Lower the Risk When Marketing - Part 2 - Adult B2B Marketing Tip

Integrate Risk Lowering Strategies - Part 2

Yesterday we discussed risk lowering strategies and talked about being the recognized leader in your industry. Here's an example:

I was recently in the market for a new phone system for my office. I did my research and found a company that sold a product I felt comfortable with, and even though it cost what seemed to be a lot of money for a phone system, it was still within my budget. If you've ever bought a sophisticated business phone system, then you know it's not something you just call up and order out of a catalog. There's a fair amount of planning that goes into getting everything squared away and ready to install. So I had gone through the process of negotiating, evaluating, and planning...and finally had just about all the details worked out and was ready to go ahead with the purchase.

Right at that point, a guy from another company called and asked if he could give a quote on a phone system. Having never met the guy, I agreed to let him stop by and introduce himself. When he got to the office, I was shocked. The guy looked like the missing identical twin of Rodney Dangerfield. He had the same goofy look on his face as Rodney, plus the wide collar Hawaiian shirt and gold chain necklace to complete the look.

I thought, "Wow, this guy sells phone systems?" He told me that he appreciated the chance to bid on the phone system, and that if he couldn't beat the other company's price by at least 30% that I shouldn't even consider doing business with him. Out of politeness, I consented to his e mailing a proposal over the next day. Sure enough, the next day the e mail came over with a quote for a different brand, and was about 30% less than the original vendor's. So who do you think I ended up buying the phone from? The Rodney Dangerfield look-a-like? Not on your life. I went with the original system that cost 30% more - or in this case, several thousands dollars more.

Why? The risk was too high. Don't you wonder about a system that's 30% less expensive than what everyone else is selling? Wouldn't that make you a little nervous? Do you really want something as critical as your business telephone system to be supplied by some weirdo selling off-brand stuff? Of course not.

Now You're Probably Not A Weirdo Selling Off Brand Stuff. But the story makes a point about people's aversion to risk. Realize this - because of the Confidence Gap, any time a customer does business with you, particularly for the first time, there's a certain amount of risk involved. In your business and in your advertising, the best way to lower the risk is to...well, lower the risk.

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