A version of this post originally appeared on wired.com.

Small businesses face a David and Goliath like situation each day. How do you take on big, well entrenched competitors and win? A great idea can only take you so far. In today’s crowded landscape, companies of all sizes are vying for attention. Companies like Lyft — which has successfully disrupted the taxi business — have discovered a trick known as the “blowfish effect.”

With a combination of awesome customer service, a polished mobile experience, and ubiquitous pink moustaches they gave the impression early on of being bigger and more established that they really were. This is the blowfish effect in action: looking like the big fish in the pond even though you’re still a guppy.

Want to create the blowfish effect for your own startup? Here are six ways you can use customer service to do it:

1. Be Responsive

Today’s socially connected customers won’t hesitate to go public with their complaints on any number of channels. While responding to these complaints is easy for larger companies with sophisticated, highly customized solutions, it is just as important for small businesses to make responding to customers a priority too. The first rule of blowfishing is: always respond to complaints and comments, whether its by email, phone, chat, Twitter, or Facebook.

Successful startups like GetFeedback, which makes engaging, mobile ready online surveys, supplement their desktop support solution with a mobile support app and provide incentives for agents to solve customer problems around the clock, from the office or any other location.

2. Be Fast

Unfortunately it’s no longer just enough to give customers a thoughtful, well
considered response. You also need to do it fast! This is where small businesses have a distinct advantage over larger competitors bogged down by outdated processes and systems. Agile startups like HotelTonight, a mobile app for last minute hotel reservations, are seeing the benefits of faster service. The company saw a 300% growth in bookings after instituting a ten minute response rate!

3. Get Personal

Small businesses have another advantage over their larger competitors, they can deliver the personalized service customers actually want and expect. When you automate repetitive tasks you can free your agents to craft personalized messages that build loyalty and reinforce your brand personality. Like FxFactory, an online marketplace for visual effects software products, which automates 70% of its responses, so agents have time to dig deep into more complex issues.

4. Be Unique

Isn’t branding a luxury that the small guys don’t have time for? Wrong! You don’t need to be a big kahuna to have a unique and compelling brand. Look at BarkBox, a monthly subscription service that delivers treats and toys to dog lovers. The company views every customer service interaction as a way to showcase their unique personality, with responses like “Apawlogies” and “Pooches Gracias.” The showcase of personality is obviously working — the company grew 1000% last year.

5. Expand Online