“Risk Reversal increases buyer confidence and encourages completed transactions.” - Dave Smith

A lot of the businesses I communicate with and have worked with do not have a Risk Reversal Strategy, and are not familiar with what one looks like, or the power it could have over their conversion rates.

Each time a customer completes a transaction, they leave your store or website with 99% of the risk associated with the purchase. Even if you overcame all their objections and answered their questions about the performance of the product, the moment they hand over the money they lose their leverage. If the product does not do what you say it will, or if it breaks down, your customer has parted with their cash and has not received the promised results. They have lost - or wasted - money.

So, Risk Reversal simply means taking the purchase risk away from the customer and taking it on yourself or your business. When your business allows customers to make purchases without fear or doubt, you will encourage them to make decisions, spend money and complete sales because there is less at stake. And whenever you can encourage more customers to buy from you, you will boost your conversion rate and your average number of transactions. So, offering a strong guarantee is a strategy that will increase conversions as well as repeat business.

As a Business Coach, I cover:

The relationship between risk reversal and conversions
How to use guarantees in your business
How to handle returns and claims
A step-by-step process for creating guarantees

A strong guarantee will reverse purchase risk and increase your conversion rates ...

Essentially, guarantees take qualified leads and quickly convert them into repeat customers. When you guarantee what you sell, you take away the purchase risk from your customer and assume it yourself. When the purchase risk is taken away from the customer, they are more likely to agree to make purchases and you will close more sales.

People do not like to be wrong or feel that they have been misled. They want to be sure that they made the best decision when they purchase a refrigerator or a new pair of shoes. They want the products and services they buy to deliver the results, and benefits as advertised. They are afraid of making the wrong choice when they spend their money.

When you provide a guarantee, you break down these natural barriers in the Sales Process, and the fear inherent in making large purchases. Guarantees usually shorten the Sales Process altogether because there is less need for discussion about objections. The customer feels that they can try the product out, risk free. The best guarantees are big and attention grabbing, but still realistic. They are bigger and better than the competition, but still, something you can stand behind. They tell your customer that you have confidence in your product, and that you "must be good at what you do" or you could not guarantee it.

Go ahead and guarantee the products and services you offer and show your customers that you stand behind your claims.

Big, bold guarantees generate the best results, but if you are hesitant, test the waters with something you are comfortable with. Perhaps start by guaranteeing a new product or service instead of including a guarantee with everything you offer. Remember to have a system in place to test and measure the conversion rate on your guarantees, as well as a claims system to monitor returns.

PS: If a particular product or service is seeing a high number of claims, you may need to modify your guarantee.