How important is a guarantee?

19 Days seems a bit unusual - I don't know how you arrived at that figure.

You almost certainly need to offer a convincing guarantee when you sell on line because you are invisible to the potential purchaser. Not like buying from a store, which is bricks and mortar and there the next day - with you and your staff in it to be contacted in person buy a customer.

The longer the guarentee, the less chance of a refund, or so the advice goes. I have not tested guarantee length compared to refunds, but I don't think that 19 days is going to help your sales much.

Just my opinion and best of luck,
Jeff.

Hi Jeff,

I've read and heard the longer the guarantee the better as well. But not necessarily for a comfort factor to the buyer. But in hopes that they forget about the purchase or when they do they realize they've run past the time limit. A little sneaky.

19 days is probably a little whacky as the standard is typically 30 days. Anything less than that and people might balk.

Thanks

Most definitely important. And on top of that... you should always include stuff like:

"... and if you don't like the eBook, I'll refund your money AND you can keep the eBook."

Obviously, it's an eBook and it's not like you could take it away if they refunded, but just saying that makes the offer sound more risk-free. Stating the obvious, but putting a nice swing on it is always something you should do.

... and include atleast a 30 day money back guarantee. Anything less than that sounds unprofessional. A 19 day mbg makes it sound like you're nervous they might refund, so you're cutting the mbg short.

Brad

I agree. A guarantee is most important. I chose 56 days because that's the ClickBank limit. Also, I include 'no questions asked' in the refund language normally.

Makes users feel more comfortable. I know it does me when I'm buying something new.

Alex

A guarantee is essential for higher conversions. I always look for one.

Thanks all. I have never written a sales letter with out a guarantee and just thought it was weird that I actually forgot to ad one. And I've written tons of sales letters.

I'll make sure to add on heck of a guarantee.

Makes me think of "Tommy Boy" the movie...

A question to your question:

What is it you are guaranteeing?

You failed to mention the product only to say it was not IM related.

For the most part, there are products that would not require a guarantee or would be ridiculous to offer.

For example one of my own products has a 16% conversion rate and there is NO guarantee on the sales page (or anywhere else)

Guarantee does not always mean higher conversions, in fact, in some cases it is actually a RED FLAG to buyers.

Furthermore, there are legal implications associated with a guarantee that some marketers do not take into consideration.

The fact that you offer a guarantee, implies that you will legally stand behind your product, and therefore with out the proper limits of liability clause in your terms of service, your guarantee can then be subject to a legal opinion and open to interpretation, should someone decide to sue. (This is the very reason many major corporations do not use guarantees)

I have to go with Tommy Boy on this one!

i heard a guarantee can increase your sales by 10%
while it increases refunds by 2%

i'm not sure if this is correct math but
10% - 2% = 8% INCREASE in overall sales...

so yes, put the guarantee there!

BJ

Well if the customer doesn't like your product, then they will either ask you for the money back, or they will charge it back with their card company.

Funnily enough, the chargeback situation seems to be a particualr problem with the US. We operate in the UK, and have not had a chargeback in 5 years ( the site is UK and european targetted ) and we have done 100's of 1000's of transactions.

While we rarely deal with folks from the US, when we have done, they are far more likely to jump on their rights and start demanding money back for the flimsiest of reasons.

But with regard to gaurantees, you will have to give the money back regardless of the reason generally, so why not make a feature of it. The only time you dont have to do this, is when the customer is outside of the card processors time frame..often about 2 months ( but check ) .

So either give them 30 days or 60 days.

Graham

How much do you believe in your product? 19 days worth? I'm not a big guarantee reader, because I figure either someone stands behind their product or they don't. I've bought many products based on the strength of a great sales letter (one this week, as a matter of fact), only to find that the product does not live up to the promise. I believe it has an an outstanding guarantee, that I could actually make money on. I don't intend to do so, because I misinterpreted what the product was when I read the sales letter. Personally, if I was considering buying your product, I would rather see NO guarantee than a 19 day guarantee. You're almost begging for returns, I think. You'd do better offering a 19 YEAR guarantee.

Just my take on it, hope it helps.

I have switched all my sales letters to a lifetime double your money back conditional guarantee.

I have seen huge boosts in sales and signifigantly lowered my refund rate to under 1%. The refund requests I still get all just say they want their money back and don't care about the double guarantee.

The way I look at it is if you truly stand behind everything your product says it does... why would you not try to make the best possible guarantee you could and completely remove all doubt in your leads mind.

Even if you say no refunds, when a person wants their money back - they find a way to get their money back.

Hey Steve, haha I was about to just give you the sales copy I wrote but realized anyone could just Google it and find my niche... few! lol

Pretty Much talk about how confident you are that the product will work for them like any other guarantee to start. Near the lower middle of your guarantee copy, state that all you ask is explain on paper 5 (or what ever #) methods mentioned in your course that did not work for them and you will promptly double their investment with no hard feelings and still leave as friends.

Than at the bottom of your guarantee copy make sure to say "No catch and no hidden fine print, just absolute confidence that this will work for you."

and be sure to end the guarantee with an open ended question like "If my product did not work amazingly, could I really afford to stay in business with this double your money back guarantee?"

P.S. The longer your guarantees copy the better
P.S.S. Always include a scanned image of your signature at the end of a guarantee
P.S.S. Having audio with you reading the guarantee will also boost product confidence.

Cheers

Guarantee is an essential part of the letter.
Using a guarantee, you actually remove the risk
in the prospect's eyes.

If something goes wrong, he knows he has a way
to go back and to get his money back.

Igor