How to Guarantee Your Guarantee Works

Go all the way. The more conditions you attach -- this offer good only on second Tuesdays in months with "r" in them -- the less power a guarantee has. There's no such thing as a half-guarantee. Go big, or stay home.

Keep it simple. If clients need a lawyer to decipher what the guarantee covers, forget it. Everybody hates fine print.

Make it easy to take you up on it. Your language should be crystal clear, your terms straightforward. Don't put anybody through a guilt trip for invoking your guarantee. Don't make anybody fill out a gazillion forms, give blood, or testify before witnesses.

It should sting a little. You should feel it when a promise you make isn't kept. If you don't, you're not going far enough.

Talk to the people. Before putting your offer out there, do an informal survey of potential customers. Pick up the phone and ask people if they think your guarantee's a boon. Their yeas and nays will prove excellent business advisors.

Guarantee what matters. It might be price, promptness, or professionalism, but you'd better know what your clients care about most.

First live it, then write it down. Sure, it's nice to have that wallet-sized card emblazoned with your service promise to hand out at meetings. But like visions and missions, guarantees must be practiced before they're articulated -- or else they're just pretty words.

When all else fails, try overkill. Even without a written guarantee, you should act like you have one. Focus on what your client really wants and then knock yourself out to deliver it.