Using A Strong Risk Reversal Closes More Sales

by Archie R. Lawhorne

When you minimize risk in purchasing decisions a lot more people are willing to say "yes". Once they sample your product or service, if it performs as you say, most customers will keep that product and continue buying again and again.

Here's a little story to illustrate my point.

A farmer wanted to buy a hunting dog for his son. There were two for sale in a nearby town. The first seller told the farmer he was asking $300 for his bloodhound, non-negotiable.

The second seller told the farmer about his bloodhound, long before he mentioned a price or asked for a commitment. He said the puppy was from a long line of champion bloodhounds, well-known in the area for their tracking skills. And he brought out the puppy's mother and father and explained that they were like members of the family very loyal and constant companions for the last six years. The seller wanted to make sure the puppy went to a loving owner who would give it attention and put to use the dog's great hunting abilities. The man went on to tell the farmer that he wanted the farmer's son to try out the puppy for a month before he had to make any decision. He offered to provide an extra kennel and a month's worth of food for the puppy. Finally, he said, at the end of 30 days, he would drive out to the farmer's house and either take back the puppy, or ask then to be paid.

Which puppy do you suppose the farmer decided to purchase for his son? Obviously there was no question. And there will be no question for you if you apply strong risk reversal into every sales offer you make. What exactly do I mean by a strong risk reversal? I m referring to an iron-clad guarantee that eliminates all, or most of all of the customer risk in the transaction.

The clearer, stronger and more detailed the guarantee, the more credibility and impact it will have on a buyer. Consider how much more powerful it is if instead of saying, "your satisfaction is guaranteed," you say, "we unconditionally guarantee performance for a full 30 days." That's better, wouldn t you agree? But, what if you went a step further and said, "No questions asked, 100% money-back guarantee anytime within 60 days if my product doesn t perform exactly as promised." That s even better. But you could go still further by saying, "No questions asked, 100% money-back guarantee. If you don t experience noticeable and measurable improvements in your speaking abilities, a wider vocabulary, and bolder voice delivery, if you don't get the results we promised within 90 days of using our system, we ll gladly give you a complete and immediate refund of your full purchase price, no questions asked that s our guarantee to you."

Notice the difference a strong and specific risk-reversed performance guarantee can make? When you apply risk reversal this way, your sales almost always skyrockets, and stays that way. You make more sales, sell larger purchase units and sell more frequently when people don t worry about making the wrong or bad buying decision.

When you incorporate risk reversal, you essentially eliminate your prospect s fear that they will make a bad, incorrect or damaging purchasing decision. That s an extremely powerful, persuasive point to make. It moves anyone who s indecisive or mildly interested and turns them into highly favorable prospects. If people are trying to decide between you and one or more of your competitors, it tips the level of the playing field significantly to your advantage.

Just adding risk reversal and a purchase strong guarantee to your sales offer makes a powerful difference.

There are a variety of approaches to the risk reversal strategy.

• A software vendor guarantees its product will reduce manufacturing costs by at least 10%.
• A copywriter offers his services for free if his direct mail package pulls less than a 5% response.
• A commercial water filter distributor offers to buy back any filtering units not sold in the first 3 months.
• An interior decorator agrees (in writing) not to be paid until her customers are completely satisfied with the work she's done.

If you don t employ some form of risk reversal, start doing it right away. If your current guarantee is short and vague, enhance your copy with more specifics and more attractive terms.

If your product or service is high quality and meets performance expectations, the longer the guarantee and the more specific the performance promise you make, the more people will buy. It s that simple.

Typically a 60-day guarantee will out pull 30 days by 20 to 100%. Test it yourself and see what results you get. The more specific you get in describing what "satisfaction" means, the more compelled they become to act in order to experience that benefit for themselves.

If you re concerned that employing a strong risk reversal will cost you in product returns and lower profits, don t be. Typically, unless your product or service is flawed or just plain inferior in terms of meeting customer expectations, the number of people exercising a refund guarantee is negligible. But the increase in people taking you up on the initial sales offer is anything but negligible.

Archie R. Lawhorne, APR, is an accredited public relations professional, marketing writer and president of Crosspoint Publishing Company. For more information visit http://www.sixfigureincome.com/free/?73917.27 or e-mail to webmaster@profitleader.com

Return to top of page - Return to Home Page