Imagine that you're someone who has just purchased a product or service after reading a well-written and persuasive sales letter. You pay the price of the product or service and eagerly await the product's arrival or to speak with a representative about using the service. Finally, the product arrives, or you're used up your service hours and you have not reaped any of the benefits touted in the flashy sales letter. Even worse, the product you purchased was broken or not satisfactory when it arrived and now it's going to be a hassle to replace it or get a refund. If this were you, how would you feel?

Potential customers are often wary about purchasing a product or service based only on a sales letter or advertising promotion because there are no implied guarantees. The product can be damaged upon arrival, the service can provide little help, or the product or service is just not worth the price the customer might pay. There is one trick you can use to reduce these fears on the part of the potential customer. Use a guarantee in your sales letters and marketing promotions that allows customers to shed the risk they would normally assume when making such a purchase.

A guarantee can be in several forms. You can guarantee free replacement if a product is defective, additional free services if a client is unsatisfied with the service you have provided, or even offer to refund the entire purchase price of the product or service if the customer is not completely satisfied. When you offer a guarantee, you are creating goodwill and confidence in your product or service. Many potential customers think, "Why would they guarantee their product or service if it didn't work as well as advertised?"

When you offer a guarantee to customers, make sure the guarantee is risk-free. This means that you should not attach any strings to the guarantee. Some companies require that a product be returned unopened or in its original packaging in order to receive a full refund. If you've had the product for a month or two, and you've already thrown out the packaging, this can present a problem. Then you're stuck with a bad product and an emptier wallet. Do you think that customer will buy from you again? Making your guarantee risk-free means that you don't require customers to meet any conditions in order to receive the refund, replacement, or free services.

This is a marketing tactic that can create quite a lot of trust from customers. People are more likely to buy from businesses that stand behind their products and services than from businesses that are hard to deal with and inflexible if a product is damaged or a service has not benefited the customer. By offering a risk-free guarantee, you are telling your customers that you care about their experience with your business. You are also giving customers an easy way to solve problems, rather than making them go through a difficult process. This can even create repeat business from satisfied customers for years to come.

Once you've mastered the art of using risk-free guarantees, you may see an increase in the number of inquiries generated by a particular advertising campaign or even in the number of sales that result from that campaign. If you see results, it only makes sense to keep this tip in the front of your mind as you develop advertising promotions in the future.