BOMBAS: HAPPINESS GUARANTEED

Morning — It's Niall again!

Recently, I have been spending a LOT of time on the phone with prospects, and I've quickly realised that selling is HARD. Really fucking hard. Some people are sold before the call, others feel like their only mission is to find a hole in your service.

So, this week I dedicated my time to researching marketing tactics that make selling easier - and I found a great one.What you're about to learn:

- The reason Bomba's give away thousands of socks- Why their "Happiness Guarantee" works so well- How you can close more sales by adding guarantees

Est. Read Time: 5 minutes, 35 seconds

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Company Overview

Est. Valuation: $1B (Source)

Est. Revenue: $237M (Source)

Bombas is an apparel brand that is renowned for its socks and philanthropy (a unique combo to say the least). The concept for the company came about after the founders learned that socks are the most requested item in homeless shelters. So, they created Bombas. With a catch that for every Bombas item purchased, an identical item would be donated to a homeless shelter.

This isn't just a charity brand though, these socks are meant to be the ~best~ and I have had a tonne of people recommend them.

Although, I would expect them to be the best knowing their price tag - $12.50 for 1 pair. I'd expect them to be made of gold at that price. Yet, they sell millions of socks per year.

How?

By making saying "Yes" easy and "No" almost impossible...

Breaking Down The Strategy

Going back full circle to the intro... Sales are hard. You have to give people a real good reason to part with their money if you want to close them. So when it comes to high-ticket socks, I can only imagine how hard it is to convince someone to pay $12.50.

This is exactly why Bombas decided to focus on making it impossible for people to say no. Which all comes down to battling objections. So, let's rhyme off some objections I would have to paying $12.50 for a pair of socks:

1. I could probably buy 6-7 pairs for the same price.

Well, that's my one and only objection really. For that amount of money, I feel like I could get a lot more value for my money elsewhere. The comparison in my head is 1 pair of Bombas VS 6-7 pairs of an alternative brand. Leaving me favouring the 6 pairs over the 1.

Then in comes Bombas' "Happiness Guarantee".

A guarantee that changes everything. Bombas explain it like this:

"We'll Replace Your Items if They're:

- Lost In The Laundry- Lost With Your Luggage- Your Dog’s Favorite Chew Toy- The Wrong Size- Turned Into Sock Puppets- Worn, Torn, Or Developing Holes...or anything else that may happen to them.

Just reach out to our Customer Happiness Team, and they’ll make it right."

It seems crazy at first glance. But it completely changes the prior comparison. It's no longer 1 pair vs 6 it's:1 pair of socks that can be replaced for free VS 6 pairs that will probably need replacing after 6 months.See the difference? I'm now starting to think that $12.50 for a pair of socks, with a guarantee, is the better offer. Throw in the other aspects of buying Bombas:

• Buying helps a homeless person

• Get to be part of the club (Bombas are cool - to some people at least)

• Known for being super high-quality

At this point, Bombas' offer blows the alternative brands out of the water. The price is no longer an issue because the value I get from buying Bombas is so much more than buying some cheap Nike socks that will wear out.

They are no longer a commodity. They are no longer compared on price.

You are no longer just buying socks. You are buying the Bombas experience.

It's no longer apples vs apples. It's apples vs gold-plated pears.But why is this guarantee better than the rest?

- It's on-brand: A "money back" guarantee is generic and thrown around all the time. But a "happiness guarantee"? That's something you'll remember Bombas for.

- Credibility: Saying you have great socks is a tough sell. But adding a big guarantee like this just shows your confidence in your product. You seem more legit if you have a guarantee (great sophisticated terminology from me). It's really that simple though. If you're not offering a guarantee, why not? You don't believe in your product or service enough is probably the answer.

- Articulated perfectly: Guarantees often seem dodgy and when it includes words like: refund, money, and satisfaction you instantly think they'll be some small print somewhere. But Bombas make it seem like they'll literally replace your socks for any reason, even listing "losing it in the wash" (we've all been there) as a viable option.

- Distribution > Creation - Bombas' guarantee isn't effective because it exists. It's effective because they market the fuck out of it. Prime example:

The best thing about all of this is that the guarantee comes at virtually no cost to Bombas. Because on average, about 1% of customers actually take companies up on their guarantees. Not a bad trade-off right? A huge addition to the offer - for just 1% of sales.

But forget Bombas, how can you add guarantees within your offer?

How To Implement It

99% of you reading this will already have a guarantee.

What's that? You don't have a guarantee?Wrong.

What you have is an invisible guarantee. A guarantee that you don't publicize and you may not even know about. Let me explain...If a customer or client called you and explained they were extremely unhappy with your product or service, what would you say? "Sorry, deal with it." Absolutely not! You'd tell them you'd fix it for them at no extra cost. Because the last thing you want is an unhappy customer. You have an "invisible guarantee". So, the only thing you need to do is start leveraging it. Which is very simple. Here is a 3-step process you can start on right away:

1. Identify your invisible guarantee - how far would you go for an unhappy client?

2. Articulate it - write down exactly what you are going to guarantee and what you're going to call it.

3. Plaster it everywhere - it's an extra reason for people to say "Yes". So, add it to your pitch deck, add it to your website and post it on your socials. YOU WANT YOUR POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS TO SEE IT!

That's all for today. But before you go, a quick reminder: if you want specific tips just reply to this email - I promise I'll reply :)

— NiallP.S. Mind dropping me a quick review - Great / Average / Horrendous

This has been a breakdown of Bombas' marketing strategy. I hope you have learned something and can implement a similar strategy in your business!

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