December 05, 2011 at 1:20 PM

Guarantee Fundamentals

Unconditional

Guarantee everything under your control.  By everything, we don’t mean the product necessarily. We mean the process. 

For example, you can guarantee timely delivery or some other part of the process, which may be important to the customer.

Unique

Promise customers something they don’t expect. 

For example, every contractor guarantees their work.  But, how many do you know will guarantee arrival time? 

For example, a carpet cleaner should not guarantee a clean carpet — the customer expects that. 

They could guarantee that the furniture will be rearranged to the customers’ total satisfaction. 

That goes beyond what customers expect.

Financially meaningful

Although full refunds may not be practical, you must still build a meaningful guarantee with commitment.

Simple

Ideally, the guarantee should be simple to understand.  For instance, “Your meal will be on your table in ten minutes or it’s on us.”

Easy and Quick

It should be easy for the customer to collect. 

They should not have to beg or otherwise prove to you that you were wrong.  If required, payout should be immediate. Leave your customers with a sense of wanting to return to do business with you, not like they’ve just done battle!