Risk Reversal - How to Increase Sales and Build Relationships

Risk Reversal is a way to increase sales and to make whatever you have to sell irresistible because your customer has nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Who Takes All The Risk?

When you are in business, and you are trying to sell something whether it be a product or service what often happens is that one of the parties involved is shouldering the burden of the risk, Usually this is the customer, They might buy the wrong product, or it might not be suitable to their needs, or your service might not produce the results that they need to justify the investment.

Take it Away from the Customer

What you need to do is find ways to take this burden away from the customer and shift it onto you. This effectively opens up the sales process and removes any objections or reservations a customer or prospect might have. You are effectively guaranteeing that you will meet their needs and that if certain criteria are not met they will be fully compensated.

30 Day Money Back Guanrantee

A simple example is the 30 day no questions asked money back guarantee. This gives anyone who is sceptical the chance to test drive what you have to offer while having the security of knowing that they can pull out at any time and not have lost anything.

More Than Money Back Guarantee

A further variation is the more than Money back guarantee where you offer a full refund plus a further offer or gift to appease the customer and make up for the time they spent and the inconvenience of choosing something unsuitable.

Define Criteria to Measure Effectiveness

If you are selling a service then you need to define certain measurable criteria that can be used to test whether or not your service has been effective.

A great example of this can be seen in what Frank Kern offered in his mass control program that he released earlier this year. He was so sure that his program would work that he offered to give anyone personal one on one coaching if after following his program and applying all the teachings they were still not able to apply what they had learned successfully to their business.

Another common example that most people will have heard of is Domino's Pizza, if they take longer than 30 minutes to deliver you get your Pizza for Free.

Starbucks have also adopted similar customer service policies as described so well in his Blog by Yaro Starack, If your drink isn't delivered or the service you receive is not to their high standards you get your drink for free and a voucher for a drink on the house at a later date.

Word of Mouth Builds Reputation

What this does is develop a strong bond with the customer and also build your companies reputation through word of mouth. If you receive a standard of service over and above what you are expecting it is the sort of thing you will talk about to your friends. This is one of the ways companies can start to go viral. People hear about them through word of mouth. This is why social media sites and online communities have become the new arena and market place which can make or break your business.

Build This Principle Into Your Own Business

It now becomes clear that is you want to convince more people to buy your product or service you have to make it as easy and risk free for them to do so. Developing guarantees, standards of quality and expected results need to be combined with clearly defined criteria that can be used to measure how effective you have been in meeting the needs of your customer. Risk reversal ensures quality and accountability and builds a basis for selling other products and services at a later date. People who know like and trust you are much more likely to become repeat customers.