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The Greatest Marketing Story Ever Told

The story of Stew Leonard and a fateful trip to an elementary school where he learned about the power of word of mouth marketing.

StanPhelpsSpeaks
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The Greatest Marketing Story Ever Told

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  1. The Greatest Marketing Story Ever Told By: Stan Phelps PurpleGoldfish.com

  2. Stew Stew Leonard grew up the son of a dairy farmer who was in the milk delivery business

  3. The 1960’s brought a time of great change for Clover. Two things would shake the core of the business.

  4. First, the demand for milk delivery was evaporating

  5. Second, the State of Connecticut evoked eminent domain and furrowed the dairy farm to make room for a new highway called Route 7

  6. Pivoting, Stew opened his first dairy store in Norwalk, Connecticut in 1969. The 17,000 sq. ft. store sold just eight products

  7. During his first year in business he was asked by the local elementary school to come out and speak on career day Itwasadairystore CAREER DAY

  8. The principal asked Stew to talk about his store and the dairy business. Even though Stew didn’t see the appeal for kids, he reluctantly agreed. Itwasadairystore OK. I’ll do it CAREER DAY

  9. As Stew pulled into the parking lot he knew he was in trouble. There was a fire truck parked in front of the school with kids all around it.

  10. It didn’t get any better when he walked through the doors of the school.

  11. He immediately saw a room with an Air Force officer. A movie about the history of jet airplanes was playing. It was filled with kids.

  12. Across the hall was a police officer and we showing a packed classroom about various police equipment and weapons

  13. He proceeded to walk down the hall and eventually found his classroom. There was a sign on the door that read:

  14. Stew walked in the room to find only three kids sitting there

  15. Two of them were the sons of his produce manager

  16. For the next 30 minutes he talked about the dairy business and running a store

  17. At the end of the talk he thanked the kids. Stew then reached into his pocket and handed them each a coupon for a free ice cream.

  18. The kids left and Stew waited to present the second of his two Career Day sessions. He waited and waited... no kids

  19. Over 15 minutes passed, still no kids.

  20. After 20 minutes the principal came rushing in and exclaimed

  21. Stew… I don’t know what you told those kids, but we have to move your next presentation to the school auditorium

  22. This simple story underscores the power of giving little unexpected extras (GLUE) and how effective word of mouth marketing can be

  23. Here’s five more marketing and CX takeaways from Stew Leonard’s

  24. TAKEAWAY 1 It starts with Employees SimilartoWaltDisney,Stewrealizedheneededpeople tohelpbringhisvisiontolife.Hestrivedtomakethe store a great place to work. Because you can’t have customerswithouthappyengagedemployees

  25. TAKEAWAY 2 Listen to Your Customers Stew’shasaCustomerSuggestionBox.Eachdaytheboxisemptied, thesuggestionswrittenupandplaceintheemployeebreakroom.Ifa suggestionmakessense,changesaremadeimmediately.

  26. TAKEAWAY 3 Stay focused and offer value Stew’smissionissimple.“Createhappycustomers…bysellingthefreshestproductsat thebestpricesinafriendly,funatmosphere.”Mostfullservicegrocerystorescarry upwardsof30,000items.Stew’scarriesjust2,000.Thestorealwaysbuysdirectfrom manufacturers.Bygoingdeeponfeweritems,thestoregetspreferredpricingwhichin turnoffersgreatvalueforcustomers.

  27. CostcohasnothingonStewLeonard’s.Walkthroughthestoreduring thedayanditssamplingcentral.Samplingisthelowesthangingfruitin marketing.It’samarketingtoolthatStew’swieldstogreateffect. 4 TAKEAWAY Sample, sample, sample

  28. Always do the Little Extra TAKEAWAY 5 Stew’shasahandfulofextras.Myfavoriteisthefreeice creamwithapurchaseof$100ormoreingroceries.It’sthat littleextraorunexpected‘WOW’accordingtoStew. Stew Jr.

  29. Stew’s Autobiography: My Story In his book, Stew reveals the tragedies and triumphsthathefacedinbuildinghisbusiness, fromnearbankruptcywhenthestorewasbeing built to receiving the Presidential Award for EntrepreneurialExcellencefromRonaldReagan; fromassistinghisfriend,PaulNewmanwiththe launchhisNewman’sOwnsaladdressingtohis blunderwiththeIRSthatlandedhiminprison for 42 months and threatened to destroy his business.

  30. My Backstory In2003,mywifeandIpurchasedahomeinNorwalk,CT.Itwasliterally justupthehillfromStewLeonard’s.OverthenextnineyearsStew’s becameaconstantsourceofinspiration.Ifeaturedthestoreinmyfirst book,What’sYourPurpleGoldfish?IwashonoredwhenStewSr.wrote areviewofthebook. SlidesharePhotoCredits:Pixabay,GoogleMapsandStewLeonard’sPinterestPage

  31. AUTHOR/SPEAKER STAN PHELPS He is a TEDx speaker, Forbes contributor and IBM Futurist focused on the future of customer experience, employee engagement, technology and purpose

  32. KEYNOTES & WORKSHOPS Click to book Stan for a keynote or a workshop stan@purplegoldfish.com +1.919.360.4702

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