Posted on: 28 November, 2001
Author: Harmony Major
Your product or service could be ... your price ... your sales letter ... ... but if your ... looks shady, your ... are out the door. The wording, the st Your product or service could be compelling, your price amazing,and your sales letter "hypnotic" ... but if your satisfactionguarantee looks shady, your prospects are out the door. The wording, the structure, and the terms of your guarantee canmake or break the sale, and are a direct reflection on you andyour company. What is your money back guarantee saying about YOU?Let's take a look at three sales-repelling no-no's from theconsumer's perspective, before we get into the legalities: NO-NO #1: Putting important clauses in parentheses, or burying them in the copy.Watch what terms you put in parentheses. Even innocent clausesreferred to in this way can give your prospect a feeling ofunderlying "shadiness." For instance, you might say: "If you're not overjoyed with XYZ Hair Care Product, simply return it within 90 days (with all of the stay fresh seals in tact, all jars unopened, with original packaging, and in resalable condition), and we'll refund 100% of your money with no hassle!"No hassle, eh? Could've fooled me. This guarantee sounds like themerchant is trying to pull a fast one on the consumer. It givesoff that "Oh yeah, by the way, this isn't really that important,but I just thought I should mention it, I hope you don't mind..." vibe that screams "scam alert!"Be up-front about the terms of your guarantee, and you'll reducerefund and return disputes later on down the line. NO-NO #2: Offering the bare minimum guarantee term.30 days appears to be our industry standard for the minimum termof a guarantee, although I've seen a 15 day money-back guaranteebefore (on a shoddy product).Offering such a short-term guarantee can make prospects feel that you're afraid they'll realize your product is worthless givensufficient time to try it out. For instance, the 15-day guarantee I saw above made ME think that the merchant was hoping customerswould realize the poor quality of the product AFTER the guarantee term was over, and/or forget to ask for a refund in time.Also -- especially with information products -- some people maybuy immediately, and not USE (or read) the product until AFTERthe covered 30-day period. Why? They may not have the time, andare simply trying to purchase before a possible price increase.I've put off purchasing products with 30-day guarantees quite a few times, as I wouldn't have been able to read them within thefirst month that the guarantee covered. Then, I forgot to go back and order the product, (or decided I didn't really need it afterall), and the merchant lost that sale.The moral? Reward impulse shoppers! Don't have your guarantee,of all things, give them a reason not to buy your product rightaway. If you're like most Internet merchants, you already have ahard enough time convincing a good percentage of your prospectsto buy. ;-) NO-NO #3: Putting ambiguous clauses in your guarantee.I ran across a website that assured me that, with their service,my success was "almost guaranteed!" Hunh?! Seem a little off to you?I know there's a high "duh" factor in this one, but it must nothave been as obvious to this clueless merchant. We as business owners can get so caught up in trying to protectourselves in our guarantees that we forget to take a step backand actually LOOK at what we're saying. My advice? This merchantshould focus on what they CAN guarantee, and throw those iffy,credibility-killing clauses out the window. BUT IT'S *THE LAW!*Here is a summary of what the U.S. requires when offeringguarantees (referred to as "warranties" below) on consumerproducts. (International readers, please investigate these inyour own locality.) TIP: The info below only applies to you if you're selling CONSUMER products -- not commercial -- and applies to written (not oral) warranties.Warranties are your promise, as a merchant, to stand behind yourproduct. The law recognizes two types of warranties: implied andexpress. There are also two types of implied warranties.(1) The implied warranty of "merchantability" is a merchant's promise that the goods sold will do what they are supposed to do, and that there is nothing significantly wrong with them. The implied warranty of "fitness for a particular purpose" is a promise that you make when your customer relies on your advice that a product can be used for some specific purpose.(2) Express warranties, on the other hand, are promises that you make (voluntarily) about your product, or about your commitment to remedy the defects and malfunctions that some customers may experience. In other words, a satisfaction guarantee of sorts.For more information and examples of these terms, see The Federal Trade Commission's (FTC's) "Understanding Warranties" article at:http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/warranty/undrstnd.htmThe FTC applies the following requirements to businesses whochoose to offer a written warranty (but offering one isn'trequired). There are three rules companies must follow whenoffering written warranties on consumer products over $10-$15(the rule being adhered to is dependent upon the price of theproduct.)The FTC's Rule on Pre-Sale Availability of Written Warranty Terms requires that written warranties on consumer products costingmore than $15 be available to consumers BEFORE they buy. The rule has provisions that specify what retailers, including mail order(*this category includes Internet purchases*), catalog, anddoor-to-door sellers, must do to accomplish this. For details seehttp://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/warranty/making.htmThere are NO time limitations on implied warranties, (which areautomatically required and enforced by the government at thepoint of sale). However, the state statutes of limitations forbreach of either an express OR implied warranty are generallyfour years from the date of purchase. This means that buyers have four years in which to discover andseek a remedy for problems that were present in the product *atthe time it was sold.* Obviously, this doesn't cover damage dueto misuse, natural wear and tear, etc. It simply states that theproduct must do what it was intended to do for the average "life" of the product.If you choose not to offer a written warranty, the law in moststates allows you to avoid an implied warranty for that product.In order to do that, you need to make it perfectly clear to yourcustomers, (in writing), that you won't be responsible if theproduct malfunctions or is defective. You must *specificallyindicate* that you don't warrant "merchantability" (see thedefinition above), or specify that you're selling the product"with all faults," or "as is." TIP: If you offer a written warranty for a product, you MUST also offer implied warranties on the product. A few states have special laws on how you need to phrase an "asis" clause, while other states don't allow the sale of "as is"consumer products at all. (For specific information on how yourstate treats "as is" disclosures, consult your attorney.)TIP: You can't avoid responsibility for personal injury caused by a defect in your product, even if you sell it "as is." If it proves to be defective or dangerous, causing personal injury to someone, you still may be liable for damages. Selling the product "as is" doesn't eliminate THIS liability. IN CONCLUSION...As you can see, there are a lot of things to consider when you'reconstructing your money-back guarantee -- I'll bet even more thanyou bargained for. ;-) Just remember the importance of offeringan ethical, easy to understand, law-abiding guarantee, and you'll surely be rewarded with increased sales! Article Tags: Consumer Products, Implied Warranty, Written Warranty Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com