Thankfully though, she smiled back at me. I saw the opening, moved on to her table. Although we didn’t talk much, the whole chemistry was off the charts. In the next few days, I went out shopping with her, to a spicy biryani place for dinner, to a quaint cafe for chocolate desserts, and even to get beautiful mehndi on her hands. And I just didn’t want to let go of her soft, warm hands.
Anyway, coming to the MBA concept of the ‘Pareto Principle‘. It is also known as the 80/20 Rule and specifies that 80 percent of consequences come from 20 percent of the causes, or an unequal relationship between inputs and outputs. The principle suggests that 20 percent of clients are paying 80 percent of the revenues, and should receive at least 80 percent of the customer service. However, as human nature suggests, this does not happen. Firms tend to spread out their time and services without regard to a client’s status. If a client calls and has an issue, the firm deals accordingly, regardless of how much income the client actually brings in for the business.
A couple of useful insights can be drawn out of this principle. The first insight is on deciding the value of a potential date. This is where archetyping comes into place. It reminds me of a famous quote, “by the age of 40, you’ll meet every person in this world“. It means either you’ll meet the person or you’ll meet their archetype. So you need to figure out your dream date archetype, be it age, height, body type, intellect, socio-economic status. Then invest time in only the dates which meet that archetype. Dating apps end up being unsuccessful in harnessing a meaningful connection on a number of occasions because of this very reason. You end up investing too much time with a person, only to meet and realize that they are not at all your type. That’s why meeting in person is of the essence. I have also figured out another quick hack. At a bar, 80% of successful elevator pitches are made post 12 in the last 20% of the time, so wait it out till then and don’t rush into things. The second insight is to value and devote more time (customer loyalty) to people with higher value instead of spreading it out evenly. The third and most important insight revolves around lifetime value. In other words, a date might end up bringing a lot more value to your life in the future, and you need to put in the initial investment. Even if the value-added hasn’t been substantial initially, over time it might increase exponentially. So one needs to keep that perspective of the potential value in mind.
That brings me to the girl with Mehendi on her soft hands full of warmth. So is this it? Did I finally find the one? Will this lead to the bridal Mehendi? Well, she is a Colombian mom with a beautiful daughter. I said we didn’t talk much, the reason is that I don’t know Spanish, and she doesn’t know English. Whatever conversations we had were via Google Translate. She was in India for a few days on a business trip. I won’t ever see her again, and thus the third insight comes into play. Lifetime value was quite low, but we made some cherishable memories for life.
Later,
Sidhant
Pingback: Experience Economy – MBAInDating