If match.com Can Guarantee Love Why Can't Professionals Guarantee Services

Recently, I saw a television commercial for match.com in which they now advertise a Make Love Happen Guarantee. They are so sure that you will meet someone within six months, they guarantee it.One of the keys to making sure that value pricing is not construed as gouging is to offer a 100% money-back guarantee on all services. If the customer is not 100% satisfied with the services you provide you should agree to refund all or part of the fees collected based on the customer's discretion.While this seems radical on the face of it, it really is not. While talking to a group of software implementation consultants and extolling the virtues of a guarantee, one participant said, "When you think about it, we already do this. It is called a lawsuit."She was right on, most professionals that I know would refund a customer's money rather that go through the trauma of lawsuit. Why not change the positioning of it and call it a price guarantee?Others have asked me about customers who might abuse a guarantee. Again, the answer is simple. I have found that it is better to know earlier in a relationship that the customer does not value your services than after invoices go unpaid for 45, 60, or 90 days on a regular basis.I wonder if one of the relationship compatibility questions that match.com asks is "Do you believe in cost-led or value-led pricing?"