That's right. I said it. Pushing your guarantee can actually cost you customers. Don't get me wrong - offering a guarantee is a good thing. It's how you present it that really matters.

Put yourself in the shoes of a customer visiting your website or otherwise looking at your marketing materials for the first time. Most people expect a product or service to work as advertised because, well, the law pretty much requires it. If it doesn't, they expect their money back, and generally speaking, the law is on their side.

So how do they react to seeing your guarantee? If it's presented one time, it's usually reassuring. Seeing "All Services 100% Guaranteed" tells customers that their satisfaction is important and that you will strive to meet or exceed their expectations. It says "good enough" is not an option.

But what about when they see the guarantee everywhere they look? The natural reaction is to ask, "Why?" They may never have thought about your product or service as risky before, but after seeing the guarantee a dozen times, what else will they think? Obviously, they say to themselves, other people must consider this a risky proposition or they wouldn't be pushing the guarantee so hard.

Your website and marketing materials should convince the customer that your company is the right one for the job. You should be inspiring confidence. A handful of testimonials will do a much better job than a big banner advertising your guarantee.

That's not to say it's never appropriate to feature your guarantee. Infomercials do it all the time, but that's because customers already sense a risk. You see, those items are usually one of a kind, and the customer won't have a chance to actually touch it until they have paid for it. A guarantee alleviates a risk.

When you present your guarantee, make sure you're not introducing the concept of risk. It will cost you business.