Blue Goldfish: Using Technology, Data, and Analytics to Drive Both Profits and Prophets (Blue Goldfish 1.0 and 2.0)

Eight ways to leverage technology, data, and analytics to drive both profits and prophets

A Blue Goldfish is any time a business leverages technology, data, and analytics to do a "little something extra" to improve the experience for the customer. The book is based on a collection of over 300 case studies.

The New Battleground

Customer experience as the new battleground for competitive advantage, but with every wise company focusing on customer experience, how do you stand out? Former GE CEO Jack Welch perhaps said it best, “There are only two sources of competitive advantage: the ability to learn more about our customers faster than the competition and the ability to turn that learning into action faster than the competition.”

Competitive advantage then must come from either knowledge or agility. That is, what you know about your customers or how quickly you can put that into action. Imagine what would happen if your competitive advantage could come from both knowledge and agility. This is where technology, data, and analytics come into play. Blue Goldfish examines the three R's: Relationship, Responsiveness, and Readiness. It also uncovers eight different ways to turn insights into action. Are you ready to use info-sense to win profits and prophets? What's your Blue Goldfish?

Praise for Blue Goldfish:

“Did you know that even Harley Davidson is using tracking technologies, including face detection, in its stores? If Harley Davidson is doing it you probably will be too and this book tears into 300 case studies of how other companies are using technology to build better experiences for their customers. Highly recommended.” - Robert Scoble, Futurist at Rackspace and author of Age of Context.

"Experience is the new brand. What people experience required design. And meaningful design takes data, insight and empathy. Blue Goldfish is your template to achieve a significant competitive advantage." - Brian Solis, digital analyst, anthropologist, author of X: The Experience When Business Meets Design 

“This book is an open challenge to your company or organization. By the end of this book, you’ll face a choice. Continue focusing on big data trends or choose to be better and focus on little data insights. You’ll soon realize that bigger isn’t better—better is better. And once you do, you’ll ask yourself, what’s our Blue Goldfish?” - Shep Hyken, CSP, CPAE is a customer service expert, professional speaker and New York Times bestselling business author of The Amazement Revolution.

Stan Phelps is an author, speaker, and experience architect. He believes that today’s organizations must focus on meaningful differentiation to win the hearts of both employees and customers. He is the Founder of 9 INCH, a training company that focuses on customer experience and employee engagement solutions. He believes that “differentiation via added value” can be a game changing strategy. For far too long, the overwhelming majority of marketing has fixated on the eyes and ears of the prospect. Not enough has been focused on creating experiences for current customers that drive referrals. Great customer experience is about being so remarkable that people can’t help but talk about you. That if you absolutely delight someone – they will not only come back, but they’ll bring their friends. Stan is the author of four books and a Forbes contributor. His writ- ing is syndicated on top sites such as Customer Think and Business2Community. He has spoken at over 100 events in the US, Canada, UK, France, Sweden, The Netherlands, Russia, Peru, Israel, Bah- rain, and Australia. Stan lives in Cary, NC with his wife Jennifer and two boys, Thomas and James. Evan Carroll is an author, speaker, and experience architect. His career spans roles in user experience, marketing, and product management for leading agencies and technology companies. He’s the author of two technology books and has appeared in major news outlets including The New York Times, CBS Sunday Morning, NPR’s Fresh air, The Atlantic, and Popular Science. A frequent speaker on technology, marketing, and digital culture, Evan has presented to audiences at SxSW Interactive, the Library of Congress, the Internet Archive, the American Bankers Association, the American Bar Association, the American Marketing Association, and the Direct Marketing Association, among others. Before starting Evan Carroll and Associates, Evan worked at ChannelAdvisor, an e-commerce software company that helps brands and retailers extend their reach. Previously, Evan worked at Capstrat, an award-winning communications agency in the Omnicom Group. There Evan helped technology, healthcare, and higher education clients craft their digital and traditional communications. A leader in digital legacy and personal archiving, Evan is co-founder at The Digital Beyond and co-author of the book, your Digital afterlife: When Facebook, Flickr and Twitter are your Estate, What’s your legacy? (New Riders Press, 2010).