Do you give a guarantee and do you promote it?

Here is why you should promote your guarantee.

One of my ‘money saving’ strategies is to get certain things done when most other people do not. That way I usually get charged a much lower price. For example, I get the lawn mower serviced in mid-winter and I get the central heating system serviced in mid-summer.

So, going back  to last midsummer, my usual central heating contractor had just retired, and I needed to find a new one to service our central heating boiler and system.

I asked several friends and neighbours for recommendations, but to no avail. So, I resorted to an internet search for a contractor in my area. I was particularly looking for someone with excellent testimonials, had been in business for several years, and offered a guarantee of the quality of their work.

Those last two are especially important because due to previous bad experiences, I’m very conscious of the fact that many contractors offer guarantees but tend to go out of business frequently and start up again under a new name, thus avoiding their responsibilities to the guarantees they have given.

I looked at several web pages, made a short list of the three I most wanted to speak with and called them.

The one who impressed me most on screen made no mention of a guarantee and so that was the first question I asked him. Frank replied that he did offer a twelve month guarantee on parts and labour, but if any problems arose that could be attributed to his workmanship, his guarantee stood for five years and without quibble. I asked if he would put that in writing. He agreed, and I booked him to do the work.

When he’d finished, and over a cup of tea, we chatted about his business, and I explained what I did. And I asked him why his guarantee, which was in fact better than most others, was not mentioned BOLDLY on his web site and other marketing materials. I suggested he might attract a lot more business if he did that, which he admitted he could do with, and that he might even be able to increase his prices.

He agreed he would, and I offered to proof the wording of his guarantee, and the layout of the promotion on his website, just so long as he didn’t increase what he was charging me for my annual service.

Fast forward to the week before last and Frank turned up to carry out our annual service. I asked him how the new website layout and the promotion of his guarantee was working out.

He told me that within three months of incorporating his guarantee into his marketing, his bookings had already increased by about one third and three months later, he hired an employee for the first time and increased his prices by twenty percent.

I asked Frank what it had been worth to him in money terms over the year. His reply was ‘Bruce, an extra £42,000 net profit, thank you very much for your advice’.

Not bad for a ‘one man band’.

Whatever it is you do, do you guarantee your work?

Do you make your guarantee really clear to your prospects and customers?

If not, what could it be worth to you to do so?

PS. Frank has not had one single claim on his guarantee.

 

 

 

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