The first step to launching a successful online business is to establish a robust guarantee policy. Without this, you may find yourself struggling to get your business off the ground even after a year. A well-defined guarantee policy not only instills confidence in your customers but also reflects your faith in your product or service.
In the traditional retail world, customers can physically interact with a product before making a purchase. This tactile experience builds confidence in the product and the brand. However, in the online business landscape, this consumer apprehension is heightened due to the lack of a physical store or, in many cases, even a contact number for customer support.
Moreover, many consumers are wary of online credit card transactions, further amplifying their apprehension. To overcome these barriers and convert prospective customers into buyers, it's crucial to offer a money-back guarantee.
Offering a guarantee has several advantages. Firstly, it demonstrates your confidence in your product. If you're not confident in your product, you shouldn't be selling it. This holds true even if you're marketing someone else's product for a commission or participating in an affiliate program for a multi-level marketing sales program.
If the parent company doesn't offer a risk-free refund policy within a specified time frame, it's advisable to find a different program to market. You'll be surprised at how much easier it is to sign up new affiliates when you eliminate the risk.
Secondly, a solid guarantee policy lends your business an image of professionalism. Only a legitimate business would offer to refund dissatisfied customers, right?
In today's digital age, there are countless entrepreneurial start-ups. Many opportunity seekers are skeptical of programs that appear to be small home businesses. The assumption is, "They're no bigger than I am, and they might not be in business next month, so why risk my money with them?" Offering a money-back guarantee dispels this image and alleviates skepticism significantly.
The common fear is that offering a money-back guarantee will lead to a flood of refund requests. However, this is only true if your product or service doesn't match the description in your sales literature. If you accurately describe your product's features to the customer before they make their purchase, there won't be any surprises that will trigger their refund reflex.
In reality, the percentage of buyers asking for refunds from reputable online businesses is very low. A 10% return rate would be surprisingly high, and you would want to take a hard look at either your sales material or your products themselves to determine what's causing the dissatisfaction.
From time to time, you will likely receive a refund request. When this happens, process it immediately - no questions asked! Make the refund process as easy for your customers as the purchase process. Stand behind your guarantee policy and take care of dissatisfied customers cheerfully.
Don't worry about losses; they'll be minimal. If you're shipping physical goods, wait until the customer returns the product before you process the refund. However, if you're selling downloadable software or website access, you won't experience a significant financial loss even if a customer dishonestly doesn't destroy the software they downloaded.
Your guarantee policy should be clear and simple. The best policy is: "If you are dissatisfied with your purchase for any reason, we offer a 100% money-back, no questions asked, refund of your purchase price." It's acceptable to set a time limit if necessary, but make it reasonable.
Vague, unclear guarantees will make you suspicious and will harm your sales efforts more than they will help. Accept ANY REASON, or even NO REASON, for customer dissatisfaction.
Don't nitpick in your policy. Even if your credit card processing company doesn't refund the service fee to your account, give the customer 100% of their money back. Losing a few dollars on a refund is far less costly than losing hundreds of sales with a convoluted refund policy.
The increased sales that a liberal guarantee policy will bring you far outweigh any minimal losses you might incur from processing infrequent refund requests.
In conclusion, there is simply no better way to increase sales than to make doing business with you a completely risk-free proposal for your customers. A guarantee is essential to a sound business plan.
