100% Guarantee

Your business will grow dramatically when you offer a guarantee. There is risk for customers to buy from you when they don't know you and when they have no reason to trust you. By creating systems of "risk-reversal" you eliminate one of the biggest concerns prospects have (Will this product or service live up to my expectations?)

The biggest concern most business owners have about offering a guarantee is that they will be ripped off by unscrupulous customers. However, if you talk to anyone who has ever implemented a guarantee policy will tell you that such incidents are very few and far between and the increase in business more than off-sets any "rip-offs" that do happen.

That being said, I occasionally do business with people whoI suspect ordered something with the full intention of returning it after having read and/or even copied the information.

Recently though, I had someone who really took it to the next level. This is an actual photograph of a package of stuff that I shipped to someone. There were several items in the package including several CD programs as well as some printed manuals and a few books.

About 5 weeks later it came back to me IN THE SAME ENVELOPE I originally sent it in! Upon recieving his order from me, the recipient carefully cut open the envelope and saved it while he listened to and read everything I sent (and duplicated it, I suspect).

A few weeks later he then packaged everything BACK into the same envelope that he had kept safely on a shelf I guess. He inserted a note that said only "This material did not meet my expectations so I am asking for your no-questions-asked money-back guarantee". He then taped it up (maybe using the neighbor's borrowed tape dispenser?) before marking the package "Return to Sender". This way he didn't have to pay for any postage or packaging.

Now, it could be suggested that the material truly didn't live up to his expectations. I will tell you with pride that my material is NOT for everyone. I am well aware that not everyone will be pleased with everything I produce. I EXPECT that. It doesn't hurt my feelings. In fact, some of my very best customers are people who have returned items to me for a refund.

I guess it was the fact that there were more than five distinct items in the original order and it seem odd that NONE of them met his expectations including the widely acclaimed book Kid Control. This, combined with the curious fact that after 5 weeks of reviewing the material, he still had the original packaging, meticulously slit open on one end which made it remarkably convenient to re-ship the whole thing at no cost by simply scribbling "Return to Sender" in several different places on the front of the envelope.

You have to wonder about people who will go to such laborious and creative ways to rip people off. I suspect that if they worked half as hard to try and legitimately grow their business they would probably be successful beyond their dreams. I mean, you have to admit the guy was resourceful and creative.

But if you happen to see any boot-leg copies of my stuff for sale on E-Bay, let me know!

--Julian Franklin