Now a days, especially as the brutal summer is approaching in Pakistan, every company is tagging its product with a guarantee pitch. Guarantee of 1 or 2 years and so and so.
Couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine purchased a 1-1/2 ton Air conditioner, in exchange of a whooping 27 thousands by a well known company with a guarantee of 1 year. Two days ago, the AC just simply stopped working. He rushed to the AC dealer and told him the matter. The dealer came to his home liesurly, inspected the machinery, and simply told him to dispatch this away to company’s main shop in Islamabad at his own expense. According to the dealer, company will check the AC and will try to repair it, and if that wouldn’t be possible, they will discuss the guarantee issue. AC is currently in Islamabad somewhere, with my friend fuming and cursing in vain.
Companies, every promise you make to a prospect should be both fulfilled and guaranteed. When you sell something in exchange for someone’s hard-earned money, the promise is that the product or service will meet, or exceed, expectations. The guarantee means you will give the money back if the buyer feels that’s not actually the case.
The word guarantee is extremely powerful, but only coupled with evidence of substance. The proof behind the guarantee accomplishes two things – it demonstrates confidence in your offering, and relieves the risk to the buyer.
The way to get past the buyer’s uncertainty is to first demonstrate confidence in your offering. Not through boasts or sales prattle, but with a good-old-fashioned, no-questions-asked, cash-back guarantee.
Other techniques involve a “return premium.” The seller allows you to keep all or part of the materials delivered even after the refund, or promises to pay you double your money back (or some other multiple). Now that’s confidence. And it speaks directly to the buyer’s lingering reservations.
But who cares about this thing in a developing country like ours?
