It drives me nuts when I go into a business and I have a chance to look around for more than 5 minutes without someone noticing me or asking how they can help. I usually laugh, leave and chalk it up to stupidity. But you know what drives me REALLY nuts?! When a business serves me, but they do it just like everyone else.

When you go to the store and buy something, what happens next? I’ll tell you. 99% of the time the answer is NOTHING. You can buy a television, groceries, a car, or anything else you so desire and 99% of the time they let you walk out without thinking twice and if you’re lucky you may get a half hearted “thank you please come again.”

So, you can imagine how I felt when I got a thank you note in the mail at my house from a high end shoe store about 3 days after I bought a pair of shoes. I’ll tell you how I felt, I couldn’t wait to go back and buy another pair of shoes! (and I actually did just that.)

You see, some smart salesperson thought about the fact that sending a simple 4 or 5 line thank you note, was enough to make that sales person stand out in a crowd over the hundreds of other salespeople I’ve bought shoes from in the past. And even though it is a very small gesture, it shocked me so much that I now look forward to going to buy shoes from this store. I now have a mental “sweet spot” when I think about this brand of shoes!

Can you imagine how much one of the big companies would pay to have this little sweet spot in my head? And do you think any of them thought that they could have it for a 41 cent stamp and a couple of hand written lines? I doubt it.

Is your business just like every other business? Are you doing anything to set yourself apart? If you’re not, you should be.