(Time to read this Blog is about 3.5 minutes)

Before we get to the main topic, here are a few things to get you thinking or smiling:

1. My Biz Quote of the week:
   “You need high standards of performance, appearance and behavior in every part of your business.  Always explain what your standards are and why you have them…but never apologize for them.”       
   …Donald Cooper.
    
2. Quick Biz Tip:
   What would it take to make it NOT all about price? 

   If you’re getting beaten up on price, it’s a sure sign that you’ve failed to create and communicate some other compelling functional, emotional or financial value.

   Sit down with some of the best minds and hearts in your business, focus on what life’s really like for our target customers and then discuss what extraordinary things you can do to make it NOT all about price for your target customers.

   Ask the following 5 key questions:

   1. What do they really value?
   2. What do they fear?
   3. What are they really trying to do when they buy from us and use what we sell?
   4. What can we create that they can get only from us?
   5. How can the insight of the ‘4 Currencies’ in our customers’ lives (Money, Time, Feeling Safe and Feeling Special) help us develop compelling value and experiences?

   Note:  If it really IS all about price, regardless of what you do, how will you create world-class operational efficiency in every part of your business?  You can’t be the lowest price seller of you’re not also the lowest cost provider.

3. 13 best places to retire for golf lovers. Here’s a link to a wonderful article on where to retire if you love golf.  Click Here
    

4. News Flash! Today, February 28, is National Chocolate Souffle Day  It’s also Global Rare disease Day.  I’ll take the souffle! 
    

5. World’s most visited city in 2023. With over 20 million visitors in 2023, Istanbul was the world’s most visited city.  London was #2.
    

6. The Cranky Corner: The National ‘Do Not Call List’ was implemented in 2006 at a cost of tens of millions of our dollars.  But it has accomplished nothing!  We still get dozens of calls a week from scammers selling Duct Cleaning, urgent Software Updates, Replacement Windows, or are from Revenue Canada and require that we send them $10,000 in Bitcoin to avoid incarceration!    

Now, to this week’s important topic:

The power of a great guarantee in your business: 

Whether you sell a product or a service, one of the most powerful marketing tools you can create is a compelling guarantee.  The right guarantee will do these 5 things for you. It will…

1. Clearly differentiate you from your competitors,
2. Make you memorable…and perhaps ‘famous’,
3. Create customer confidence,
4. Focus every member of your team on delivering the compelling value that you guarantee,
5. Increase sales and profitability.

To be most effective, your guarantee must include two things…

1.  Promise a specific level of performance or value that’s compelling to your target customers (and then make absolutely sure that you can deliver on it 99.9% of the time).
    
   This could be a promise that something will happen if they do business with you (ie, “We guarantee that your parcels will be delivered anywhere in North America by 9:00 am the next day” …or, it could be a promise that something won’t happen (ie, “We guarantee that your car won’t rust for 5 years.)
    
2. Be specific about what you’ll do for the customer if you fail to deliver your promise.
    
   My favorite example is, “Your pizza will be delivered in 40 minutes…or it’s FREE!”  They don’t guarantee that it’s a great tasting pizza.  No, this guarantee is for people who value ‘fast’ more than flavor.
    
   Hampton Inns has a simple but powerful ‘100% satisfaction guarantee’.  If you don’t like the room, it’s free!
    
   Years ago, when I was an award-winning retailer of ladies’ fashions, we created an outrageous and powerful guarantee that made us famous and grew out bottom line!
    
   We came up with what we called, ‘The world’s most unusual guarantee!’    It went like this, “We’re so sure you’ll love our store that if you show up and think we’re ‘for the birds’…I’ll pay your gas mileage!”
    
   This gutsy guarantee differentiated us and gave 1,000’s of new customers the confidence to travel up to two hours to try us out.  And it focused and energized our staff on delivering the amazing customer experiences that made it worth the drive.
    
   Competitors, friends and our accountant all said, “Cooper, you’re nuts!  People will rip you off.”  To which I replied, “No, you don’t get it.  It really is an extraordinary store!”   In over 11 years, we paid out less than $200 in gas mileage!

A guarantee is a promise and breaking that promise will kill your business!  So, here’s how it works…perfect your delivery, then make the promise.  Don’t promise first, and then try to figure out how the heck you’re going to pull it off.  That will end badly.

So, what gutsy and powerful guarantee will you come up with in your business?  What will you promise to do, or not do, that will clearly differentiate you, excite your customers, create confidence, focus your team and grow your bottom line?

That’s it for this week…

Stay safe…live brilliantly!       

Donald Cooper 

Donald Cooper speaks and coaches internationally on management, marketing, and profitability.  He can be reached by email at donald@donaldcooper.com in Toronto, Canada.