when the U.S. automotive industry was getting its fanny whipped by the Japanese.   U.S. cars were being poorly manufactured while the Japanese were putting out cars that kept going, and going, and going. W. Edwards Deming, known as the father of quality, preached the simple act of investing in quality during the production cycle, rather than wasting money with qualify service problems.   Another quality guru, Philip Crosby, wrote a book titled Quality is Free. What he tried to say in his book was that the investment you put in up front to ensure quality more than pays for itself with good products and happy customers. Hence, quality is free.   Good products = happy customers = more referrals and repeat sales = higher profits.   The same goes for refunds and returns. The more you invest the moment your customer purchases your product or service; the lower your refund and return rate will be.   Six Strategies for Overcoming Buyers Remorse   OK, lets get down to some specific strategies you can use to dramatically lower your return and refund rate. Each of these strategies takes little effort or time. The reason most business owners dont do them is because they have not become "institutionalized" in their business processes.   Whatever strategy you choose to overcome buyers remorse, do it consistently for each and every purchase. Measure it, report it, discuss it, make it a part of your "standard operating procedure."   Strategy # 1 - Package It Right   Tests have shown that the packaging itself can lower return rates. The harder you make your package to open, the less likely you are to get a return. Remember my story about my stereo? It had a ton of packaging with special Styrofoam wrapping and plastic coverings. After I ripped through it, I had the feeling that I couldnt return it. Youll find that many of your customers will feel the same way.   Strategy # 2 - Include a Special Note With Your Product   How many times have you received a product with just a shipping label attached? Ill bet that most of your packages arrive that way. Consider inserting a personal note from you thanking your customer for their business and assuring them that they just purchased the best product available.   With the hundreds of amateur audiotaped information products that I have shipped out to customers, I have not received one back. Not one! The recording is ugly, my voice is ugly, there isnt any musical score at the begging or the end, and you can easily tell that it wasnt recorded in a studio. In fact, you can hear the places on the tape in which I paused the recording to correct a mistake or take a break.