The Espresso Machine Guy

Issue 003 - 2019-01-28

Lesson: Offer a great money-back guarantee on your products. You will sometimes be abused, but most people are honest.

I travel all over the world teaching advanced Java to professional programmers. Why should a company engage me? And how do they know that I won't take their money and not show up?

To take the fear out of the purchasing decision, I do two things:

1. I only ask for money once the job is completed to their satisfaction.
2. I give a 110% money-back guarantee on my training.

They need to claim the guarantee within 4 hours of the course start. That is enough time to figure out if the course is for them or not. They cannot spend 4 days with me and then say: "Meh, didn't like that." If I cannot fix whatever they do not like, then they do not pay for the training. Plus, I pay my own travel expenses (that's where the extra 10% comes from).

A guarantee keeps us honest. You can imagine how hard I work when I present an in-house course. I give it my all. There is no energy left for social engagements or sightseeing in the evenings. The client and work gets my full attention. When I work, I work. Even emails have to wait until the course is over.

It is risky offering guarantees. A few years ago I was reading espresso machine reviews on Amazon. One reviewer had bought 8 different models for his team, unpacked them all, used them for a week, then sent back 7. He was proud of his genius in finding the best possible machine. According to the Amazon policy he could do that.

I also offer a 30-day money-back guarantee for my online self-study courses. The customers do not have to give a reason why. Within 30 days it is easy for me to process the refund. One click and we're done. I always have a look how much of my material they have looked at. In theory, someone could buy a course, watch the entire thing, then request a refund. This has happened. And I still give a full refund. As you can imagine, it does not make me feel particularly charitable towards them. It reminds me of the espresso machine guy.

Despite the risks for a business, money-back guarantees are essential. They reduce our customer's risk. The less scary a purchase, the better. It is better to refund too much than too little.

Kind regards from your friendly entrepreneur

Heinz

Living Entrepreneurially Archive

• 012 - Crashproof Your Business
• 011 - "Was weg ist, ist weg"
• 010 - Fear of Rejection
• 009 - Quality, Reliability, Be Nice
• 008 - Be Prepared
• 007 - Riding School
• 006 - Inner Dynamo
• 005 - The Fuel Light is ON
• 004 - "I filled it in exactly as your father did"
• 003 - The Espresso Machine Guy
• 002 - "Escape is Giving Me Bad Dreams"
• 001 - The Cleaning Fluid Injection Device

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