Diamond Auctions Online: Benny De-Kalo, CEO of Worthy.com (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: What was the inflection point of the business? When you raised A, you had a million in revenue but you didn’t have a full indication of how fast this was all going to go. At what point in the story did you find that inflection point and what was the driver of that inflection point?

Benny De-Kalo: When it happens, you really feel it. When we did the few million dollar-round, we got some indication but it was not strong. When we did the last round, we saw the demand from sellers. We saw that the demand was there. When it happens, you really feel it.

Sramana Mitra: Can you pinpoint to what you did to get to that point? To the extent that you can look back and decode your strategy, that’s worth learning.

Benny De-Kalo: Possibly, the biggest change that we made that helped us a lot to grow is that we understood that they are not items that we are dealing with. It’s not like diamond rings, earrings, or bracelets. It’s about people. We started looking at personas. We started understanding our customers.

Sramana Mitra: Very interesting.

Benny De-Kalo: Instead of talking about items, we were looking at personas. We understood that our biggest persona is the divorcee. We really understood the persona and what she is going through. Once we understood that, then the business took off like crazy. It’s all about people and it’s all about transparency and providing excellent service.

If you do that and think long term, then you can be very successful. We were very consistent in helping our sellers to move on. She knows she got divorced. She wants to unlock the value of the ring and move on. We actually understand what exactly it is that she wants to do with the money. It’s not about $4,000 versus $4,200. It’s about vacation, new career, supporting kids. It’s about actions that she needs to take. We are there to understand it.

Sramana Mitra: When somebody want to sell on your site, is that person picking up the phone and talking to somebody on your end?

Benny De-Kalo: We do have a service center. A big portion of our customers go through the entire process without talking to representatives. The product itself supports the entire transaction. Sellers do call us and ask questions.

Sramana Mitra: Talk to me then about how you codify the personas in your technologies. It sounds like a lot of it is happening in a hands-off mode through technology. What does the technology do? What does the software do to step this divorcee through the process?

Benny De-Kalo: Let’s pick one example. We understand that that persona most likely doesn’t really care or know if there is a strong fluorescence so we don’t bother her about this information. When she describes the item, she can just describe it in a very simple way. She can choose “Not Sure”. We explain to her that we’re here to protect her when she sells.

That’s why it should be graded by GIA. It’s okay that she doesn’t know. Most people don’t. We do not think like traders. We’re not. We’re dealing with people. We make sure that she feels comfortable shipping the items to be graded by GIA.

Sramana Mitra: What I’m reading in what you’re saying is you established trust and you make her believe that you have her back.

Benny De-Kalo: Exactly.

Sramana Mitra: It’s a trust-based relationship.

Benny De-Kalo: Absolutely, trust is a major factor here.

This segment is part 5 in the series : Diamond Auctions Online: Benny De-Kalo, CEO of Worthy.com
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