Although a very scarce resource, water is a commodity. Everywhere you turn, you will see water bottles for sale. How do you choose one over the other?

I was looking for food and drink while travelling to a speaking engagement away from home. The food hall had many many choices. Where should I go?

A small retailer grabbed my attention with the bottle pictured above. It was stacked with about 20 others in a generic refrigerator. I chose this store.

This bottle speaks to me (not in a small voice in the back of my head). The bottle tells me about the store. It tells me that someone has made an effort to stack this bottle. It allowed me to make a small connection with the staff. It stood out.

The bottles represented perfect imperfection. My daughter coined this phrase. Although they were all the same, they were all different – in the same way.

I bought the drink, but also bought my food there, expecting that it too may have a personal touch in preparation – which it did.

Here is the point.

In order to stand out, you do not need to spend money. It’s just about effort.

What can you do to put in a little extra effort for your customers?

None of this costs money.

It’s free but valuable – do it.