Lesson 9: A blueprint for writing your guarantee
All about the basic structure of a good guarantee
So after yesterday’s fun of writing whatever the heck you liked, it is unfortunately time to return to mundane sales copy, and write your guarantee.
You should have a good idea of how to write — today I will help you with what to write, so you can get it done.
Anatomy of a guarantee
The guarantee you’ll write is structured into four simple parts. Usually these can be stated in a few sentences, though some parts will be longer than others. Don’t worry about length; if it is short, it is sweet; if it is long, Sam will appreciate your thoroughness — provided you don’t waffle.
1. Introduce your guarantee by the name you’ve given it
This is the headline for your guarantee. When you put the page together, it will be formatted as such — so it’s gotta be short and sweet. Include the word “guarantee” since Sam is looking for it as he scans down the page. (In a later lesson, we’ll also talk about visual cues to help him spot things like this.)
My 10-minute, lifetime guarantee
As Seen On TV Guarantee
0-1-2 Guarantee: Zero defects, one day shipping...or two free garments of your choice
The “Can’t Miss, Robin Hood Guarantee”
Aside from the obvious brevity of this line, you see what I’m doing with taking common motifs or idioms or cliches and turning them into fodder for branding my guarantee? I bet you can do better — but these might give you a few ideas.
2. State your opinion about how your product, and Sam, and risk should fit together
Basically what you’re doing here is demonstrating that you’re a real person who is capable of putting yourself in Sam’s shoes and understanding his fears. You want to be exceptionally frank at this point. In other parts of your copy, it’s okay to not focus on injecting candor into every word. But this is a man-to-man, look-him-in-the-eye moment (excuse me ladies; you know what I mean).
Here’s an example:
In my opinion, you’re actually engaging in a bit of thievery at the price I’m asking. If I were in your shoes, I’d wonder if this didn’t seem a little too good to be true. I get it, and if I were in your shoes, I would also want some assurance that there really is no risk. That’s absolutely fair, so here’s what I suggest...
3. Explain how you will ensure this arrangement
Simply put, state your conditions. Again, remember to be frank and straightforward. Talk to Sam; don’t “write.”
I’m going to make you a promise memorable enough that I wanted to name it: My “Can’t Miss, Robin Hood Guarantee.” Like the famous archer, I am completely confident you cannot miss with this offering. Not only will you certainly hit the target, but you will nail the very bullseye — guaranteed.
If you miss the figure I’ve projected (a 510% ROI) by so much as a dollar...nay, a single cent...I want you to email me at robinhood@domain.tld. I will immediately wire back your purchase price plus ten percent into whatever bank account you nominate.
This guarantee is in force forever — none of this “60 days” nonsense. You get infinite days.
4. Conclude by asking Sam to consider your proposal
This serves two purposes: firstly, it gets Sam to reflect on and consciously agree that your terms are more than fair. Secondly, it concludes your guarantee in a natural way without leaving it hanging awkwardly:
I think this is a very fair promise. In fact, I’ve never heard of anyone offering a guarantee like this. What do you think? And if you agree, why not take me up on this unusual offer?
So that’s that! Let’s talk about how to make it happen...
Homework
Your homework today is quite simple:
Refer back to the brainstorm you did in lesson #6. If you didn’t make any firm decisions then, now is the time. You need to know what you’re doing with your guarantee. What is its name? What are the conditions? List them down.
Keep this list handy, and also have this page open. Record yourself speaking (again, to a friend if possible) about each of the four parts of the guarantee. Simply tell him about it like I have in the examples.
Transcribe your recording and tweak the text until you’re happy with it. Try to cut out any unnecessary words, and make sure you start a new paragraph for each new thought or major idea.
There. You just wrote a guarantee.