Put these Tips in your B2C sales playbook: Selling Risk Without Scare Tactics

Welcome back to Selling with Sabine. I’m Sabine Taylor, your host. I’ve spent years working in sales enablement, cybersecurity, and telecom, helping large sales organizations train reps to confidently sell complex products using real-world experiences and practical storytelling. If you’d like to connect or explore sales training support, you can reach me at [e-mail]

In this episode, I reflect on a widely reported public incident that sparked conflicting narratives and speculation. Rather than focusing on headlines or individuals, I use the situation to explore what happens when there is no clear record of events—and how quickly perception can replace facts when evidence is missing.

I then connect this directly to B2C sales, particularly for teams selling products tied to “what-if” scenarios such as protection, documentation, or risk-mitigation tools. This episode breaks down how to acknowledge real-world risk without leading with fear or scare tactics. Through a practical example and short role-play, I show how to guide conversations toward observations, considerations, and features—selling peace of mind instead of panic.

This episode is for sales leaders and reps looking for a clear, ethical sales tip they can immediately add to their B2C sales playbook.

Episode Transcript:

Hi, everyone. Today is Friday, January second. And, I am Sabine Taylor, the host of Selling With Sabine. And I am using Audacity, this software that gives me a seven-day trial, and it helps me with, audio production. And I've used it before and, a couple years ago, I found it was not as intuitive, but now I'm really liking the updates. So, I'm trying to push out as many podcasts as I feasibly can. So, with that said…today, I want to talk about a recent event that's been all over the news involving Anthony Joshua and the tragic loss of his two best friends. And I believe their names are pronounced Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele

Now what caught my attention wasn't the celebrity side of the story, but don't get me wrong. These were gorgeous men, and it is sad that they lost their lives, in this tragic accident. But, nonetheless…what captured my attention was how quickly different versions of the event started flying around, and secondhand accounts started to hit the Internet. And depending on what someone saw or thought they saw, the whole narrative shifted., and people started debating on who was responsible without having a full picture.

I mean, the conspiracy theories, it was just, like, on another level. But this isn't just a celebrity thing. This is what happens whenever there isn't a clear record of what went down. When the facts aren't there, perception takes over, and perception isn't always the truth. I think moments like this are worth talking about, not to relive the tragedy per se, but to understand how uncertainty…creates confusion and leaves everyone exposed to unnecessary risk.

Like, some people are thinking his opponent, has something to do with it. So, and that's what I mean, but by unnecessary risk, because people could start threatening the other person. So, nonetheless, we see that this plays out every day,  whether it's a traffic accident, a customer dispute, or an insurance claim, when stories don't match trust eroads and resolution takes forever. So, honestly, when I was listening…to the news, the first thing I wondered about was did Anthony Joshua's driver have a dash cam? Did a car salesperson, who sold him this car ever offer him that option.

And, the great thing about dash cams today is depending on the model you're looking at, you can capture video inside the car, outside of the car, the front of the car, the back of the car, in the night, it records speed. And even if the camera itself is destroyed in the accident, many models save everything to the cloud so a driver can access it from anywhere in the world. So, some dash cams record if someone is getting too close to the vehicle. And given Anthony's celebrity status, I would have made it a requirement for a driver to have that type of technology installed in the car.

So if you're wondering, Sabine, how does this, tragic incident turn into a sales topic? Well, that's a fair question. With that in mind, many sales professional sell products that are connected to the "what if" or unfortunate situations. It's a tough spot to be in because none of us want to lead with fear. And the second a customer feels scared or pressured, then we've lost their trust.

But this is really about ethical selling versus scare tactics. It's about showing the customer, that your product rather, like a dash cam, provides answers. It cuts down the investigation time when things don't go, as planned on the road. So, for instance, if I am coaching a sales team that sells dash cams, I am telling them to avoid saying, you need this because this could happen to you. Instead, I'm telling them to focus on the peace of mind that the product provides.

So, for example, let's look at a mini role play that I've put together, and I want you to imagine we have a customer named Julia, and she's at an aftermarket shop with her son to get some new speakers installed for the car that she just bought him. So here is how I transition from a conversation about speakers to a dash cam. So, Julia, I'm so glad we found the right speakers for your son. While I was checking out the car, I noticed there isn't a dash cam installed. Have you ever considered putting one in?

You know, Julia, it's a great way to have that peace of mind knowing you've got footage ready to go if a day on the road doesn't go exactly as planned. So…the transition I used is mostly about peace of mind framing. So, in plain English, that means you acknowledge real world risk without being dramatic, and you don't really anchor the conversation on fear or danger. You reframe the camera as a tool, with features that helps you get clarity and fairness. So, you're selling the outcome, which is peace of mind and not the incident itself. So, you notice I did not mention the word accident, incident.

I just talked about the feature. "You'll get that footage." So, this works because I start off with an observation. I said, "I noticed…that you don't have a dash cam install."

So, it's not pushy…I'm asking a consideration question, and that's what upselling is about. So, focus on peace of mind when selling products that are tied to unfortunate events. So, in closing, if you want me to coach your business to consumer sales team on upselling or consultative strategies. Or if you need some fresh ideas for your sales enablement playbook, email me at selling: [e-mail]. You can also message me, with your serious inquiries on LinkedIn make sure you provide all the details. Finally, please subscribe and share. I've trained thousands of reps in call centers and in the retail space, and I'd love to help you, achieve your key performance indicators.

And, also, I want to send my deepest condolences to Anthony Joshua…and the friends and family of Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele So have a great day. bye…