“Guarantees” - All Hat and No Cattle?
Jeff Sexton’s post The Seven Deadly Claims (Part 5) “100% Risk-Free” pinged one of my pet peeves. He talks about those cheesy flim-flam claims and what’s really important to customers (time) As he notes, “…even if you’re offering a free trial, your audience still feels considerable risk. And that disconnect between the risk your audience feels and your web site’s “100% Risk-Free Guarantee” kills your credibility.”
When I renovated this web site, I did a lot of competitive research. There are thousands of self-anointed marketing experts roaming the Wild, Wild Web. For every true wise one (Michele Miller, Holly Buchanan, Jeffrey Eisenberg, Bryan Eisenberg…the rest of my biz blog roll) there are about 500 tinhorns that are - as we say in the West - “All hat and no cattle.”
One of the not-so-neat hat tricks is the “100% Guaranteed, Money back if not satisfied!” come-ons (which the tinhorns also recommend their clients use in selling their stuff.)
Only one teensy catch. You’ve got to spend hours (days) wading through binders, CDs, and exercises, before you ever know if you’re “satisfied” or not. And, any marketing program (canned or otherwise) takes time to work (or not.) So, the tinhorns are pretty darned safe in making such claims.
Sure, it’s no-risk. To the seller.
If you’re going to offer a 100% guarantee, “no risk” offer or anything for free - it should be a true guarantee, truly risk-free or truly free. Otherwise, word will get out about you and your lack of cattle.
Tags: marketing, marketing troubleshooting, customer service, consultants
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