What is one of the biggest annoyances of hiring a plumber? Waiting for the plumber to arrive. I was amazed to catch part of a commercial which addressed this annoyance. “For each minute that the plumber is late, we pay you.”
The second time that I heard this commercial, I made a point to listen for the name of the company, which I learned was Benjamin Franklin Plumbing. I promptly went online and found out more from their Web site. “If there is a delay, we pay you. If we are not on time, we pay you $5.00 per minute, up to $300.00”
This is the company’s guarantee. However, it isn’t the only one. Benjamin Franklin Plumbing also guarantees that
-“If our plumber doesn’t wear shoe covers inside your home or leaves your home without cleaning up, you don’t pay a penny.
-If our plumber smokes or swears in your home or on your property, you don’t pay a penny.
-If a repair fails in the first two years, we will repair it again absolutely free.”
In addition, the company promises “Straightforward Pricing with no unexpected surprises! We will always carefully evaluate your situation and will provide you with an exact price you approve of before any work begins.”
I was impressed with the first guarantee. The additional ones seemed to address each one of the major annoyances that customers have with plumbers. Not only did Benjamin Franklin Plumbing promise not to do these annoyances, they took another step and guaranteed that promise.
That made me impressed enough to share this with you.
Guarantees are a very effective but little used marketing tactic. Sometimes giving a guarantee can be difficult. They can be costly, especially when handing out five dollar bills for every minute that the plumber is late. However, the main reason that they are seldom used is because business and marketing people do not think to use them.
Most businesses focus on discounts to stimulate business. If you asked ten people who had done business with a plumber, I think that nine, perhaps ten, would take the five dollar bill guarantee over a discount. They’d figure the five dollars was a sure thing whereas the discount is off a price that was unknown, so how can they tell if it is truly a discount or not?
As far as the business is concerned, guarantees cost less than discounts if the business does not have to pay out the guarantee. These guarantees force the business to focus on what they promise, which is what the customer wants. Best of all, since the guarantees get rid of the typical customer annoyances, customers will not only be happy with Benjamin Franklin Plumbing but will remember it, too. Likely, they will talk about the company with their friends, stimulating a great deal of word of mouth.
Next time that you want to stimulate business, think about offering a guarantee. What annoys your customer that you can guarantee will not happen with your company?
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