1.
Taking Care of Your Most Important
Customers & Employees
Stan Phelps, JD/MBA
PurpleGoldfish.com
GOLDEN GOLDFISH

2.
The setting is Paris 1848. A boy is born
of an exiled noble Genoese family.

3.
His father, Raffaele was an Italian civil
engineer who had fled Italy like other
Italian nationalists. His mother, Marie was
French. Enthusiastic about the German
revolution that year, Raffaele and Marie
named their son Fritz Wilfried.

4.
Fritz would become Vilfredo Federico
upon his family’s move back to Italy at
age 10. He would grow up to become an
engineer, sociologist, economist, political
scientist, and philosopher. During his life
he would make several important
contributions to the field of economics.

5.
Partly because of his work, the field of economics
evolved from a branch of moral philosophy, as
practiced by Adam Smith, into a data intensive
field. Vilfredo is credited with helping to develop
the field of microeconomics and was also the first
to discover that income follows a distribution.

6.
Over a century ago Vilfredo would
stumble across an idea that would change
the course of history. This revelation
would come from a simple observation in
his vegetable garden. Vilfredo noticed
something peculiar about his pea pods.

7.
This insight turned into action. He decided to
pluck all of the pods off the plant. He opened
each and made an interesting discovery.
Vilfredo found that 80% of his peas came
from a mere 20% of his pods. This intrigued
the 59 year-old Italian economist.

8.
Soon he was applying this ratio to other socioeconomic scenarios. You may
now recognize his last name. His full name was Vilfredo Federico Damaso
Pareto and his most famous finding was that 80% of the land in Italy was
owned by just 20% of the people.

9.
Pareto’s discovery and contribution was
largely unheralded until two decades after
his death. During World War II, social
scientist Dr. Joseph Juran uncovered his
work while streamlining shipment
processes for the Lend-Lease
Administration.

10.
“The law of the vital few… and the trivial many.”
Juran was the first to coin the phrases,
“Pareto’s Law of Unequal Distribution”
and the “80/20 rule”

11.
Of all the applications of Pareto’s law, here’s three of the most important in
the context of the Golden Goldfish:
80% of your profits come from 20% of your customers
80% of a company’s sales are made by 20% of its sales staff
80% of new business comes from 20% of your existing customer base

12.
GOLDEN GOLDFISH LESSON:

13.
You don’t treat every customer and
employee the same…
GOLDEN GOLDFISH LESSON:

14.
A Cheesy Case Study:
Authors Yoon, Carlotti and Moore bring Pareto to life with Kraft’s Velveeta cheese.

15.
In 2012, sales of
Velveeta cheese were
on a downward
trajectory

16.
What to do…
Get lapsed consumers to buy Velveeta again?
Get occasional purchasers to buy more
frequently?

17.
INSIGHT: The top 10% of Velveeta buyers account
for over 50% of profit. Kraft decided to focused on
this key segment of 2.4 million consumers
“The previous thinking was that the
quickest, easiest path to growth was to
identify light users or lapsed users.
But when we talked to
superconsumers, we learned that in
fact they wanted to use Velveeta more
—they were starving for it.”
- Greg Gallagher, Marketing Director

18.
Velveeta Extensions $100 MM
The results are anything but
cheesy. New product spin-offs
totaling over $100 million in
additional sales has been
game changing.

19.
Do more for your best ones. In the
words of Yoon, Carlotti, and Moore:
GOLDEN GOLDFISH LESSON:

20.
WHY GOLD AND
WHY A GOLDFISH?

21.
WHY GOLD?

22.
WHY GOLD?
Gold is an ode to New Orleans. Specifically
a tribute to its most famous event…

23.
Gold is one of three official
Mardi Gras colors
with Purple and Green

24.
The “additional gift”or “to give more”
LAGNIAPPE
It’s an ode to New Orleans because of one word…
Mark Twain came to appreciate this one word
and its meaning during his time in New
Orleans. He wrote that it was “a word worth
traveling to New Orleans to get.”

25.
That one word is…
LAGNIAPPE

26.
means the “additional gift”or “to give more”
LAGNIAPPE

27.
WHY A GOLDFISH?

28.
The Goldfish represents something small, but it was directly inspired Kimpton Hotels. A
chain of boutique hotels, Kimpton embodies the doing the little something extra. Stay
at any of the Kimpton properties and you’ll find:
• free gourmet coffee and fresh fruit in the lobby
• complimentary wine tasting in the afternoon
• pet-friendly accommodations
My favorite perk is something a select number of the properties do for guests. Perhaps
you are staying at a Kimpton for a few days, and you are getting lonely…

29.
GIVE A LITTLE UNEXPECTED EXTRA
Guppy Love
Kimpton will give you a pet goldfish for
your stay. They call it “Guppy Love.”

