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This is from a weekly email I receive, the Wizard Chronicles:
From The Vault in the New Wizard's Tower Libary
Returns Policies and Customer Guarantees
Kick the Devil…
By Sonya Winterbotham, Wizard of Ads partner
"How many of your store policies are based on the assumption your customer might be fraudulent?... When deciding on returns policies and customer guarantees you need to find a balance between protecting yourself and protecting the customer."
A death certificate. The airline actually requested a death certificate for Daniel Kitson to prove his grandfather had died forcing him to change flights. If he could prove it, he could avoid paying the additional airline charges.
“Hi mum, I know you’re in the middle of grieving and organizing a funeral and stuff, but could you just fax granddad’s death certificate through to the airline… cheers”.
If it hadn’t been a comedy show nobody would have laughed. Still it was that “how ridiculous is the world” type of laugh, because we knew this was a true story.
Daniel got me thinking. How often do businesses listen a little too strongly to the devil’s advocate in their heads and make decisions based on the lowest common denominator?
How many of your store policies are based on the assumption your customer might be fraudulent? Do you really believe the world is full of Bart Simpsons trying to rip you off? Or do you know he only accounts for about one percent? But you still say “it’s not worth the risk”.
I recently spoke to a bedding retailer about a 30 day sleep guarantee… If you’re not happy with your mattress within 30 days you return it and get your money back. The devil’s advocate stepped right in, “we can’t afford that, what about the returns?”
In those few minutes what she was forgetting was that nobody buys a bed hoping they’ll have to return it. You buy a bed hoping it’ll give you the best night’s sleep of your life. But knowing you can return it makes you feel safer when deciding on your purchase.
The business generated from this policy will far outweigh the cost of the minimal returns she’ll get over a year. Here’s a business that’s already ignored their devil - Zappos.com – it’s an online clothing and shoe store. Now in e-tailing customers feel even less secure when buying – particular when there’s no option to “try on before you buy”. So Zappos offers free shipping and free return shipping. When you consider that 36% of online shoppers are influenced by returns policies… it’s no wonder Zappos more than tripled sales when word got out. When deciding on returns policies and customer guarantees you need to find a balance between protecting yourself and protecting the customer. Only about one percent of your customer base will ever look for a loop hole… the rest are the good guys… Will you talk to the one percent or will you talk to the other ninety-nine? For every devil’s advocate that’s whispering to you in one ear, make sure you have an entrepreneurial angel whispering in the other.
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“Hi mum, I know you’re in the middle of grieving and organizing a funeral and stuff, but could you just fax granddad’s death certificate through to the airline… cheers”.
If it hadn’t been a comedy show nobody would have laughed. Still it was that “how ridiculous is the world” type of laugh, because we knew this was a true story.
Daniel got me thinking. How often do businesses listen a little too strongly to the devil’s advocate in their heads and make decisions based on the lowest common denominator?
How many of your store policies are based on the assumption your customer might be fraudulent? Do you really believe the world is full of Bart Simpsons trying to rip you off? Or do you know he only accounts for about one percent? But you still say “it’s not worth the risk”.
I recently spoke to a bedding retailer about a 30 day sleep guarantee… If you’re not happy with your mattress within 30 days you return it and get your money back. The devil’s advocate stepped right in, “we can’t afford that, what about the returns?”
In those few minutes what she was forgetting was that nobody buys a bed hoping they’ll have to return it. You buy a bed hoping it’ll give you the best night’s sleep of your life. But knowing you can return it makes you feel safer when deciding on your purchase.
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