8 Inducements Successful Companies Use to Close Sales on the Spot
Do you get frustrated when people who like your product or service can’t decide whether to buy or not, so they simply leave your store or website? What is indecision? No purchase! People may like your product, they may consider buying it, but this is no guarantee of purchase. Luckily there are some solutions to this problem.
You can get those potentials who are not 100% sure about the purchase to decide on the spot. You can also get those people who struggle to take a decision, to buy then and there. By offering that something extra, you increase your closing ratio. This something extra is the ‘kick’ they need to make the purchase.
Gift with Purchase
It was Estée Lauder who introduced the idea of Gift with Purchase. Legend has it that store clerks at Fortnum & Mason, London, where Lauder had offered a Gift with Purchase, found that one of the redeemed cards had been addressed to HM Queen Elizabeth II, Buckingham Palace. This marketing technique was amazingly successful in the post-war consumer boom and is still effective today.
This something extra is the ‘kick’ your customers need to make the purchase.
So what can you offer to close sales on the spot? Big brands often include the following classic Inducements in their closing process to motivate people to buy faster or with greater enthusiasm:
1. Obtain a gift with purchase (as we saw above)
2. Buy one; get one free
3. Get a second product at half price
4. Receive coupons on purchase
5. Earn points or rewards on purchase
You don’t have to go any further than your supermarket to spot these techniques being applied.
Risk Reversal
Another excellent strategy, pioneered by Jay Abraham, is Risk Reversal. Buyers can ‘reverse’ the transaction if they are not happy; i.e. they return the product to the seller and get their money back.
Risk Reversal works so well because it overcomes the clients’ fear or reluctance to purchase by offering to ‘guarantee their purchase’ and/or to refund them without any explanation being required. The tactic has been used for a long time by most large stores, but is being applied more frequently by companies that provide training courses. For example, when I signed up for the Tony Robbins Business Mastery course, I was assured – in writing, on the sign-up form – that if I did not find a million dollar’s worth of value in the course after the first day, I would receive a full refund. The four-day course is one of the most expensive programs available today and this insurance helped me make my decision to buy the program. It minimized my risk. I could also get 25% of the course for free and leave after the first day with a full refund. The course was amazing, so I stayed.
Here are some more techniques… test which work best for you:
6. Money-back guarantee
7. Money-back + gift guarantee
8. Get back double the amount you paid guarantee
Make it work for you
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You don’t have to be Estée Lauder to offer something extra. Similarly, you don’t have to be Tony Robbins to offer insurance and use Risk Reversal. As a nutritionist, you can offer a cash-back guarantee on your eating program: if your patients do not lose a certain (minimum) amount of weight within a week of applying your advice, they get a full refund. If they don’t lose that weight, you know they are not following your advice and don’t want them as your clients anyway.
As a trainer you can guarantee not only a refund of the training fee but also the costs of accommodation and transportation. Time is also money – so make the offer even more appealing and promise to refund double the amount you have received for that training if they are not satisfied. Use such offers, of course, only if you are absolutely sure that you provide amazing value for money.
These are just some of the ways you can increase sales without any investment in marketing. Sometimes you just need to be creative as to how you serve your existing clients so you don't need any more clients to reach your sales targets.
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