30.
Average Goldfish = 3 inches
A goldfish also represents something
small. But all goldfish are not created
equal.
The world’s largest is…

31.
Nearly 20 inches or 50 centimeters
That’s nearly six times larger! How can there be such a difference. It turns out
the growth of a goldfish is determined by five factors. The growth of your
business is also affected by the same five things.

32.
1
1. The size of the bowl or pond will determine how big a goldfish with grow. The
bigger the pond or bowl, the more a goldfish can grow.
SIZE OF THE BOWL
= _____

33.
1
1. SIZE OF THE BOWL
= MARKET

34.
1
2
2. The number of other goldfish in the bowl will also impact the growth.
The more goldfish, the more difficult it is to grow.
THE OTHER IN GOLDFISH IN BUSINESS = ________

35.
1
2
2. AMOUNT OF OTHER GOLDFISH
= COMPETITION

36.
NUTRIENTS / CLARITY OF THE WATER IN BUSINESS
= _______
3. The nutrients in the water and clarity of the water will also
determine how large the goldfish will grow.

37.
3. QUALITY OF THE WATER
= ECONOMY

38.
4
24. The first 120 days of a goldfish life will be a factor on its growth.
The better the start, the bigger it can get.
= _______FIRST 120 DAYS OF LIFE IN BUSINESS

39.
4. FIRST 12O DAYS
= START-UP

40.
2
5. The genetic makeup of a goldfish will also determine how big it will grow.
The more it stand outs, the better.
= ___________WHAT’S GENETIC MAKE-UP IN BUSINESS

41.
5. GENETIC MAKE-UP
= DIFFERENTIATION

42.
Five Factors
#1. MARKET
#2. COMPETITION
#3. ECONOMY
#4. FIRST 120 DAYS
#5. DIFFERENTIATION
Assuming you’ve already been in business for four months,
what’s the only thing you have control over?

43.
Five Factors
#1. MARKET
#2. COMPETITION
#3. ECONOMY
#4. FIRST 120 DAYS
#5. DIFFERENTIATION
The only thing you can
have control over
is how you differentiate.
How you purposely
stand out in a sea of sameness?

44.
Golden Goldfish Strategy is about
differentiation via added value.
Giving little unexpected extras that
drive loyalty and word of mouth for
your best customers and employees.
Your “Vital Few.”

45.
Employees!
I crowdsourced over 200 examples in
It was clear that there was:

46.
9 Types of Golden Goldfish
1. Throw In s
2. Added Service
3. Follow Up
4. Convenience
5. Handling Mistakes
Employees!
Customers
6. Flexibility
7. Recognition
8. Training &
Development
9. Empowerment
Employees
I crowdsourced over 200 examples in
It was clear that there was:

47.
The entire idea of Golden Goldfish is
explained through the acronym of
G.L.U.E.

48.
G stands for Give
The entire idea of Purple
Goldfish is explained
through the acronym of
G.L.U.E.

49.
G = Give
The best customers for the Tampa Bay Lightning are
Season Ticket Holders or as the Lightning call them
“Season Ticket Members.” STM’s received a complimentary
customer jersey at the beginning of the season equipped
with a special chip. The chip when scanned gives STM’s
discounts on merchandise and concessions.

50.
Give
L stands for Little

51.
Give
L = Little
Tory Burch does a little extra for
its best customers. It’s called
Clientbook. It allows store
associates to track and manage
both online and offline behavior.
Customers using Clientbook
spend 62% more than ordinary
customers.

52.
Give
Little
U stands for Unexpected

53.
Chapter 20Give
Little
U = Unexpected
Virginia based Decision Lens
recognizes top employees by
creating custom action figures
personalized down to hobbies
and interests.

54.
Give
Little
Unexpected
E stands for Extras

55.
Give
Little
Unexpected
E = Extras
Disney’s “vital few” are resort guests. To do a little extra, Disney will designate one
park a day that will open earlier or stay open later exclusively for resort guests.

56.
READY TO THINK
OUTSIDE THE BOWL?
WHAT’S YOUR
GOLDEN GOLDFISH?