“I want my money back.”
Gulp. What happens when a job goes south, and you and your customer are at odds?
It can be challenging to communicate successfully with people we know and love. When working with clients who have a problem, tension often runs high and communication can break down. However, you can prevent the last-minute bailout, “OK, fine, I will give you a refund,” – or worse, “See you in court!”
Though this might sound counterintuitive, offering a money-back guarantee can help you do that. I recommend a refund policy that goes like this: 100 percent satisfaction or 100 percent money back.
No small print. No loopholes. Just be prepared to deliver or to give them their money back if they are not pleased. Vow to resolve every customer upset to the customer’s approval, including a full refund, if that’s what it takes.
Here’s how to offer a powerful money-back guarantee without shooting yourself in the financial foot.
1. Put some money back into the budget. When creating your budget, add an account for customer satisfaction costs as an expense category for refunds – or dinner tickets, carpet cleaning, whatever you give to customers to correct issues or just to make them feel loved.
2. Make sales that make sense. If you have to bend over backward to get the sale, that customer might be hard to please throughout the project. Don’t work too hard for a sale. Take care to ask good questions and listen. Offer sound options and solutions to their unique problems. Layer on the love. Charge what you must to make good on your promises, even if you run into a few hiccups.
3. Set the expectations. Put the scope of the job in writing. Take a video of you and your customer agreeing to the deal points. Keep simple invoices and agreements with you so that you can ink the deal and any agreed-upon change orders. No one expects a miracle, so tone down the hyperbole.
4. Make good on the promise. Take every customer concern seriously. Thank them when they let you know that they’re unhappy. Try to find out what happened. Ask them how you can make it better. Then, do as directed, and give them a full refund, if that is required. The good news is that you will rarely have to do this (in my experience, that’s less than 2 percent of the time.) Usually, you can get back on track, if you catch the problem soon enough.
Note: This approach might not work.
You might have too much on the line financially in direct costs to make a blanket money-back promise. If you build large custom homes, for example, it makes sense to build payment points throughout the production, to keep cash flowing and to spot dissatisfaction before the job is finished. A money-back guarantee without qualifications works great if reversing an average sale won’t sink the company. (Remember, I am not a lawyer, so feel free to consult yours.)
Just start at the beginning.
Start with clear expectations and a formal system for bringing jobs in on-time, to meet bid and to grateful applause – or at least a smile and a final payment check. A money-back promise is part of an overall system that can include friendly phone scripts; consistent, hands-on technical training; low-pressure sales procedures; and quality job checklists at multiple stages.
Ellen Rohr is an author and business consultant who helps entrepreneurs start, fix and grow their businesses. She conducts a monthly webinar, and her books include “Where Did the Money Go?” and “The Bare Bones Weekend Biz Plan.” She can be reached at ellen@barebonesbiz.com.[[In-content Ad]]
