Here are three proven ways that will increase your sales:

1. Implement A Risk-Reversal Strategy

Before a prospect becomes a client, they want to be 100% sure that your product or service will work for them. They want to know that you will deliver on your promises. The prospect has never used your products and services before, so they may be a bit apprehensive. This is because they’re taking a risk (whether financial or emotional) to try your product or service.

You’ll multiply your sales by reversing that risk. How do you do this? By implementing a risk-reversal strategy. This is as simple as having an uncommon money-back guarantee. It’s a way of "putting your money where your mouth is." It gives the impression that you must have an outstanding product or service to be able to offer such a guarantee.

Sure, you’ll have clients that may take advantage of this strategy, but if you offer a good product or service then you have nothing to worry about! You’ll find that for every client that takes advantage of your guarantee, you’ll attract many, many more genuine clients just by offering the guarantee.

2. Showcase Your Testimonials

If you have a great service, then there’s no doubt you’ll receive testimonials from happy clients. Put those testimonials on all your marketing materials. When prospects see client testimonials, it puts them at ease because it’s proof that you deliver on your promises.

When you ask your clients for testimonials, make sure they specify how your service has helped them, and what their situation was like before they used your service. This will make the prospect that’s reading the testimonial to consider their own situation in relation to that client, and how your service can help them too.

You can showcase testimonials on your web site, on the walls of your office, in brochures, or you can even make a booklet of all testimonials you’ve gathered, and enclose the booklet with any brochures or sales letters you send out.

Before using a testimonial in your marketing efforts, ask for the client’s permission first. To increase believability and enhance credibility, ask the client if you can add their picture next to the testimonial, as well as their company name, job title and web site address or phone number next to their name at the bottom of the testimonial.

3. Give Something FREE

People love freebies. A “freebie” is another term for free samples, free gifts, free offers, perks or anything free for that matter. As a business owner, a freebie is an ethical bribe that you give to prospects and clients, for one or all of the reasons below:

* To entice qualified prospects to sample your product or service because you’re confident that it will lead to a sale if they like it.

* To grow your in-house mailing list by getting the contact details of qualified prospects, so that you can market to them over and over again.

* To showcase your knowledge, skills and expertise in order to position yourself as an expert and attract more media exposure and more clients.

* To encourage referrals from your existing clients.

* To increase client retention rates.

Here are a few examples of valuable ethical bribes:

If you’re an accountant, you may offer a free special report titled "How To Stop An IRS Audit"

If you’re a consultant, you may offer a free newsletter or free half-hour clinic

If you’re a realtor, you may offer a free one-hour live seminar or TeleSeminar titled "Ten Deadly Home Buying Mistakes To Avoid"

If you’re a beauty specialist, you may offer a free make-up session or a miniature sample from your product range

If you own a restaurant, you may offer a free drink with every main meal ordered

If you’re an author, you may offer an electronic version of the first chapter of your book for free

If you’re an interior decorator, you may offer a free demo on CD that shows how to decorate a house, step-by-step.

If you’re a dentist, you may offer a free 1000-word article called "Cheaper Ways To Maintain Your Teeth."

Get the picture? Some freebies may cost more to produce than others or take more time to deliver. The overall objective is to make sure that the freebie costs little or nothing to produce, and that it turns prospects into paying clients. To make certain that it appeals to your prospects and clients, ensure that the freebie is valuable i.e. it should be something that solves a problem that your clients face or something that your clients actually want.

Will your prospects and clients still need your services after you give them this valuable, problem-solving freebie? Of course they would! Your freebie is only a sample. What this means is that your service probably solves lots of problems for your clients but you base the freebie on just one or two of the many problems. For example, as an accountant, your clients come to you because of tax issues, bookkeeping issues, financial reviews etc. Your free special report titled "How To Stop An IRS Audit," doesn’t cover the other problems or issues that your clients come to you for. The special report is based on a narrow topic.

These three elements are not the only strategies you need to grow your business exponentially, but implementing them will certainly increase your sales. Apply these three strategies diligently and watch your sales and profits explode.

Copyright © 2005 by Habiba Abubakar and Emprez. All rights reserved.

Note: You are welcome to republish this article as long as you do so in its entirety and the "about the author" bit at the end is included fully and unaltered.

Habiba Abubakar, a.k.a. The Profit Diva, specializes in helping small business owners who are struggling to increase their client base and are tired of earning mediocre profits. Her FREE business-building newsletter covers proven, low-cost, and immediately usable marketing strategies. Sign up for your FREE copy at http://www.profitdiva.com