Cartoon by @gapingvoid
I overheard a television commercial just the other day, where the new CEO of General Motors offered a 100% customer satisfaction guarantee. He indicated that you have 60 days from purchase of a new GM vehicle to return the car if you are not completely satisfied.
But do guarantees even matter to customers any more?
Me, I think it really depends on the current state of your brand. In GM’s case, people are so fed up with the inferior quality of GM vehicles, government control of the company, as well as using federal stimulus dollars to continually bail out GM – that I don’t think this guarantee is very effective for GM. It might be a little too late to matter.
But what do you think? Is this the kind of thing a company like GM should be doing? Is this the kind of strategic approach they need right now?
Normally, I think guarantees are a great offering. If you believe in your product or service, and believe strongly that it will benefit your customer, you should feel very good about offering a guarantee. It demonstrates confidence in what you do.
But I also worry that guarantees are no longer remarkable. I think people almost come to expect them. Nowadays, it is almost unique if you don’t offer one. But I also think some companies use them to try to pull one over the eyes of the consumer.
Time will tell if GM’s strategy is the right one. Maybe it is what they need to turn this thing around. But it rings hollow to me. I still think GM ought to be doing more to engage the marketplace – instead of using what feels like a gimmick in this instance.
What do you think? Is this a good idea on the part of GM? Or not?