Guarantees, Risks And A Fool

I'm no Fool!

I took a break this weekend — I checked my email only ten times, and logged into a forum I help moderate four times.

With all this spare time, I decided to stimulate my brain a bit and read.

One of my favorite all time books on marketing is "Secret Formulas of the Wizard of Ads". Like I have said in the past — don’t own it, get it (both of them).

While checking my email this morning — it reminded me of something I read in the Wizard of Ads.

"If you are not 100% totally satisfied — we will happily refund your money."

This was the guarantee in the email I received. It went on to say that all I had to do was send them $1999.00 — if I did not have more traffic to my web site, then I could request a refund. They would "happily" give me my money back when I returned the program.

Happily?… yea, I believe that. They may in fact refund my money, but I doubt they will do it "happily."

They went on to state they knew I would not request a refund — in fact, they guaranteed that I would receive server melting traffic if I used their methods so the chances of me requesting a refund was zip.

They were so sure, that a part of the agreement required that I let my hosting company know in advance that my traffic was going to increase a "thousand fold". So I need to advise them of this overwhelming traffic I’d soon be receiving to give them a heads up. A bit gimmicky if you ask me.

This all sounds fine and dandy… except I have never heard of these people before.

I do not know who they are… I’m nobodies fool (at least not today). Why would I, or anyone for that matter give two grand to someone they do not know?

They may in fact be able to deliver on their guarantee, but I’ll never find out.

On page 86 of the Wizard of Ads, there is a paragraph that goes something like this;

"I’m sitting at a conference table when a client lays down a large check in front of me. He covers the check with his hand and says; "If I give you this money, what can you guarantee me?"

It’s a question I’m routinely asked by clients, so I lay my hand on top of his, look into his eyes, and gave him my standard answer;

"I guarantee that you will never see this money again."

"The only fool greater than the one who expects big results from small changes, is the fool who believes big changes can be accomplished without risk".

Risk is something every person deals with on a daily basis (driving to the store is risky)… especially those who own a business.

But, you have to measure if the risk is worth the reward. Two grand to someone I do not know or never heard of?… not worth the risk.

I’ll never see the money again!

I do not even know if they really could deliver on the traffic — or if they would in fact refund my money.

What if they removed the risk?

What if they sent me the program… let me try it out for 30 days and then charged me for the program once I see everything is as they say?

Better yet… what if they sent me the program… I’ll pay ten or twelve bucks for shipping and handling… in 30 days they charge me $333.00 — and the same amount over a six month period — now we are getting somewhere!

My risk is pretty much gone under this scenario.

The risk for the Seller — just went up.

But not for the reason you probably think.

The risk for the Seller of the server melting program is this;

He now has to deliver!

If he delivers though… everything will be fine. If not, I’ll return the non-server melting program and cancel before he can charge me for the program.

But, it could be a big time win for him if he can deliver. If he does it right — he has a customer for life.

During this six month payment plan he has the opportunity to build rapport, communicate with me, and sell me more stuff.

He could start a "server melting traffic" membership site — free during the first six months while I am paying for the program, then charge me for the membership — or let it continue to be free.

If he is the real deal, I’m there.

I have no risk… I can cancel at any time.

He really has no risk — other than the costs of the DVD’s he sent me. What is that… if it was ten DVD disks — it would be at most thirty bucks.

But even if I did not pay… he would more than make it up on the additional sales he would make offering the "no risk" "risk reversal" option.

You can use many variations of this model to remove the purchasers risk.

Once you have removed the risk… your sales will go up. They no longer need to know you… they no longer have to really trust you. They don’t have to if there is no risk.

Take a walk in your potential customers shoes… look at your offer using their eyes and remember, most of them do not know you.

Give them the chance to know you and you will have a customer for life….

… if you can deliver!