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Gotta Have Guarantees

If you live in the United States, you can't hear the words "I guarantee it" without thinking of the guy from Men's Warehouse. The men's clothier has made its name on the back of a strong guarantee policy.

People love the security a guarantee provides and it is a great way of announcing your credibility in a very loud and clear way.

A strong guarantee about your product or service communicates a few things.

• First, it tells the customer that you are incredibly confident in the quality of your work.
• Second, it makes the customer feel more secure about making a purchase. Even if things aren't up to par, they know they'll have an easy route for recourse.
• Third, if you tailor the guarantee correctly, you will have an opportunity to showcase your product or service. The guarantee isn't just something you have to write in order to keep up with the Joneses. It's also part of your overall marketing content and should be written in the best possible manner.

The nature of the guarantee is important. Ideally, you could offer a "no questions asked," 100% money back guarantee of total satisfaction. In some situations, however, that might not be feasible. If it isn't, try to up the ante as much as you can while still protecting your interests.

If you are worried that a strong guarantee policy might adversely effect your bottom line, you don't need to skip the policy, you need to find out where your customer service or product deficiency is and how to fix it.

Contrary to the popular and cynical beliefs of many, few people will ask for a refund "just because." They usually have a pretty strong motivation and you should look at whatever is motivating them in order to find out how to prevent future problems.

Make your guarantee simple. If you claim you have a great guarantee and the prospect then sees several paragraphs of boilerplate, exclusions, etc., you will have completely undone the advantage of having the guarantee in the first place.

There is a school of thought that argues guarantees plant a seed of unjustified expectations in the minds of customers and that offering to refund money on the basis of dissatisfaction may actually lead them to do just that.

Even if that theory was true, the likely increase in refund activity would probably be overwhelmed by the advantage of making a strong statement regarding the quality of your product or service.

Guarantees are especially effective when your immediate competitors don't offer any insurance to customers. It's a way of setting yourself apart from the crowd. Just ask the guy from Men's Warehouse. He'll guarantee it!