an alligator-infested swamp wearing a Lady Gaga meat suit just to mail us a letter telling us how happy you are, then call us and we'll not only give you your money back, but we'll let you keep it and we'll even pay for you to buy our top competitor's gizmo."
Don't you think that will make a stronger impression than the plain typical...
“To request a refund, you must do these 17 things in order:
Keep your receipt...
Keep your original packaging in perfect condition...
Send a fax to our return department...
It must be Times New Roman...
It must be in 18 font...
It must be double-spaced...
You can only send it on the second Tuesday of the week...
It must be sent between the hours of 5:16 PM and 6:02 PM Hawaiian time
It must be sent within 29.5 days of your purchase...
Our return committee will then deliberate...
We guarantee you'll probably get your money back...
Within a few months...
If you swing by the office...
Within three business days of us cutting you a check...
And you arrive in a bunny suit...
And bring tacos."
Don't be like that, okay?
This only works if you offer some sort of bonus with their purchase...and you are offering bonuses with every purchase, right? RIGHT?
The 3 am infomercials do this all the time because they work!
"Pay nothing now (just cover shipping and handling), and you'll have a full 60 days to put us to the test. If you are not blown away. If you are not calling your best friend from college at 4 am to tell her how wonderful this is then not only will you not be billed, but you can keep the bonus child-whining noise cancellation system as our thank you gift for giving us a try!"
Like any good, effective marketing concept, you need to test and measure this but let me know if you don't see an increase in sales and profits.
Sure, a handful of scumbags will take advantage of your offer, but the percentage increase in sales to good, honest customers should increase tremendously.
And feel free to have fun with this bonus offer.
There really is no limit, so long as the bonus offer makes sense and is something your ideal customers would want and use with your primary offering.
When you can't guarantee results, i.e., an oncologist, attorney, accountant, or realtor, you can offer a "try before you buy" in the form of a free consultation or sample audit.
You offer this confidence guarantee in much the same manner you ask a woman out to coffee or lunch as a first date to give her a low-pressure opportunity to get to know you before she makes a decision on whether or not to go to dinner and the movies.
Just like selling a car on eBay with a starting bid of $1 will usually bring you a higher final bid than starting it at $5,000 or $10,000 or with a reserve price, enhancing your money-back guarantee should help you make more sales faster, at higher margin, with less stress, and more fun with fewer returns and more referrals and testimonials.
Your fellow consumers are not trolling the web or stores to steal from you.
They just don't want to be a victim themselves.
You can do this. If you'd like some help,
*Denzel Washington image source.