Are You Offering the Right Guarantee?

Imagine the following scenario. You enter a store, the seller offers you a choice between two televisions. The first has only a week of guarantee, while with the second the warranty is so unconditional and long-lasting that the same television could be returned without questions by your grandson – in say 60 years.

Logical choice, right? I am convinced that with the first television due to such an absurdly short term you would immediately conclude that it is a bad and unreliable product. With the second the guarantee itself would tell you that the device must simply be top-notch, otherwise the manufacturer would not dare to promise something like that. Which device would you therefore rather choose and take home?

Although the comparison seems a bit exaggerated, we have actually seen a similar concept in practice as well. The famous Swiss watch brand Patek Philippe achieved iconic recognition in 1996 with one of the most legendary advertising campaigns in history. On simple, black-and-white photographs that depicted genuine moments between fathers and sons or mothers and daughters, their message did not boringly list the built-in jewels, complicated mechanisms and details of the gear assembly. On the contrary. The message was essentially very simple: “In reality you are never the owner of a Patek Philippe watch. You merely look after it for the next generation.”

All of this sounded extremely bold, but with this the Swiss watchmaker gave customers the ultimate guarantee of immortal quality and durability. Why could the Swiss afford such a strong, timeless promise? The answer is quite simple. Because they knew exactly that their watch actually works flawlessly even after 100 years of use and actually survives individual generations.

Of course, we must be completely honest at this point. The guarantee must necessarily and carefully be adapted to your specific service or your product. If deep down you know that the television you are manufacturing and selling will probably break already 14 days after purchase, you will fail with the above-mentioned promise about grandchildren in just a few short months. Without honesty to yourself and to the customer of course it doesn’t work. The guarantee is like a complex mosaic, where all the small cogs must be carefully selected and precisely assembled, if we want to truly achieve the right results and survive on the market.

The guarantee therefore is not just a bureaucratic necessary evil or fine print at the bottom of the invoice that you put there because you simply have to. It is one of the most important, but at the same time most overlooked elements of your entire sales offer. Even in today’s digital world. As a seller you must be aware that the guarantee about your product or service says much more than any flashy ad. It quietly and relentlessly tells the customer how much you really believe in what you are offering on the market. But for it to really work as your best sales accelerator, it must be precisely adapted.

Two-way Shield: How to Build the Ideal Warranty

What is the ideal guarantee then? An example from our practice. When we design the optimal sales warranty for you, we always rely on clear, two-way logic. The right guarantee must simultaneously perform two key roles.

First. Above all it must protect the buyer. From his decision-making process it must completely remove that nasty fear of a wrong purchase, shift the risk from his shoulders to ours and instill one hundred percent confidence in the final outcome. And second. It must also protect the seller. It must be set up smartly and structured enough to safely protect your company from systemic abuses or opportunism that is not lacking on the market. We follow this relentless logic without any compromises when designing our offer.

Approach A, B, C and the Year-long Promise

When we help companies and merchants introduce gift systems and loyalty programs, we and the team do not hide behind complex legal definitions or unclear terms in contracts. Our promise to the market is clear and completely transparent. If our solutions after a full year of use do not bring the desired results, we will return the entire investment to you without delay. For the year back!

Why do we dare to offer something so radical and financially exposed? Because we are infinitely convinced in our product. Primarily because our guarantee does not rely on fleeting coincidences, but directly reflects our strict, in-practice-tested A, B, C approach. This means – if you precisely follow our structured instructions and steps, we can guarantee that you will achieve the desired sales results. Without exception. We can afford such a level of self-confidence exclusively because our strategy is based on real, empirically tested achievements of our partners, who have been successfully using our services for many years. That is why we know well what each carefully planned step brings in practice on the path to the final goal.

Digital Myth About the “Press and Forget” Button

Now you are probably asking: “Are you offering a magical digital system where I just press a button, go on vacation and forget about the whole thing?”

Not at all. It is precisely here that the exceptional importance of that raw honesty appears again, which we always clearly highlight already at the first meeting. At that time, when we first emphasize: “Although our digital ecosystem is top-notch from a programming perspective and works absolutely flawlessly, this oiled mechanism will not work and will not bring results without appropriate and active engagement on your part as a partner!”

In serious business instant miracles with the press of a button do not exist. Anyone who promises you magical achievements and growth without a shred of effort is literally selling you fog. Together with our unconditional guarantee we therefore always also provide you with a precise, operational map of activities. Only with the help of this joint cooperation and clear steps can we guarantee that in the first year you will achieve that 20-percent sales growth we are talking about.

The lesson of this story is clear. The right guarantee does not increase your business risk, but removes it from your customer and in front of your eyes turns it into your strongest weapon of loyalty. On the market there is simply no better ambassador than a satisfied customer!

Therefore it is right that you also think about your product or service through the prism of the guarantee. How can you build your offer in a way that you can confidently guarantee the final result to the customer, while assembling this mosaic so that it will safely protect your business from abuses. The shift from selling bare promises to selling guaranteed results is the dividing line that separates average providers from absolute winners on the market.