If  you’re with one of  those manufacturers and retailers out there struggling to compete with the big guys, I have a suggestion for you.

Let’s have tea.

Join me for a cup at a small coffee and tea joint here in Boulder, CO. called Peet’s.

Now would be a good time, before you head out to Neocon, before you attempt to get heard above all the noise that your bigger, better known competitors will make on the show floor.

A guy named Jay at the store named Peet’s can give you a lesson on how to stand out from the better-known companies.

I was looking for and not finding a Starbucks recently when I stumbled into Peet’s.  I ordered a cup of green tea from Jay, the gentleman at the counter.

Jay didn’t just inform me that Peet’s offers several varieties of green tea. He educated me about the differences.

He began by pulling out the Peet’s “tea wheel,” a cool, little thingamabob which rates the various teas on things like their astringency, body, flavor, character,  and aroma.

Then he set out on the counter samples of the  Sencha, Jasmine, Genmail Cha and other varieties. The idea was to show the differences in the color, texture and aroma of the leaves.

Elsewhere, I would have been told  the names of the various teas.

At Peet’s, I  got a seminar —  a workshop,  a continuing education course –on the differences between them.

When I made my choice, Jay handed me a timer to make sure I allowed proper “seep time.” And he presented me with a booklet on how to grade, select and brew tea.

Jay — and Peet’s– get it.

They get the fact that, to compete with the big guys, you have to offer an experience customers don’t get from the big guys.

I’m a believer. There are dozens of coffee and tea joints in this area but, from now on, I’m sticking with Peet’s.

Not just because of the tea I got there. Because of the lesson I learned there.