What makes us unique?

Rather than go into the list of qualities that most certainly is similar to another smart copy writer's list, let me explain our concept of service. I was 16. My dad owned one of those Mr. Softee style soft ice cream trucks and I was the server. Every weekend I worked rural South Carolina pushing a full menu of ice cream products out that sliding window. Of course I ate my share. In addition to the few dollars I was made for the day, ice cream was my pay. Not just any ice cream however. My passion was the chocolate milkshake and I am giving you my recipe; not only for the best milkshake ever but also for success: One pint sized "sweetheart" cup, a measure of milk, fill it with soft serve and give it a full pump of Hershey's chocolate. But then, add an extra pump of chocolate. Put on the steel cup collar and mix it on the mixmaster. I asked my dad what he figured the extra pump of chocolate costs and he said less than a cent. So, I  suggested that we include the extra pump in all of our chocolate shakes. I reasoned that we could be known for having the very best milk shake ever. No one called it "branding" in those days. He agreed and it wasn't long before we sold more milkshakes than any other truck owner in the company. People lined up for em! Dark, deep chocolate and so thick the straw would stand up in it. Yum. I still love 'em. Sixteen years later when I started my own company, I thought about that experience and how it distinguished us. I told my employees about the "extra pump" and decided we would follow this successful philosophy and expand it to include "service." In a time when other businesses were cutting service to reduce price in an unending spiral of downward abyss, I thought just the opposite. Give more but don't ask more and I figured the word would spread. It has. Giving clients an extra pump of service is what makes us unique. More importantly it's not something we think about. It's how we live. The "extra pump" works in everything and it will work for you too.

Merry Christmas!