When you are starting out, most of your potential customers will not know you. Unless a friend or family member recommended you to them, your prospective customer will be doing business with a stranger and therefore risking a loss. If they are paying a deposit or paying for something in advance, there is always the possibility that they won’t receive it. Even if they do receive it, they could be disappointed by the quality.

The main purpose of guarantees is to allay the fears of new customers. They are attracted to what you have to sell but are afraid to spend the money with an unknown. A guarantee will usually relax them and ensure that they are willing to purchase your product. Make your guarantee clear and easy to understand. If it seems that your guarantee is too complex, people will tend to avoid doing business with you.

Check out the market and you will notice that even the largest items have guarantees. When a contractor builds a home he provides a one-year guarantee for building defects. Most appliances and automobiles have extensive guarantees. A good solid guarantee is part of the marketing process. It would be foolish to run a business without providing all your customers with a comprehensive guarantee.

No matter how good your work is, something can go wrong. The buyer should not have to suffer because of some problem that you can correct. Certainly your customer will have to maintain the product and you cannot provide an endless guarantee, but you can make certain that the product provides real value.

I suggest you follow the example of homebuilders and give a one-year guarantee for everything except abuse. There will be times when people will abuse a product and still want you to correct the situation. When that happens, you have to handle it situation based on its own merits. Sometimes it will be a good customer who seldom has a problem and you will want to take care of it promptly even if it isn’t your fault. On other occasions it could be a customer who is constantly calling you with problems that are actually abuse and it will be time to say no. This decision will have to be made at the time.

If you are selling products, you may simply be passing on a manufacturer’s guaranty. It then becomes your responsibility to make certain that the manufacturer handles any guarantee promptly as promised. Always help your customer to get the assistance they need.