--- title: On the Care and Feeding of Golden Geese | The Sales Blog description: Aesop warned of the dangers of cutting open the goose that lays the golden egg to gain what you want now. By doing so, you destroy the geese image: https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Golden-Egg.jpg --- ### [Now booking SKO meetings for 2026/27! 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By doing so, you destroy the geese—and your future. Wonka tried to warn young Verruca Salt as it pertained to his geese, which he made unavailable to her (and rightly so). She wanted the entire world, and she wanted it now. Verruca, like many others, was unable to delay her gratification. In business, this shows up when one misunderstands means and ends. Let’s start with shareholder value, the idea that a business exists to make shareholders money as its dominant priority. Because the concept starts with [shareholders](http://thesalesblog.com/2017/06/26/ridiculous-idea-business-shareholder-value-episode-146/) as the end, employees and customers become means. Mistreating the means is the most certain way to destroy your ends. Treating employees and customers as if they exist only to help you produce a profit leads to poor care and feeding of the geese. Flipping this and treating the employees [and customers](http://thesalesblog.com/2012/10/01/know-your-customers/) as ends almost ensure shareholders get the returns they seek. As a leader, you want customers to be your end. In making that decision, you have relegated employees to means. Again, this is to abuse the geese which produce the golden eggs. Your customers and clients are going to get a certain experience working with your team. The worse your employee’s experience, the worse your customer’s. Success, financial success more specifically, comes from focusing on things in the right order. Customers and clients are important, but not more important than the people that serve them. Shareholders are important too, but they should be an afterthought. If you get the care and feeding of employees, customers, and the stakeholders right, the return on investment is automatic. It’s when you get the sequence wrong and decide that care and feeding of the wrong parties should come first that things get sideways. ###### Tags: [Sales](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/tag/sales) [2018](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/tag/2018) Post by [Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/author/anthony-iannarino) on May 8, 2018 Written and edited by human brains and human hands. ![Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/ai-blog-profile-crop.jpg) Anthony Iannarino is an American writer. He has published daily at [thesalesblog.com](https://www.thesalesblog.com) for more than 14 years, amassing over 5,300 articles and making this platform a destination for salespeople and sales leaders. Anthony is also the author of four best-selling books documenting modern sales methodologies and a fifth book for sales leaders seeking revenue growth. His latest book for an even wider audience is titled, The Negativity Fast: Proven Techniques to Increase Positivity, Reduce Fear, and Boost Success. Anthony speaks to sales organizations worldwide, delivering cutting-edge sales strategies and tactics that work in this ever-evolving B2B landscape. He also provides workshops and seminars. Connect with Anthony on LinkedIn, X or Youtube. 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What we’re doing right now **is working**, even in this challenging economy. **Would you like some help?** [![Solve for Sales](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2922376/d3a4938b-2008-4a27-8b44-7b2223f6d035.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2922376/d3a4938b-2008-4a27-8b44-7b2223f6d035) ### Join my Weekly Newsletter for Sales Tips Join 100,000+ sales professionals in my weekly newsletter and get my *Guide to Becoming a Sales Hustler* eBook for FREE! --- ```json { "@context" : "http://schema.org/", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Anthony Iannarino" }, "dateModified" : "2021-09-17T1:50:40 PM", "datePublished" : "2018-05-08 19:42:41", "description" : "Aesop warned of the dangers of cutting open the goose that lays the golden egg to gain what you want now. 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