I was on my way to a business meeting but was running a little early so I decided to stop for a snack.

Got my snack and sat down in a table outside the coffee shop for a few minutes to enjoy my snack.

With nothing else to do, my mind drifted its attention to all the movement and activity in the busy street.

I started paying close attention to the people walking in and out of shops, restaurants, flower shops, banks and other businesses.

Then something puzzled me… There were two flower shops in the same street, but for some reason, about 90 percent of the people were visiting only one of the shops.

Why was this happening…Perhaps it was the prices, or maybe they had been opened for a long time?

My marketing curiosity got the best of me, so I decided to go into the stores and investigate.

What I Found

First, I went into the flower shop with barely any customers.

I opened the door and walked inside. A woman, probably in her early 30’s sitting in the counter said “Hello”.

I smiled and said hi as well.

The store was quiet and no one was paying much attention to me so I started feeling awkward.

I said bye to the lady in the counter, she said bye as well and I left the store.

The store was clean and had nice flowers, prices seemed fair and the customer service seemed average.

I couldn’t figure out why they weren’t getting at least some of the customers from the other shop.

So I headed to the busy flower shop.

As I walked in, I was immediately greeted by a middle aged lady. With a smile in her face, she asked if I needed help finding the “perfect gift”.

I told her that I was just looking around and she said “let me know if you have any questions”.

The store was crowded, so I went to a corner and pretended to be interested in some weird looking orange flowers.

There were three employees in the front part of the store, the lady that offered assistance (who seemed to be the manager) and two other people in the registers.

Everything seemed normal, nothing out of the ordinary.

I was about to head out when I heard the managers voice telling me; “I’m sorry you didn’t find what you were looking for” she handed me a single rose and said “thank you for visiting, here, give this to your loved one.”

I smiled and said thank you, to which she responded with a smile; “you’re welcome, have an great day!”

As I walked back to my car it became clear why one shop was more successful than the other.

The slow store offered average service. They weren’t bad; they were average which in this case, was not good enough.

The other busier store showed passion, they showed that they cared. These people seemed to have a genuine interest in helping me find what they called the “perfect gift”.

I was given a free flower even though I didn’t buy anything.

Be Remarkable

Just like the flower shop, your customers, readers, and friends always have a choice.

They have a choice between you or hundreds of your people, businesses, or blogs.

Most people focus on themselves, they forget the real reason they are in business. Successful people do the impossible to make your experience great.

It’s not enough to be the average flower shop, or the average website, or the average person.

Like the flower that lady gave me at the busy flower shop, even though I didn’t buy anything.

Or the legendary customer service offered by Zappos.

Or people like Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Mandela, and Steve Jobs. People whose names still live and will forever live in history because they didn’t settle for average.

Remarkable actions turn into stories, and those stories are the most powerful form of marketing you will ever find.

Remarkable is a choice, not something you get by share luck. It’s the sum of your actions that make you remarkable.

So, what can you do today that will make you or your business a little less average and a bit more remarkable?

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