When I checked my emails this morning, I was greeted with a refund request for my famous Program Creation Kit. This request ultimately sparked inspiration for this post which had to happen before I even got out of my pyjamas.

In case you haven’t heard of it, it’s only $37 to purchase and it’s jam-packed with value. Templates are done for you with programs you can tweak and edit to suit your business and offer to your clients right away.

There’s even supporting videos to go with the templates to explain how to get the best out of them. It’s pretty much a mini course that can skyrocket the business of any dog trainer.

My favourite feedback for the kit so far was from Keith who made $8000 in one weekend from what he got in this $37 kit!

Needless to say, this kit is a no-brainer investment.

So why would I get a refund request?

I want to break this down because there are lessons for us all to learn from when we get negative feedback from customers.

Sometimes we learn things we can change about our offer, our marketing or our delivery.

In other cases, we can learn some fascinating things about why people do what they do, the realities of business and building resilience.

Let’s get into it.

1. Refund requests are a normal part of business. Want to grow your business really big but also want to never receive a complaint, refund request, negative comment or unhappy customer? Sorry, the two go hand in hand. The more people you reach, the more these things will happen. It’s mathematics – there’ll always be a small percentage of these people that come across your content and products. So the more people you reach as you grow bigger, the more this will happen. It’s a rite of passage and a sign of growth. Of course, if you’re getting a high amount, you need to look for areas that need improvement. But even if you’re doing everything right, you can’t please everyone so there’ll always be some of these.
2. If investing $37 is a big deal to you, you need the kind of help I offer. Imagine that there was no refunds and you found that spending this $37 has left you so short for the week that you are stressed out over it. If you run a dog training business, you can be making an income that affords you to recognise that this is not a lot of money. As your business becomes more successful and you work on your money mindset, what is considered a lot of money changes like a threshold that grows as you do. I can help you slide that scale.
3. Coincidentally, in this case the whole course was completed before the refund request was sent in. I can see member activity on every course I run. It is always interesting to me that people who complain have either not looked at the content at all, or quickly binged the lot then asked for a refund. This might seem really unfair if this happens to you as a business owner. Have your terms and conditions tight. For higher priced courses, drip out content gradually to prevent theft. Once lessons are delivered in your larger programs there should generally be no refunds, especially if this has taken your time.However, don’t sweat the small stuff. In some cases, like this one, it is not worth fighting and stressing over. I have better things to focus my time and energy on than fighting a refund request of $37.
4. Low priced offers attract less committed customers. In dog training, online offers and all sorts of products and services, both myself and many others have observed that it’s the lower ticket items that get the less committed people with unrealistic expectations. Yes, it’s a generalisation and not always true. But I see time and time again that when someone finds my content and they’re really committed to their business, they end up in my higher tier program, they take action, get results and don’t complain. Customer service is a breeze at that level.Meanwhile, some people who buy my $37 kit are surprised that I have other offers and everything I can teach in my Masterclass is not included in one cheap deal. I always over deliver so my Program Creation Kit is a bargain for the price, but of course it’s not the same as a full coaching program.
5. The biggest limitation is the mind. This is the biggest influence on all of the above. The beliefs and mindset of the customer will affect everything they expect, everything they do and all the outcomes they achieve. In this example, the customer said that the prices in the program templates were unrealistic for a dog trainer to charge. And I priced them at the lower end of the scale. This is a mindset block that will stop this person from creating a sustainable living for as long as she holds onto it. Because she believes this to be true, she will not raise her rates which leaves her with the option to chase more and more clients for low fees until she can’t sustain the chase or can’t sustain the energy it requires to deliver that much training every week.

Meanwhile, someone with an open mind spends $37 on this kit, absorbs the information, feels inspired, implements and creates and business that affords them the lifestyle they want while protecting their time and energy so that they don’t have to burn out to get it, like so many trainers do.

The only difference between these two people is their beliefs and mindset.

To the refund requester, I am so grateful to you for inspiring this post that so many people can benefit and learn from.

If you see an opportunity to invest in yourself and grow, embrace it and look at what you can really learn from that, even if it is not the obvious.

And of course, if you want to grab the Program Kit that inspired both an $8000 weekend for one trainer and a, “that’s unrealistic,” refund request from another, you can grab it below and make up your own mind. It is after all, your unique mind that will make the difference.

>> Click here to learn more about the Program Kit <<