What's your "Written Guarantee"?

[Joe Appleby]

In direct mail advertising, marketers feel a written guarantee
is an important component. If you do print advertising and
offer a written guarantee, what does it say and how do you implement it when it's asked for?

 

[trojancarpetcare]

I have no guarantee.

 

[Shane Deubell]

Gold Shield guarantee {cant remember who i stole that from}, 30 day re-clean for any reason. Pretty liberal about it and almost nobody uses it.

 

[knoxclean]

I have found that no matter what you have as a guarantee there is an "implied or expected" guarantee from the customer. No matter how insane their request to take care of something it's best to just do it. Case in point, we had a customer who claimed my tech spilled cleaning solution on her hardwood floors while cleaning a chair and it left a stain. I go and look and her floor does have a stain next to the chair but it also has several stains that look just like it in every room on her 1st floor. I ask her what they are from and she says her dog has accidents. But the stain near the chair is from the tech. This floor is missing most of the poly and is in bad shape through out. I offer to fix the stain but she wants her contractor to look at it. She calls back saying her contractor says it won't look right if you try to blend it in. I say ok we will do the whole room and make it look like new, will that work for you. She says no because then it won't match her other 3 rooms. She says I should make all the rooms match. She is an Angies List customer and I do very well with group so basically I am black mailed into doing it. With todays online reviews with all kinds of social media consumers hold a lot of power. Right or wrong that's the way it is so no matter your guarantee is there is an implied guarantee that you will take care of them no matter what....or else

 

[ruff]

"Complete satisfaction or your money back."
If I have more space, I add:
"If you are not 100% satisfied with our cleaning, we’ll re-do it for free. If you are still not satisfied, you get your money back." + a few niceties.

 

[Desk Jockey]

10-Day Guarantee, any call within that time length we will reclean areas they are not satisfied with no questions asked. We want them to me more than satisfied.
Fortunately we very get few that abuse it. Those that do call most are not an actual cleaning issue but rather new spots they created on freshly cleaned carpet. They just don't tell you that when calling in.

Money back? Fooooooook that! You'll have to wrestle big D for it and he was a three time regional cham. You ain't getting it back unless you bring the guy that kept beating him at state.

 

[ruff]

Money back? Fooooooook that! You'll have to wrestle big D for it and he was a three time regional cham. You ain't getting it back unless you bring the guy that kept beating him at state.

The Chavezes just talk big.
I am sure Crowly will get back the money in no time.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Richard is getting angry!

 

[Ken Snow]

Like Dave G above, we end up taking care of a lot of things that we know we did not cause, as well as those issues we did.

I do not believe in putting any thoughts of dissatisfaction in writing or in a script for radio or tv. To me, implying that there is even a chance of dissatisfaction is a negative and I would rather taut the opposite. If a caller or customer asks we simply say if they are not happy we will be glad to come back.

 

[ruff]

Richard is getting angry!

Sorry Richard. Instead of getting angry just buy another one of these:

It will serve you much better.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I'd like to but I'm trading in an older water truck for a new one.

 

[Shane Deubell]

I'd like to but I'm trading in an older water truck for a new one.

WTF, how many trucks are you buying this year?

 

[Shane Deubell]

Like Dave G above, we end up taking care of a lot of things that we know we did not cause, as well as those issues we did.

I do not believe in putting any thoughts of dissatisfaction in writing or in a script for radio or tv. To me, implying that there is even a chance of dissatisfaction is a negative and I would rather taut the opposite. If a caller or customer asks we simply say if they are not happy we will be glad to come back.

As usual ken has it right.
We have it on a couple websites but that's about it, not because of his reasons though ken has a great point. Usually just run out of room truth be told and never put it in a print ad.

Not too sure how much the average consumer believe in a guarantee from small service businesses anyway, from a big well known name sure but from artie's carpet cleaning service?
Never split tested it to see real life data so better off just taking the word of someone who has. imho

 

[Desk Jockey]

WTF, how many trucks are you buying this year?

I know it sounds nutz but my two Isuzu water trucks are a 2000 and an 02, with us traveling an hour or so down the road I'd like newer vehicles.

I have an 04 with an 805 in it that We don't use the truck like we thought we would since a lot of the commercial work is now low moisture. I'm planning on trading it in and getting another Spartan water truck. I'm already making payments on it, I'll just make bigger payments and get a vehicle that will be used more often. So it's not that crazy, I'll have two newer Spartan's as the first two out the door, 2-Isuzu's, then the Butler in a box. 5-good water trucks for when the chit hits the fan.

 

[ruff]

Joe was talking about printed material. Not TV or Radio.
And though in principal it is not a good idea to put any suggestion of dissatisfaction in their minds, the truth is most clients do have that concern.
So we may choose to ignore it or address it. I'd rather address it.

As far as the validity of a guarantee from a large outfit or Tiny Archibald's carpet cleaning. If they called Tiny, they are more likely to be people that prefer to work with a small company or looking for the cheapest price possible.
The price shoppers may not believe the guarantee anyhow. And the smart ones (those that know the great service they will get from a small owner operator ) would rather work with Tiny and offering a guarantee may make them feel better or put them more at ease.

 

[Ken Snow]

Ofer- I was talking anywhere. I also know that not 1 out of 1000 people ask us so I believe as Shane said that it is an implied belief.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[Royal Man]

Each their own. Our clients enjoy that we have a Guarantee. Many have been unsatisfied from the service of other companies and a Guarantee combined with a ton of Client reviews gives the prospects some peace of mind and more clients & higher rates for us. ( They tell us this is the reason they chose Us.) This is what we have on our after care card: 7 DAY WORKMANSHIP GUARANTEE

We give you a full week to inspect our work! If a spot or soiled area reappears
after cleaning or if there are any concerns we’ll be glad to come back,

 

[jcooper]

I do not believe in putting any thoughts of dissatisfaction in writing or in a script for radio or tv. To me, implying that there is even a chance of dissatisfaction is a negative and I would rather taut the opposite. If a caller or customer asks we simply say if they are not happy we will be glad to come back.

