Take The Puppy Home..... #155
- Adrian Dionisio - business737 owner
- Jan 10
- 3 min read
The Risk Reversal Strategy To Get More Clients
If you want to know how to get more clients without sounding pushy, desperate, or salesy, the answer is rarely “better persuasion”.
It is usually less risk.
Most professional service businesses — consultants, coaches, accountants, advisers, therapists, agencies — don’t lose sales because they aren’t good enough.
They lose sales because the client is afraid of making the wrong decision.
They are not buying your service.They are buying a future outcome — and that feels risky.
That is where the Take The Puppy Home strategy comes in.
Why People Don’t Buy (Even When They Want To)
Every potential client is asking themselves a silent question:
“What if this doesn’t work?”
They worry about:
Wasting money
Feeling stupid
Choosing the wrong provider
Being locked into something they regret
From their point of view, you are the risk.
Your website, your testimonials, your confidence, none of it removes that fear completely.The risk is still on them.
And when risk is high, people delay.When they delay, you don’t get clients.
The Secret Behind How To Get More Clients
The fastest way to get more clients is not better marketing.
It is risk reversal.
Risk reversal means you transfer the risk of the decision away from the buyer and onto the seller.
Instead of the client thinking:
“What if this doesn’t work?”
They now think:
“What have I got to lose?”
That single shift changes everything.
The “Take The Puppy Home” Strategy
Imagine a pet shop that says:
“Take the puppy home for 30 days.If you don’t fall in love with it, bring it back — no questions asked.”
That puppy never comes back.
Not because people are dishonest but because ownership changes perception. Once someone experiences something for themselves, they emotionally commit.
The guarantee isn’t there to be used. It’s there to remove fear at the moment of decision.
Your service should work the same way.
What Risk Reversal Looks Like In A Professional Service Business
You are not selling a product. You are selling expertise, advice, guidance, and outcomes.
So your risk reversal might look like:
100% money-back guarantee
“If you’re not happy, you don’t pay”
“Cancel anytime, no questions”
“Try the first month risk-free”
“If you don’t get value, we refund you”
You are saying:
“If this doesn’t work for you, I will make it right.”
That single promise is often the difference between:
“Let me think about it”and
“Let’s do it.”
Why This Is How You Get More Clients
When you remove risk:
People decide faster
Fewer prospects stall
More enquiries turn into clients
Trust increases
Resistance drops
You don’t need more leads. You need more yeses from the people already talking to you.
Risk reversal does that.
Yes, a few people will take advantage of your generosity.But the increase in sales will always outweigh the small number of refunds.
In real businesses, this strategy consistently produces:
Higher conversion rates
Higher client confidence
Faster growth
Why Most Businesses Don’t Use This (And Why You Should)
Most professional service providers are afraid to offer guarantees because they think:
“What if everyone asks for their money back?”
They won’t — if your service is genuinely good.
Risk reversal is not about attracting bad clients. It is about removing fear for good ones.
The stronger your guarantee, the easier it becomes for someone to say yes.
How To Apply This To Your Business
If you want to know how to get more clients, start here:
Look at your current offer
Identify where the client feels uncertain
Add a guarantee that removes that uncertainty
Make it simple, clear and unconditional
Your job is not to convince.Your job is to make the decision safe.
People don’t buy because they are persuaded. They buy because they feel safe.
When you let clients “take the puppy home”, you remove the biggest barrier to growth: fear of making the wrong decision.
That is what turns interest into income.
