How to craft a powerful guarantee in your sales copy… And increase conversions

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SARubin
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How to craft a powerful guarantee in your sales copy… And increase conversions

Post by SARubin »

satisfaction-guarantee.jpg
Reading Time: About 4 minutes

One copywriting staple that belongs in almost every offer is the “guarantee” (I say “almost” every offer because some offers, like clearance sales, or going out of business sales, or private sales, might be “as is, as seen, no guarantee” offers)


But for the most part, if you plan on making a lot of sales, a solid guarantee is a must have to relieve the natural skepticism from consumers.

If a company is willing to guarantee their product, then it must be pretty good… right? And if you’re willing to refund my money then there’s no risk to making the purchase.

So a solid guarantee can remove some of the hesitation from the purchasing decision.


Of course, nearly every product has a guarantee or warranty of some kind. But not all guarantees are created equal.
For example, most products will at least have a generic guarantee that looks something like these…

– Try it risk-free for 30 days.
– If you’re not completely satisfied, we’ll give your money back.
– Simply return the product within 90 days for a full refund.

And technically there’s nothing wrong with any of these guarantees. And while it’s true that all of them make the purchase seem less risky, and might instill a little more confidence in the product, the problem is they all look exactly the same as the guarantee everybody else (aka. your competition) is offering.


I’ve said it 1000 times before and I’ll say it again…

We need to separate ourselves, and stand above the competition if we really want to see big things happen with our sales numbers.


So instead of those generic guarantees, we should try to make our guarantee so powerful that it’s brain dead simple to see how great our offer is.

If everyone else is offering a 30 day money back guarantee, we can offer a 1 FULL YEAR guarantee.

Which one do you think instills more confidence?


Now I can already hear the naysayers whining… “But Steve, offering a full year is insane. We can’t give people that long to demand their money back or we’ll go broke”.

And logically that argument sounds like it makes sense. But in reality it’s the opposite of the truth.


The psychology behind the longer guarantee is pretty simple…

If someone only has 30 days to request a refund then that 30 days is going to present a sense of urgency. They’re going to need to test the product every which way they can, looking for any reason why they might need to return it, before the warranty runs out. After all, if I only have 30 days there’s no time to waste.

But give me a full year and there’s no sense of urgency, because now I have plenty of time to decide. And after 11 months the memory of spending that money has faded… I don’t even know if I still have the original packaging… and I can’t find the receipt anymore.

As a result, most people will never ask for the refund (except for the people who genuinely don’t like the product, and they’re likely to return it within the first 30 days anyway)


After more than 20 years in this game, experience has proven that a longer than normal guarantee increases sales, but does not dramatically increase the refund rate. (There will always be a few stragglers who request a refund 3, 6, or 9 months down the road. But it will be an insignificant percentage, compared to the increased sales numbers)


Another great guarantee that has proven to increase sales, has always been the “bonus” guarantee.
Also known as the “better than 100%” guarantee


If you’re offering any free bonuses (free report, free gift, free whatever) with the purchase of your product, the bonus guarantee can be as simple as…

“Try our product for 90 days and if you decide to return it, keep the bonuses as our free gift to you”

Or…

“If after 1 year you’re not convinced that this service has improved your life, simply let me know, and I’ll refund your purchase price AND give you an extra $50 for your honest feedback”.


Again, I can already hear the naysayers whining “But people will take advantage of me and request a refund just to get the free bonus, or the $50”.

And you’re right… Some people will take advantage of your generous offer. Historically speaking, on average about 5% to 7% of people are dishonest enough to put in the effort just to screw you out of the free offer.

But historically speaking, that’s always been a small percentage compared to the huge increase in sales from making a “better than 100%” guarantee.

So before you dismiss this idea altogether, let’s just do a little math…

If you’re making 100 sales a week, and you change your guarantee to the better than 100 percent offer, and it results in 200 sales a week… Even if you get an above average return rate of 10% , that’s still a 90% increase in sales. Minus the cost of the bonuses you gave away and you’re still way ahead of the game.

So are you going to let the fear of losing a few dollars, to a few dishonest people dictate your actions? Or will you allow the promise of bigger profits guide your decision.


Of course all the guarantees I mention here are just examples of what you can do to stand above your competition. There are many others that have proven to increase conversion rates over the years.

And sometimes you only need to change the wording of your guarantee to make it stand out.

Instead of only saying “30 day risk free money back guarantee” you might try…

“Our reputation is worth more than any dollar amount. So if at anytime in the next 30 days you’re not 100% convinced you made the right choice, please let us know immediately so we can make it right”

They both mean about the same thing. But the first one is generic, and the second one sounds like it’s coming from a genuine, sincere person. The exact wording might not fit your brand, but I think you get the idea?


The point of this whole article is this…

Guarantees are essential for almost every product you’re selling. And if everyone else is offering similar guarantees, then making yours different, and more powerful, can have a huge impact on your bottom line.

Simply put…

The Right Guarantee Can Make The Difference Between Getting The Sale… or Not Getting The Sale
A good marketer knows how to think like a marketer - A great marketer learns how to think like the customer...
SARubin - Direct Response Copywriter / Conversion Flow Expert
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