David M. Fellman
The guarantee of satisfaction can be a very powerful selling tool for a printing company, but from comments I’ve heard recently, it’s apparent that some reprographics and large-format printers don’t have a clue about how a guarantee can work for them. I touched on the subject of guarantees in a recent seminar, and three of the printers I spoke seemed afterward were mostly concerned with being “trapped” by a guarantee, and not nearly interested enough in the positive potential of a guarantee strategy.
Starting Point
As a starting point to this discussion, let’s understand that all of you guarantee your work. There are two fundamental kinds of guarantees in the world: explicit and implicit. An explicit guarantee is when you put it right out there in front of your customer or potential customer—in writing, or by actually speaking the words. If you say “It’ll be done right, and it’ll be done on time, or it’ll be free,” I’m sure you’ll agree that’s a pretty explicit guarantee.
The key point at this stage of our discussion is that an implicit guarantee is really just as binding as an explicit one, and I think I can prove that to you. Here’s the scenario: I buy something from you and I’m not satisfied with your quality and/or service, so I don’t pay you until I am satisfied. Would you agree that you’re at pretty much the same place in terms of what you’d consider to be a successful transaction?
To me, it’s not a very long stretch from an implicit guarantee to an explicit guarantee, and I’d like to see you make that stretch. Because a strong guarantee really can go a long way toward reducing the risk your customer or prospect feels. I’ve heard the term “buyer’s remorse” to describe the situation where someone starts worrying after making a purchase, but I think a term that’s more appropriate to a printer’s situation would be “buyer’s pre-morse.” Face it, just about everyone who’s purchased a significant amount of printing in their lives has been disappointed by a printer at least once, and many of those who haven’t suffered yet have at least heard the stories. As I’ve written before, just about every job that comes into a printshop is an accident looking for a place to happen, and Murphy’s Law runs wild in our industry. You know it, and many of your customers and prospects know it, and they’re aware of the risk they’re taking every time they send you a job.
Here’s something else to think about. Many people talk about how they hate salespeople, but it’s not really hate that most of them feel. It’s fear! The underlying emotion for many people who buy things is the fear that some salesperson will talk them into buying something that won’t work, or won’t provide the satisfaction they’re hoping for. I hope you’ll agree that a strong, explicit guarantee can be a very effective fear-fighter!
Dave Fellman is the president of David Fellman & Associates, Raleigh, NC, a sales and marketing consulting firm serving numerous segments of the graphic arts industry. Contact Dave by phone at 919-363-4068 or by e-mail at dmf@davefellman.com. Visit his website at www.davefellman.com.