Small businesses, whether business-to-consumer (B2C) or business-to-business (B2B), can differentiate their companies or brands in many different ways: quality, service, price, distribution, perceived customer value, durability, convenience, warranty, financing, range of products/services offered, accessibility, production method(s), reliability, familiarity, product ingredients, and company image are all differentiation possibilities. There are others as well, limited only by the imagination. One way to uncover differentiation possibilities is to examine customer experience with a product or a service by asking the following questions.

• How do people become aware of their needs for a product or a service?

• How do customers find a company’s offering?

• How do customers make their final selection?

• How do consumers order and purchase the product or the service?

• What happens when the product or the service is delivered?

• How is the product installed?

• How is the product or the service paid for?

• How is the product stored?

• How is the product moved around?

• What is the consumer really using the product for?

• What do consumers need help with when they use the product?

• What about returns or exchanges?

• How is the product repaired or serviced?

• What happens when the product is disposed of or no longer used?

No matter what the bases are for differentiating a company or a product, the decision should be made carefully with the expectation that the difference cannot be imitated. When customers are asked whether they can tell the difference between a particular small business and its closest competitors, the answer will hopefully be yes. Differentiation is everyone’s goal, but few are able to achieve it.