We were recently contacted by Costco of Michigan for a single sign to track their new store memberships.  While the request itself was relatively modest, it represented an opportunity for us to provide ongoing services to a retail giant…certainly locally and perhaps even regionally.  As with any new prospect, we asked on what basis Costco would be choosing a sign company in hopes that their needs could be satisfied by at least one of our competitive strengths: • Professional design, creation and installation • Unparalleled customer service • On-time delivery • Competitive pricing They indicated that their decision would be first based on: 1) price (they clearly viewed the needed sign as a “commodity”) and 2) on-time delivery (needed within 4 business days) …and they had already contacted 2 other companies for estimates! When we delivered their sign 1 week later, we asked why they chose to do business with us?  Their response: “EPIC was not the lowest cost provider after all.  However, it quickly became very clear  that you communicated clearly, confidently and professionally.  You helped educate us on different options and, unlike other vendors, guaranteed that the required sign could be provided within our tight deadline.” This only reinforced the importance of matching the customer’s needs to our strengths.  Naturally, the closer the match the bigger the opportunity.  We look forward to providing and expanding our service to Costco in the years to come.