In the world of business, you are often perceived to be what you charge for. And this can be the single most important advantage locally owned, independently operated businesses offer their community over the national chain stores.

If you compete solely on the basis of price, then you have been commoditized, offering little or no true differentiation. Perhaps even worse, you are neglecting the real strength and value of local ownership: the ability to customize the experience your customers receive.

The Corvallis Independent Business Alliance believes that one thing most customers truly value, even if they don’t initially recognize it, is the experience they receive when they shop.

I don’t mean being called by name once they give the salesperson their “preferred customer card,” credit card or check. I mean the complete experience, from entering your store to the last step out the door and walking past your storefront. This applies just as much to all the service businesses: from the initial blind phone call to the first visit and all the way through the job to the final clean-up and presentation of the bill.

You want to create an experience that engages your customers in an inherently personal way. It is the value the experience holds for the individual that determines the worth of the offering and the work of the business.

You can use your merchandise as props and your services as the stage for a personalized experience. Looked at in this way, every business can be viewed as a theater. In their book “The Experience Economy,” Joseph Pine and James Gilmore make several key points that are very relevant to your business:

Whenever employees work in front of customers, an act of theater occurs.

With theater as the model, even mundane tasks engage customers in a memorable way.

Any work a customer overhears or observes directly is an act of theater.

The act of acting differentiates memorable experiences from ordinary activity.

Acting is taking deliberate steps to connect with an audience.

Too many workers behave no differently on stage than in their private lives.

I can’t emphasize how important it is for the owner to be actively involved in greeting and helping customers and keeping in close touch with the sales floor and employee interactions with customers.

This is the best advantage local ownership offers: The owner lives here, is available for customer concerns, and is intimately connected to the community. Their kids and your kids’ well-being are inseparable. The interests of the community and your business are directly connected. There are no long-distance decisions from absent owners.

Stay directly involved in your business and your customers will recognize it and reward you for it. We are very fortunate that Corvallis still values and recognizes the significance of local ownership, but we can never take it for granted!

As Corvallis faces an increasing encroachment from national retailers, we must help our community understand the broader consequences of replacing local retailers simply because of a perceived savings in cost or time. What CIBA is asking our community to do is give the local option the first opportunity to satisfy their needs. Don’t assume we don’t have similar prices or can’t supply what you are looking for. Service is one of our most important offerings: just ask!