I’ve been doing editing work for a client who is blogging about her experiences in using alternative methods to overcome cancer. The hope is that her story will help and inspire others. The inspiration for this newsletter article actually came from something that she said: You need to keep fear locked up in a cage. Which is fairly profound advice that applies to many things in life—including the need to give your clients a helping hand in this area!

In creating your marketing materials, an important thing to keep in mind is that people might be afraid to buy from you. They’re afraid that your product might be shoddy, your service might be lousy, your solution won’t actually solve their problem (or won’t solve it as easily as some other option would), there’s a better deal to be had elsewhere, etc. In other words, they’re afraid that if they buy whatever it is that you’re selling, they will later come to regret that decision.

To overcome this, you need to convince them that their fears are unfounded. Your product or service will indeed solve their problems, meet their needs and improve their life. Here are some of the things you can do to convince prospects to set aside their fears and buy from you:

• Offer a solid money-back guarantee – This is one of the best ways to eliminate perceived risk and make it “safe” for people to consider buying from you.
  
  
• Provide accurate descriptions – Be honest in the way you represent your products’ features and benefits.
  
  
• Use testimonials – As Yelp, Amazon and others have proven, people put a lot of faith in the opinions of strangers.
  
  
• Create positive expectations – A person who expects to have a positive experience will be looking for validation of that expectation.
  
  
• Make an emotional connection – People buy from companies that they know, like and trust. Prospects will feel better about your business if your marketing efforts connect with them on an emotional level.
  
  
• Educate prospects – Sometimes prospects are afraid that their own ignorance will cause them to make a bad decision. Content marketing, such as providing educational articles about your offerings, can help overcome this.

People who are afraid often won’t make a purchase at all. To increase your sales, you need to anticipate and overcome your prospects’ fears.

CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT: REFERAPPOINTMENT.COM

Buying a car is a major purchase—and an experience that many people dread. For car dealerships, referrals are probably the best way to overcome prospects’ fears. If someone you know buys a car and then tells you that they got a great deal and had a fabulous experience, you’ll approach that dealership with positive expectations and a low level of fear.

ReferAppointment.com is a platform that encourages these referrals – while helping dealerships reduce their advertising expenses and rewarding participating customers with cash payments when the people in their referral network buy. Check out the website I wrote for them at www.ReferAppointment.com.