Where Do Your TERMS Go?

I’m not gonna lie, I see this one A LOT.  

Coaches are running group programs and live events without Terms of Purchase!  As a lawyer this always makes me super nervous (but I realize I am coming from it from a different angle cause I hear #allthehorrorstories ;0) - but here is the thing - anytime money is exchanging hands, there need to be terms in place.  This is meant to protect YOU and your MONEY.   

Recently I was talking to my coach about this and how I had seen a very visible coach selling a program that linked straight to PayPal, and I couldn’t believe it!  This woman was making multiple six-figures, there is absolutely no reason she shouldn’t have all her legal stuff in place to protect what was sure to be a BIG launch.

But then my coach said something VERY interesting - “Sarah, my Terms of Purchase come after they buy. They get an email with everything.”   Whoa. I suddenly realized there could be a ton of business owners trying to do the right thing (have Terms of Purchase in place) but doing it at the wrong time!

So here is the thing - your customers/clients should AGREE to your Terms of Purchase BEFORE they buy.

This is why you often have to ‘check’ a box before hitting the pay button or you see this line on the sales page “By clicking purchase, you agree to our Terms.”  There is a reason for this!  Terms outline your policies on refunds, what’s included in the program/product, how to solve disputes, etc.  

If someone signs-up for your group program and then 24 hours later wants a refund, you would likely go point to your Terms and your refund policy. At which point they would have an argument to say:  well I didn’t agree to those before paying, if I had known there was a no refund policy I wouldn’t have signed up.  Unfortunately for you, they would have a leg to stand on and it would be tough for you to fight it.  Sale gone.

Bottom line: put your Terms of Purchase on your sales page by the pay button or on your checkout page.

Now, if you are starting a membership site, you know it’s a bit different than a group program or working 1:1.  There are other things that come up that you wouldn’t otherwise be dealing with - monthly payments, and perhaps changes in monthly payments (e.g., $10/month for the first 3, then $40 after), cancellations, the actual hosted site, guest experts, a stream of content you are putting out.  

This why Terms of Purchase specifically for your membership is SO important.  It outlines how you will manage your membership site but also serves to protect the amazing content you are putting out and also include disclaimers to protect you from anything your members may do (or not do!) with all that great info.

So now that you have your Terms - what do you do with them? They should be in TWO places.

The most important place is on your sales page / at the the point of checkout.  Your new members need to AGREE to your Terms before they sign-up.  This protects you in case they come to you 3 days in asking for a refund (when you have no refunds for the first month), claim that you promised something that hasn’t been included, decide to complain to PayPal about you...any number of possibilities.  Being able to point to your Terms and where they agreed to them is what will help protect you.

The other place is on every page of your membership site in the footer. This serves as constant protect for your content and your business.  It also is great for the member so that have easy access if they ever have questions on billing, how to cancel, etc.  

Win-win!