Here’s Leo, aka Jordan Belfort in the Wolf of Wall Street, reaches across the table and wants to see you show your sales expertise (here's a link to the clip, just for fun)

How would you answer?

I’d probably stammer out something like, “You need this pen. It’s great value, looks great, easy to use, blah blah blah.”

And I would have left empty handed (except for maybe a lasting impression of a rookie with a lot to learn).

But that’s what most inexperienced sales people do: start selling something without any context.

Rattle off all of the benefits and features, completely oblivious to what the potentail customer is actually looking for.

Here’s how the polished sales people respond: they ask questions.

And this is the key to selling, according to the real Wolf of Wall Street, Jordan Belfort.

From there, it becomes far easier to create urgency.

And to get them to buy something that they actually need.

When you try to just sell something, without context, you are implying that you don’t care at all about their needs.

And this is the biggest mistake that salespeople, and marketers, make: they try to appeal to everyone.

Instead, the job becomes much easier when you can ask questions, and weed out those who are interested, and address those needs specifically.

Ask pointed questions, and learn about your customer.

Once you have gathered that information, you can have a strategy to your sales pitch: "Based on what you have told me, this pen is perfect for you…..let me tell you why."

Here's how Belfort explains his strategy:

This is exactly why DTC brands find success with quizzes.

Here’s a quick example, from a wine brand, Good Pair Days.  

Very similar to what you’d experience if you were a wine shop or speaking with a waiter:

What’s your experience with wine?

This week, I had a conversation with Laurel Thompson, who is the Founder of Beya Made, an ethical brand of children’s clothes.

Laurel got her start designing clothes for one of the largest “Fast Fashion” clothing brands in the world.

And what she saw was less than ideal -- clothes of low quality, used just a few times before being discarded.

This experience drove her to launch Beya Made, with a deep commitment to sustainability, high quality product, and thoughtful design (for example, that each piece of clothing is unisex).

Based on this, you will change the Welcome flow accordingly.

If a customer is buying for themselves, the standard 7 part welcome flow introducing the brand and story is great.

If the shopper is purchasing a gift, then shorten the Welcome series to 3 emails. This helped Laurel significantly reduce her unsubscribes.

This is a small change that can out outsized impact.

📈 A Checklist for eCommerce Growth