Marketing Strategy 11: Have a Big, Bold, Solid Guarantee

In this lesson, I want to tell you about one of the most powerful strategies for converting ‘will-they-won’t-they’ leads into long-term clients.

This is a very easy strategy to implement. It can almost instantly help you to stand out from the competition… and your clients will love it.

Yet, even though many carpet cleaners know about this idea, very few are confident enough in their skills to use it.

As you may have guessed, I’m talking about the satisfaction guarantee.

Yes, if you are serious about building a successful carpet cleaning business, then I strongly believe that you must guarantee every job.

I understand what your first reaction to that statement might be: “I can’t do that. It will break me!”

But before you dismiss the idea, let me tell you the reasons why I believe a guarantee is so important and how it can actually row your business with less risk.

Here are the reasons:

• Guarantees help win you more clients. People who are on the fence about
  your service will take a chance on you because of your guarantee.
• Guarantees help you to stand out against the competition. All else being
  equal in business, the carpet cleaner with the strongest guarantee will get
  the job.
• Guarantees help make all your other promises believable. Claiming you are
  the best cleaner is just an empty boast. Clients expect you to say good things
  about your business. Guaranteeing you are the best cleaner on the other
  hand is a compelling promise – one that gets attention from even sceptical
  clients.
• Guarantees are a public display of your confidence in your skills.
  Competence in the carpet cleaning business starts with guaranteeing your
  work. In fact, I believe if you cannot guarantee your work then you shouldn’t
  be offering a service.
• Guarantees are rarely claimed unless genuine. People are for the most part
  honest. The vast majority of your clients will only ask about your guarantee if
  you didn’t fulfil your promises. If that happens, it’s your responsibility as a
  business owner to make things right.
• Guarantees turn unhappy clients into lifetime advocates for your business.

If someone does claim your guarantee and you honour it, they are far more likely to use your service again and refer friends.

Why? Because they know you stand by your promises.

Hopefully, by now I have convinced you of the power of guarantees. The next step is to write one for your business. That’s what we will do in today’s task…

TODAY’S TASK: Create Your Guarantee

1. Decide what you are willing to do for the client if they are not satisfied. Will you give them their money back or offer a repeat service? I recommend that you provide a second clean for free. This is better for the client because he/she doesn’t have to waste time finding another cleaner. Plus, you get a second chance to make a great impression.
2. Decide what promise you are going to fulfil. This promise should generally be the main benefit the client wants. For example, your carpets must look like they have just been delivered from the store, or our service is free…
3. Come up with a great name for your guarantee. Guarantees with great names are memorable and powerful. A ‘satisfaction guarantee’ is a little boring. But a ‘So Clean You Can Eat Off It Guarantee’ is interesting and exciting.
4. Come up with a time frame to fix a problem. If a client is unhappy, tell them how quickly you will fix the problem. I.e. Call us and we will be back within 48 hours to do a second clean.
5. Put it all together. Once you have the information above, combine it into a powerful guarantee that makes it almost impossible for clients not to turn down your offer.

Here’s an example…

Our ‘Looks Like New, Or It’s FREE’ Satisfaction Guarantee.

When we clean your carpets, you are protected by our industry-leading guarantee.

Your carpet must look so clean that you could sell it as new. The colours must look bright and vibrant again… and it must smell fresh and clean.

Otherwise, I insist that you contact me immediately and within 48 hours, I will be back at your house to clean it again FREE of charge.

That means you will always have clean carpets when you choose our business.

Download Marketing Strategy 11 PDF