To start, here’s a bit of futuristic auto news:
A few weeks ago, Mercedes introduced its Drive Pilot technology. It’s much like Tesla’s AutoPilot. It drives the car for you at low speeds. But Mercedes announced an important twist.
If you put your Mercedes on Drive Pilot and the car decides to run over somebody, crushing their foot… or severing their spine… or perhaps even killing them… then you will not be legally responsible.
Instead, the Mercedes corporation will be responsible.
So what’s new here?
Well I thought about that for a sec.
After all, what Mercedes is offering sounds just like a guarantee. But I realized it’s a special kind of guarantee, not often seen.
After all, the typical guarantee is something like this:
“Buy this Mercedes. If you’re not happy with it, or if it kills someone while you’re behind the steering wheel, you can return the car and get all your money back.”
A more extreme version is the double or triple money-back guarantee:
“Buy this Mercedes. If it kills someone while you’re behind the steering wheel, and you end up in jail for it, and you no longer want your Mercedes, just return it to us, or have your friends who are on the outside return it on your behalf. And we will refund your full buying price, plus we’ll give you an extra ‘We’re so sorry you’re in jail’ compensation, totaling 200% of what you originally paid.”
Maybe when I put it like that the point becomes clear.
The money you get back for a product that fails is often inadequate. Even when it’s all the money you put in, or even when it’s more. Your total cost is still greater, and sometimes it can’t be quantified in terms of money.
Of course, you’re not selling self-driving cars. But this idea can be used even for some modest direct response offers.
Perhaps you’re wondering how.
That’s something I will tell you about, or rather demonstrate, in an email soon. For today, I will just tease you with this:
I think the key is not to promise money in return. The key is to argue that your offer will make your buyer better off, in every way — whether your product works as intended or not.
In case you want more detail than that, the sign up to my email newsletter, and watch out for my upcoming emails.