by Admin
by Abe Cherian
by Abe Cherian
Copyright 2005
Have you ever noticed with most businesses that you are taking the risk? Here's an example. The other day in a small clothing store, I saw the owner had a sign posted that says, "Absolutely No Refunds After 7 Days." This is a really bad way to destroy goodwill. You don't have to state things negatively.
They're thinking to themselves, "People are going to come and try to return something next week or the week after and we're just not going to do it. We're not going to give them their money back." They put a sign up with that same negative attitude and expect customers to feel at ease when making a purchase.
They could easily have said, "We'll gladly give you a refund of your full purchase price within 7 days - No Questions Asked." This says it better and makes a huge difference.
The first one tells the customer that "Hey, it's your responsibility, the risk is on you." The second one says, "Hey, we'll take the risk and we'll do everything we can for you if you're not satisfied."
See the difference? It's minor and probably won't hurt a lot of sales, but why be so negative when you can turn them around and state them with a big, bold, powerful guarantee? "Our prices are the lowest in town. We'll fund the lowest price anywhere or we will refund the difference." You know those with large appliance chains? You can make big, bold powerful statements like this simply by stating the tone in your message.
Another example; If you sell magazine subscriptions, you can guarantee their money back all the way up to the last minute of the last day of the last month of their subscription and they can get a full refund. These are 100% no risk guarantees that will not hurt your business.
There are a lot of guarantees that can be stated and put the risk on your shoulders where it belongs. If you have a quality product or service, then you're not asking them to go out on a limb.
If you perform, then you should do everything you can to say that you do even if you get more returns or maybe people asking for their money back. Maybe it's because you made a mistake. Maybe it's because something is wrong on their end and they try to take advantage of your every move.
It will be inconsequential compared to all of the new business you'll generate because of your big bold solid guarantee. Making such a statement in your everyday business plan, helps make your customer feel more comfortable doing business with you.
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