Sales = Buyers Risk Management

An important topic that is not talked about enough in sales is the fact that most buyers end up not buying a product because they are scared or the risk of their purchase is high. Being a good salesperson is having the ability to lower this induced risk they may feel they are taking when buying a product. This ties directly into emotional stability and instability. A good way to put it is such – buyers are not afraid of buying the product, but they are afraid of being wrong when buying the product. If I am a salesperson and I am able to reduce this perceived risk, then that means I am doing a good job. Gaining the trust of the buyer is much greater than just persuading them. A great example of this that I experienced was when me and a friend had landed a job to detail this one clients car. When we showed up to the job, they were hesitant due to the fact that we “looked” young and inexperienced. Backtracking to my original point, their “perceived risk” was high. It was until we showed them our previous work and reviews that they finally gave us their trust and let us proceed to detail their 120k plus cars. This just goes to show that being personal and understanding leads to trust and connection, which is much more valuable than the technique of persuasion. If we had just tried to tell them that we were good and would not mess up, it would not have gone far. Even if we tried persuading them by lowering the price maybe $50, they still would not have trusted us. It was only when we connected and PROVED we were capable of doing a good job that they let us proceed. In conclusion, trust > persuasion, but these two factors put together are unstoppable.