Risk Reversal, Win By Default

When I was a kid growing up here in Miami, my dad used to take me to watch the insanely popular local sport and parimutuel Jai-alai.

Now, if you’ve never stepped foot inside a Jai-alai fronton before, you’d be in the solid majority…

Jai-alai is played with a small as a golf-ball, hard as a rock “Pelota”, a ball that is caught and thrown using a “Cesta”, a woven basket worn on the hand.

The ball is traded back and forth like, sort of like psycho handball or racquetball on steroids at 100 mph+ speeds(!), bouncing off of an enormous 3-sided granite court with a wood side-court and netting to keep the ball from going into the audience.

Speaking of the audience, a Jai-alai audience is a betting audience which means it leaps to its feet at least 400 times a night. It’s THAT exciting, really.

So, what exactly does Jai-alai have to do with selling, you ask?

If selling were Jai-alai, your Call To Action would be your “Remate”, your kill shot. The Remate is the shot that everyone reacts to and players love to throw. It’s the action shot.

Your Risk Reversal would be your “Carimbola”, a shot that is very difficult to return and wins by default rather than “action”.

While the Remate is the “money shot” and by far the most exciting, it is also easy to miscalculate and throw it “into the wood”, out of bounds, lost sale…

The most consistent winning players are those that get the job done game after game with the less dynamic, but deadly effective Carimbola. They remove the possibility of a catch and return by putting the ball right where there are no options to return it well.

It wins by default.

That’s what your Risk Reversal is for, to make your offer win by default…

Successful risk reversal needs to surgically remove any potential resistance or excuses on the part of the prospect in such a way that whatever lingering hang-ups they might have are simply taken out of the equation. Poof! Gone, vanished, removed.

When you truly reverse the risk, you create a sense of confidence that keeps your buyer in a state of visualizing himself enjoying his vastly improved existence thanks to your irresistible offer that they literally cannot say no to.

So, let’s take a look at some Risk Reversals that kick ass. Most of us are surely familiar with these examples:

Oreck’s version of the classic Puppy-Dog guarantee:

He’s so confident in the superior quality of his Oreck vacuum, Old Man Oreck will let you take it home and live with it for a month.

If “his Oreck vacuum” is not everything you ever dreamed of in a vacuum, he will not only refund your money, he’ll even pay to have it shipped back. You literally have nothing to lose.

Extra credit awarded to the copy on the website, it’s a subtle but powerful tweak:

“If you’re not completely satisfied, return the Oreck product for a full refund. We’ll even pay return shipping costs, so there’s no risk to you. Get information on how to return an Oreck product“

By highlighting how trustworthy and reliable the guarantee offer/process is – even showing the prospect precisely what happens if they decide to back out, the buyer easily puts aside any “but what if it’s not right” questions.

They merrily continue enjoying their sublime mental movie of a clean living room carpet, plump and freshly vacuumed.

They continue to satisfyingly visualize that piece of crap they call a vacuum now in the dumpster, replaced.

Win by default.

ROSETTA STONE

RosettaStone is firing many a Remate throughout their excellent sales process.

However, they also deliver a devastatingly effective Carimbola by knocking out two problems with one Risk Reversal.

“The Fastest Way to Learn a Language. Guaranteed®.

All CD-ROM products are backed by our unconditional six-month money-back guarantee when purchased directly from Rosetta Stone.”

They not only boldly reinforce their primary value proposition, being “the fastest way to learn a language”, but they simultaneously deter buying 2nd hand or grey-market versions by reinforcing the exclusive benefits of buying the real deal, right here, right now. Brilliant.

Frank Kern’s Mass Control (The Combo Remate Carimbola)

Rare indeed is the Jai-alai player who can deliver in one sling of the Cesta, a combination Remate Carimbola shot that both kills and wins by default.

Undoubtedly Macon, Georgia’s finest marketing mind, Frank Kern delivers just such a combination in his Mass Control risk reversal:

My “Put My Money Where My Mouth Is” Double Guarantee Ensures That Either YOU Succeed Or You Don’t Pay…

Here’s how it works…

Guarantee #1: 45-Day “Free Look”

You have a full 45 days (more than enough time to go through the entire course) to see if my “30 Days To Mass Control Millions” is right for you. If you determine that it isn’t, just let us know and we’ll gladly refund your money. No hassles. No hard feelings.

But even if you go beyond the 45-day unconditional guarantee period you’re still protected by Guarantee #2…

Guarantee #2: Put My Money Where My Mouth Is…

This is crucial stuff so pay attention: Go through the training and complete all the Action Steps according to my instruction in the course. If by the end of 90 days you haven’t met your goal, let me know and I’ll personally work with you for an additional 90 days. (I’ll not only give you access to my private email adress, I’ll also allow you to schedule 30-minute calls with me if necessary).

If after that time you aren’t where you want to be, let me know and I’ll not only issue you a refund, I’ll also cut you a check for $500 just for wasting your time.

How’s that for puting my money where my mouth is?

Man, oh man. Kern not only hammers the satisfaction guarantee, he brings the buyer to an indisputable win-win decision buttressed by the hubris and outrageousness of the $500 time-wasting check.

Surely you can creatively develop a similarly outrageous risk reversal that “shocks and awes” your market with it’s confidence and win-lose completely tilted toward the buyer.

Ok, this is getting really long. Let’s wrap this up by reinforcing the meme one more time:

Effective Risk Reversal Let’s You Win By Default.

As always, I’d love to hear what you think.

Please leave a comment and let me know…

Brian McLeod

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