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Chapter from: "Uncommon Service: How to Win by Putting Customers at the Core of Your Business"
Published by: Harvard Business Publishing
Published in: 2012

Abstract

Most companies treat service as a low-priority business operation, keeping it out of the spotlight until a customer complains. Then service gets to make a brief appearance - for as long as it takes to calm the customer down and fix whatever foul-up jeopardized the relationship. In ‘Uncommon Service,’ from which this chapter was taken, Frances Frei and Anne Morriss show how, in a volatile economy where the old rules of strategic advantage no longer hold true, service must become a competitive weapon, not a damage-control function. Your company must transform its view of service, weaving it into the core of your business. The authors make a powerful case for a new and systematic approach to service as a means of boosting productivity, profitability, and competitive advantage. This chapter reveals how companies that have mastered service excellence can grow by either continuing to build on their existing service model, or building new service models within the existing organization. Using examples from companies such as Four Seasons Hotels, Southwest Airlines, Rackspace, Best Buy, CDM Group, Zappos, GE, and Interbank, the authors also show you how to overcome the challenges to service-based growth. This chapter was originally published as Chapter 6 and the conclusion of ‘Uncommon Service: How to Win by Putting Customers at the Core of Your Business.’ This chapter is excerpted from ‘Uncommon Service: How to Win by Putting Customers at the Core of Your Business'.

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Abstract

Most companies treat service as a low-priority business operation, keeping it out of the spotlight until a customer complains. Then service gets to make a brief appearance - for as long as it takes to calm the customer down and fix whatever foul-up jeopardized the relationship. In ‘Uncommon Service,’ from which this chapter was taken, Frances Frei and Anne Morriss show how, in a volatile economy where the old rules of strategic advantage no longer hold true, service must become a competitive weapon, not a damage-control function. Your company must transform its view of service, weaving it into the core of your business. The authors make a powerful case for a new and systematic approach to service as a means of boosting productivity, profitability, and competitive advantage. This chapter reveals how companies that have mastered service excellence can grow by either continuing to build on their existing service model, or building new service models within the existing organization. Using examples from companies such as Four Seasons Hotels, Southwest Airlines, Rackspace, Best Buy, CDM Group, Zappos, GE, and Interbank, the authors also show you how to overcome the challenges to service-based growth. This chapter was originally published as Chapter 6 and the conclusion of ‘Uncommon Service: How to Win by Putting Customers at the Core of Your Business.’ This chapter is excerpted from ‘Uncommon Service: How to Win by Putting Customers at the Core of Your Business'.

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