The question “What do you do?” is not important and as Chris Brogan says should be answered by a simple “I am a typist” or “I am the marketing director”

Getting everyone to say “We make the best widgets on the market and our service is second to none” and mean it, is what is important.

An alternate question which is nice to ask (you probably won’t get asked it much) is “What do you care about?” — It was asked to me once and I blogged about it here: http://climbtothestars.org/archives/2007/06/22/what-do-you-care-about/

Thanks. You’re right.

I don’t think it’s the public’s assumption as much as it is their disappointment. Businesses have too often served to disappoint, not delight.

And there’s the opportunity. The bar’s been set so low, that even the smallest genuine differentiator sets a company apart from its competition.

That’s a great opportunity for small business. It really doesn’t require huge investments to create a difference. Oftentimes, it’s a personal act of insignificant costs that sets your brand apart.

2 examples come to mind.

Flowers. I was CEO at a company where we sent flowers to new customers. A bouquet of flowers from ProFlowers.com would arrive at the desk of every new customer, big or small, with a thank-you card. Very inexpensive. Very powerful. It usually sat on the desk of the receptionist. Regardless, flowers on a co-worker’s desk generated talk. And that generated word-of-mouth. It was a simple, personal act. And people loved us for it.

Answering the phones. At the same company, we answered the phones. If calls to sales or customer service weren’t answered the calls rang to my desk. Not often, but a few times a month, a caller would be surprised to hear the CEO answer their call. Nothing says to a customer or prospect that your call is important like it being answered by the CEO.

The personal touch, the small things, in a business are great opportunities for small business to compete against their larger cash-cowish corporate competitors. Compete and win, too!

Chris, I’m with Maesz. I love it.

Many people seem to view USP as nothing but smoke and mirrors.