Buying something online is usually a very scary experience. We’ve already had our visitors ask the question “Why should I trust you?” and now it’s time to make sure they follow through. You’d be amazed at the strange things that go through a person’s head when they’re about to make a payment.
This is the moment of truth when people get to the payment page and start getting cold feet. They ask themselves questions like “Am I making the right decision?” … “Do I really need this?” … “Can I really trust this person?” … “Is this the best price?” … “What will other people think?” And the more doubt they have the more likely they are to walk away without purchasing.
So it’s our job to make it feel like it’s impossible for our visitor to make a mistake. This starts with building trust and is cemented in place by…
The magic of risk reversal
While risk reversal may sound fancy all it means is we make sure that we take all the risk. So when our visitor makes a purchase they have no chance of being ripped off, disappointed or losing their money. So here are two easy ways to do this…
Free trials
If you can somehow have your visitor sample your product before buying then you’ll go a long way to closing the sale. This is why when we sell information we usually offer free resources before asking anyone to make a purchase. We give a free sample of the knowledge we have to share and show that there’s even more in the paid products.
The most famous sales technique for this is known as the “puppy dog close.” The example is when someone is trying to decide over buying a puppy for their home. If the salesperson is clever they’ll say something like “take the puppy home right now, pay nothing and next week you can come in and either pay for the puppy or bring him back… whatever you decide.”
Of course once they get the puppy home and it starts bonding with the family then the decision is made. The salesperson gets their sale, the family gets the puppy and everyone walks away happy.
Strong guarantees
Another way to reverse the risk is to offer an amazing guarantee. Most businesses are required to have guarantees or return policies by law but many never think of them as excellent sales points. If you’re willing to go above and beyond with your guarantee and customer service then your business will flourish.
You can also effectively use your guarantee to show your complete confidence in your product or service. This means avoiding the boring “or your money back” promise and putting more pizzazz into it. How about a “double your money back” guarantee or “if you’re unhappy I’ll not only refund your money but hand you $50 cash on the spot!”
This way the visitor is presented with a win-win situation. They either love your product or service (and you’re obviously confident about it) or they don’t like it and get extra money back. Of course there may be some people that take advantage of you but at the end of the day the extra sales will more than make up for it.
What you do next
Decide how you can reverse the risk and create an incredible guarantee. If you can do some sort of free trial then do that as well as the more you can reverse the risk the more successful you’ll be. Then talk about your free trial or amazing guarantee loudly and proudly… don’t hide it away in the terms and conditions but make it a huge selling point of dealing with you.
If you’d like to learn more about how to use risk reversal plus my 6 Components of Selling and other important concepts of selling online then check out my Automated Selling Machine course.
