It’s been a while since I went shopping for something that has a “lifetime guarantee”. It always puzzled me what it meant – and it actually still does. Whose life are we talking about? The product or customer? In most cases, I think most people, including myself, think it refers to themselves – we don’t want to think of our own death before the product – we see ourselves living for eternity. So, we go ahead and buy the product or service.
I don’t know about you, but most things I use on a daily basis don’t have lifetime guarantees and they last on average for a year or two, before they have a malfunction or breakdown. I may also have the urge to replace them because of better and more user-friendly products in the market.
The rapid rate at which technology is changing, even apps that were very useful yesterday become so obsolete in a blink of an eye – so their lifespan terminates almost immediately after the launch of a new one.
You also don’t want to be stuck in the dark ages of an old tech item while newer and better versions are out there. So, in the tech space, “lifetime guarantee” would probably mean up until a newer and better rival comes through – then the product has served its “lifetime guarantee” not yours. You could continue to use it after the newer versions are out there, but you would be very irrelevant.
When it comes to physical items, that’s where it becomes a little bit tricky – there are just some novelties that don’t get used that often – obviously their wear and tear will be close to none. I think when it comes to physical products, we probably buy more on the nostalgic feeling as opposed to practicality – and there are many examples like that. If for example, my grandfather was the best harmonica player in the community – I am likely to buy the most expensive harmonica in the market with the belief (at the time of buying it) that I will play it like my grandfather, meanwhile my true interest doesn’t actually lie in playing the instrument and not really in music.
So what would eventually happen is that the harmonica will become preserved and not be used at all – it would probably not even gather dust as it would remain in its classy case and wrapped with good quality silky cloth. It will obviously have a lifetime that surpasses mine unless if some serious natural disaster had to occur.
At the beginning of the year, most businesses start and set up strategy sessions with the aim to performed better than they did in the previous year – and at the same time expect to change behaviour in less than 12 months. The euphoria lives for a couple of weeks and then eventually dies down by month 2 – when everyone tunes back to “reality” – not serving the lifetime (12 months) guarantee of performing better than the previous year. What lifetime guarantees are you promising in your environment? Are they attainable? What measures are you going to use to track them?