SCHEME 9—THE "YOUR MONEY BACK" OFFER
A manufacturer of certain machines for shop use wastes little time in describing the machine or telling what all it will do. The broad assertion is made that after a month's use it would not be sold at the price paid for it, and instead of arguing the case and endeavoring to prove the statement, the company strives to make it easy to place a trial order. Here are two of the three paragraphs that make up one of its letters:
"To prove it, all you have to do is to fill in, sign and mail this card. After 30 days you MAY return the machine if you want to.
"Try it out. Never mind what we might SAY about the uses your shop men would be getting out of it—FIND OUT. It is easy. Just send the card."
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This is simplicity itself. The writer does not put us on the defensive by trying to argue with us. We are to be the judge and he compliments us by the inference that we "don't need to be told" but can judge for ourselves as to whether it is worth keeping. The price is held in the background and the actual ordering is nothing more than to sign a post card. There is no reason at all why we should delay; we could hardly turn the letter over to be filed without feeling that we were blind to our best interest in not replying.