I agree... In seven years no one has ever asked about our guarantee.

That's not saying we won't go back or don't have one. I would not advertise it or set up our marketing around a guarantee.

 

[ruff]

I guess since we do not know for sure how many people get the 'negative' impression "that there is even a chance of dissatisfaction" by the mention of a guarantee.
Or how many do not use others because they do not offer one (at least not in writing or possibly even mentioned).

Everyone will need to decide what benefits their company best.

I'd rather have it out there, as imho most people expect it and since one is offering it anyhow one may as well flaunt it. In this day and age a business that does not stand behind their guarantee is pretty much a business with a death wish, as the word will spread out faster than a brush fire.

The fact that one does not ask for the guarantee (actually I get asked about it quite a few times) does not mean that it is not a concern.

 

[Ken Snow]

Yepper- to each his own.

 

[jcooper]

Yea, I agree. We should all have some type of guarantee and people SHOULD expect it.

We have all seen the guys who have "cleanest carpet ever or it free(or whatever)" plastered all over their site, vans and so on. It's like they want their whole business identity to be "it's free if you are not happy"...

Imo, that's like asking them to be unhappy! Who doesn't like free stuff?

All work guaranteed, enough said. If they ask, we are more than happy to give details. Now on our invoice/bill yes, the more details about guarantee the better, but I'm not about to put, "complain and we'll clean for free" on the side of the van.

Again IMO...

 

[ruff]

Jerry, I agree about those "cleanest carpet ever or it's free" people, whose entire business identity is about that theme. Not sure if it works or not, or what clients it will get them, however that should never be their primary identity.
I guess it says a lot about who their potential clients are.

On the other hand, I've been offering that guarantee (mentioned, not as a primary identity) close to 25 years and so far (touch carpet) nobody ever took me on it.
Most people seem to be honest. All they want is to be treated fairly, see that we try hard and that we make an honest effort to get good cleaning results. And if one does, they seem to be quite happy about it and don't mind paying for it at all.

 

[FlatRateCarpetCleaning]

We usually just write, Satisfaction Guaranteed, but we have a 30 day redo policy. We've had a few customers take advantage of it, and others that have us redo things that have nothing to do with how we cleaned, but for the most part that usually solves any problems. Just like someone mentioned above though, we have had a few customers that have completely taken advantage of us and basically blackmailed us with the threat of bad reviews. We're a small company and depend on positive reviews, so one really angry customer can cause a lot of damage. Even though we don't do money back guarantees, we have had to totally refund customers that didn't deserve it at all, because in the end it's better than losing a bunch of business to bad reviews. I think some people know this and complain on purpose to get things for free.

For the most part we do find that customers do like knowing that we have a guarantee.

 

[Shane Deubell]

I would be surprised if you split tested 2 campaigns- one with a guarantee and one without - The numbers would be any different over the long term.
Truth be told i think most cleaners do it because they see other cleaners doing it and not based on any factual data.

That being said if you can come up with some unique logo, phrase, word etc, cool but im not sure it will bump your numbers.

 

[ruff]

And I'd be even more surprised if the people that do offer the guarantee have to refund any more money than the ones who do not.

And we don't (at least I don't) offer it because other cleaners do or because of any data Shane.
We offer it just because that's how we want to do business.

It is really quite Simple.

 

[Royal Man]

I bet the guarantee and also if it had a few client reviews would pull better. You are in a stranger's home alone after meeting them five minutes before. That takes a lot of trust on the propects part. I don't know how many strangers I would leave alone in my home. I do know that if a client calls you back on the guarantee and you take care of it promptly. That client can become one of your best clients and referral sources. They also leave very flattering reviews. V/s all the pissed off clients (You never hear from.) that don't know you will come back and they tell all their friends in frustration about that spot wicking up.

 

[Desk Jockey]

We used to leave a card like this but now it has the guarantee printed on the back of our after care brochure.

 

[Shane Deubell]

And I'd be even more surprised if the people that do offer the guarantee have to refund any more money than the ones who do not.

And we don't (at least I don't) offer it because other cleaners do or because of any data Shane.
We offer it just because that's how we want to do business.

It is really quite Simple.

Didn't think this was about offering one, we all have one. Mine is 30 days and pretty liberal, cant remember ever saying no.

The original question was about putting one in a direct mail piece. I suggested having a Gold Shield guarantee or some phrase/logo etc. BUT i questioned the value in a direct mail piece, in advertising space =$$ money and am not sure taking up very limited space for this angle is a good investment.

Has NOTHING to do with having a guarantee, the OP was about putting one in a postcard.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I think there is value in including your guarantee all though the big conglomerates have taken some of the shine off of Guarantees with all the fine print.

 

[ruff]

Complete satisfaction or your money back. Now how much space does that take?
here we go: comp sat r $ bk

And Richard is right, like anything else the more it is used the less effective it is. Still, I consider it essential.
And yes, in written material. Because when it is in writing it is also legally binding. Which should give the concerned client some peace of mind.

It is just one more detail.

Don't know if it will close more sales. Don't care that much either. Though it would be nice.

P.S. Shane. I want you to know that I offer complete satisfaction on all my posts. If you are not 100% delighted with this post, please let us know and you'll get your money back.