Two bicycle sellers

Two people in Dubai sell second-hand bicycles online, and the buyers who use them long ago decided which one is theirs.

The first answers a question within minutes, day or night. He sends extra photographs nobody asked for, a recorded message explaining the gears, a follow-up a week later asking how the ride is going. He ties a ribbon to the handlebars before delivery. Some people find it too much. Plenty buy from him again.

The second answers when he answers. His listings are short, his replies shorter. The bike arrives clean, tuned, on the day he said, with no note. If you want a chat you will not get one. His buyers like exactly that. They are left alone, and the bike is right.

Neither has a logo worth remembering. Both have a brand all the same, because a brand is not the name at the top of the page. It is what people already expect you to do before you do it. The quiet seller could change what he stocks tomorrow and nobody would mind. If he started sending ribbons and follow-ups, his regulars would feel something had gone wrong.

That expectation is the most valuable thing either of them owns, and it deserves to be looked at plainly rather than assumed.

So it is a fair question to put to any business, any product, any person with a reputation. When someone gets in touch, do you rush to meet them, or do you let them come to you? Do you enjoy being noticed, or being left to your work?

And once you know which, the next question matters just as much. A spaniel and a guard dog are both dogs. A cat that settles on your lap and one that watches from the top of the wardrobe are both cats.

People already know which one you are. It helps if you know it too.