With most people tightening their belts nowadays, it’s essential that you minimize their perceived risk of purchasing from you. “Prospects want to know that you are capable of delivering the results they want and that you will actually deliver them. No matter how good your product is, if you are perceived as risky, your prospect will not buy from you,” explains sales trainer Tessa Stowe. “Conversely, people will knowingly buy inferior products if they perceive the risk is less and that there is more of a guarantee they will get the outcome they are looking for.”

Risk is a huge deciding factor, so how do you convey that you are the lowest-risk solution? Here are five ideas:

Brainstorm all the reasons why you are the lowest-risk solution for your prospect.

Why are your prospects assured of getting the outcomes they want from your solution? What support do you offer that ensures they will get that outcome? Why should they feel assured you will be around next year to support them? You must be crystal-clear in your own mind about why you are the lowest-risk solution before you can explain it to your prospect.

Brainstorm all the reasons why your prospects might perceive you as a risky solution.

Put yourself in their shoes. Be honest with yourself. If you were your competition, what would you say about the risk of your solution? Now reframe that risk so it is not a risk. Turn it completely around to something positive. De-risk the risk!

Here’s an example. In 2002 I was selling a billing solution to a telecommunications company. We were perceived by the prospect as high-risk as we had no references and we were using new, very advanced, technology.

I reframed that risk and told my prospect that we were actually the lowest-risk solution because we had the advanced technology that no one else had implemented. I went on to explain that, because this new technology would help them get ahead of their competition, it represented the lowest risk because it minimized the risk of competition in the future. They saw my point, and this was a major reason for their decision to buy the solution. You must name the elephant in the room, so to speak. Turn the perceived risk around to your advantage.

Be prepared with customer testimonials and case studies that talk about specific results.

The more customer testimonials and case studies you have, the more comfortable your prospect will feel and the less risky you will be perceived. Even if you have only one or two, they can be powerful risk-minimizers.

Make sure your true intent is to help your prospects get what they want, not to sell them something.

Always - and I mean always - act in alignment with this intent. If you do, your prospects will trust you. When your prospects trust you, they will perceive you as less risky.

Have a very open conversation with your prospect and tell them why you are the lowest-risk solution.

Go into as much detail and depth on each point as you need to in order to make them feel comfortable. Ask them if they are confident in the reasons you have mentioned or if they still have questions. If you have built rapport and trust, they will tell you in what areas they still perceive you are risky. This conversation can be a very revealing - and rewarding - one.

Implement these five ideas and your prospects will see you as the lowest-risk solution - and maybe even the no-risk solution. More sales are sure to follow.

Tessa Stowe teaches small business owners and recovering salespeople simple steps to turn conversations into clients without being sales-y or pushy. Her FREE monthly Sales Conversation newsletter is full of tips on how to sell your services by just being yourself. Sign up now at www.salesconversation.com.

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