Risk - It's Everywhere!
30 Jun 2009 | Category: continuity-disaster-recovery | Author: admin
The alarm clock awakes you and you are at risk! From your very first step when you get out of bed until you turn out your reading lamp as you close your eyes at night you are always assuming some risk. You can bang your toe with your first step in the morning and you can get an electric shock as you turn out that light at night. Let's face it, there is risk associated with everything you do.
Some risks are statistically very small but potentially very important - think of the drug tampering crime back in the 80's when seven people were killed by poison-laced Tylenol. Other risks are statistically higher but with relatively minor effects where we might be unhappy with a purchase. We spend a good portion of our time and energy attempting to eliminate or minimize risk in our personal life and our business life. With each purchasing decision we assess the amount of risk we are comfortable with and then act accordingly. Your customers and prospects do that also and are always seeking to minimize or eliminate the risks they incur.
Obviously, the greater the risk the buyer perceives, the more reluctance there is to purchase. That is why it is difficult to get prospects to change vendors or to get them to try something new without a good reason or a substantial incentive. The lower the risk the easier it is to get someone to try a new vendor or a new product. That is why there are so many "free" offers, coupons, incentives, rebates, and strong guarantees all attempting to lower the risk for the purchaser.
Marketers stay awake at night trying to figure out how to lower the perception of risk for their company's products figuring that, if they can minimize or eliminate that risk sales will increase as new people will try the product, enjoy the experience and come back for more. Will they win a new customer every time? No, but many great businesses have been built because they have been able to lower the risk enough to attract new customers. Try it!
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