Run the guarantee closes

1. The condition: you offer a guarantee

These closes are said to work only if you offer a guarantee. What you promise, and on what conditions, is SOP 7 — Choose and condition a guarantee.

Why they work, as stated here. They rest on an obvious truth: the prospect takes on greater risk by choosing not to buy than by choosing to buy.

Before each close, echo what they said and agree with it (SOP 100 — Run the reason close, section 2).

2. What it sounds like

These are the words of someone who says they cannot make a decision:

• "I just need more information."
• "Can you send me all this in a summary email?"
• "Let me think about it."
• "I'll call you tomorrow."

The same stall has another set of closes, for a prospect who blames a rushed decision. They are SOP 107 — Handle I need to think about it. Where "let me think about it" is also listed, under a different kind of blame, is SOP 99 — Classify an objection, section 5.

3. Both options are risk-free

What you say, in order.

• Very fair. That said, I've got good news and bad news.
• The bad news: until you've actually tried it, you can't make a truly informed decision. Anything else is a guess.
• The good news: you can try it risk-free. So I'm not even asking you to decide right now. I'm asking you to make an informed decision, and you can only do that once you've tried it.
• Spell out the guarantee. If after 30 days you are not what you said, the product does not do what you told them, you did not keep your promise, or they do not think it will work for them, they tell you and you give the money back. No questions asked.

The 30 days is the script's own term. Use the one your guarantee actually gives.

4. The word "decide"

What you say, in order.

• Totally understand. Can I share something cool that helped me make a decision a while back? Wait for the nod.
• Do you know where the word "decide" comes from? The script gives it as Latin, spelled de-cadere, meaning to kill off, or to cut something off.
• Doing it is a decision. Not doing it is a decision too.
• So which future are you cutting off? The one that takes you closer to your goals, or the one that takes you further from them?

5. You won't struggle forever

What you say, in order.

• An opening about another customer, and something that reframed this decision for them earlier today. The exact words are not established on this page.
• You're not going to keep struggling forever, right?
• Then if you're going to do it eventually, you might as well do it now.
• The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is today.

6. Closer or further

What you say, in order.

• That's a fair point. Let me ask a related question. If you keep doing what you're doing now for five years, what does life look like?
• Do you think making the decision will get you closer to your goal, or further from it?
• That's it. If we keep making decisions that get us closer, we'll get there in the end. If we make decisions that take us further away, we'll never get there.
• Do you think this will get you closer to your goal than what you're doing now? They say yes. So what are we waiting for? We don't need to be snipers. We need to be pointed in the right direction. Do that long enough and we'll get there. Does that make sense?

The nudge. That helps you too, since we all fear picking the wrong one: "Is this the one?" Probably not, but it will move you a lot closer. No single program, service or product changed my life. The decision to invest in the first one did, forever. Does that make sense?

7. Flag: which closes need the guarantee

The condition in section 1 covers every close on this page. Only the first close names the guarantee in its own words.

• Read as a condition on all four, you do not use any of them without a guarantee. The cost: the word "decide", won't struggle forever and closer or further are kept from sellers with no guarantee, though none of their established lines names one.
• Read as a condition on the first, the other three work with or without a guarantee. The cost: that reading sets aside the condition as it is given for the whole set.

This page does not settle which reading is right.

8. What this page does not decide for you

• The opening words of the won't-struggle-forever close. Not established on this page.
• Your opening close. Not established on this page. For stacking one close after another, see SOP 100, section 5.

9. The checklist

Moment or close	What you do
Before any close	Check you offer a guarantee; repeat back, agree
Both options are risk-free	You can only make an informed decision once you try it
Spell out the promise	The guarantee's terms; money back, no questions asked
The word "decide"	Doing it and not doing it are both decisions; which future are you cutting off?
You won't struggle forever	If you'll do it eventually, you might as well do it now; best time to plant a tree
Closer or further	Five years of the same, or a step closer?
Fear of the perfect choice	No one product changed my life; the first decision did

10. What this page does not cover

Choosing and wording the guarantee itself is SOP 7. The rushed-decision closes for the same stall are SOP 107. The general closes, including the one for a prospect's main concern, are SOP 101 — Run the general closes.