LLBean -- Guaranteed Good Karma

L.L. Bean posted this message on the wall of his first retail store in Freeport Maine in 1912. The company has stood by this guarantee ever since.

I have long admired the customer service policy of L.L. Bean. In essense, a customer can return any product for any reason at any time. And if you do not wish to exchange the product for another, you can receive a full refund.

I returned a four year old pair of Bean boots because they were splitting at the heel. Back came a new pair in less than a week. Likewise, many years ago, I returned a blue suit purchased at Brooks Brothers because it picked up excess lint. I was offered a no cost exchange for a higher priced suit (something a recent business school grad with school loans could not afford at the time). The exchanges cemented my loyalty to both companies for a long time.

Why do most companies chose not to adopt this policy? The reason is fear. Fear that their products will not stand up to a 100% guarantee. Fear that the financial cost of exchanges (inventory write offs, lost margins (double the cost of good sold for a single sale, etc.) will not be offset by higher revenue. And so on.

I suspect though a deeper fear. Fear that customers will abuse the policy -- and if you mistrust customers, they will end up mistrusting you.

L.L. Bean extends this policy to every single product -- not just low price items (where they could afford to take the hit) or high margin items (where the high margin could cover the incremental cost of goods sold). Every product is covered -- from kayaks to hand crafted fly rods.

The benefit to L.L. Bean is not just a great customer experience. The policy becomes the backbone of the Company, providing the discipline to make sure all products and services are up to it. It's too bad there are not more companies as disciplined as this. There is too little guaranteed good karma in the commercial world we live in.