The Positive Power of Competition to Foster Customer Service Improvement

Competition is healthy for inspiring a culture where customer service improvement is valued. Learn to embrace the competition and respond with improvements that better your business.

I left my mobile telephone in a taxi and went sheepishly to buy a replacement. The people at the telephone company were patient as I selected a new mobile phone.

One week later I realized I had chosen a new model a bit too big for my liking. I tried to sell my (almost new) phone at a steep discount to someone else, but found no one eager to buy.

I called the telephone company to ask where people go to sell their mobile phones. The staff quickly offered to take back the (almost new) telephone and replace it with another model. I was amazed.

I was even more amazed by the service at the counter. The staff took back my (almost new) phone, batteries, charger and carrying case at full price value. They worked with me patiently for 40 minutes evaluating other phones of smaller size. Then they calculated that they still owed me $14 in the exchange. (I bought an extra battery to even things up.)

The phone company wasn’t always this way. I wondered what inspired the customer service improvement.

Then I recalled the recent arrival of a feisty competitor on the scene. To stay in business, the telephone company must keep customers happy. That means doing things differently and better than before. Most businesses can benefit from a healthy dose of competition and a little customer service improvement now and again.

Key Learning Point To Customer Service Improvement

Vigorous competition may be the best thing that ever happened to customer service. It wakes people up and makes them serve you better.

Action Steps To Customer Service Improvement

Welcome your competitors. They challenge you to upgrade and improve your service. This helps you stay alert, and keeps your customers happy. We can all stand a customer service improvement from time to time.

Copyright, Ron Kaufman. Used with permission. Ron Kaufman is the world’s leading educator and motivator for upgrading customer service and uplifting service culture. He is author of the bestselling “UP! Your Service” books and founder of UP! Your Service. To enjoy more customer service training and service culture articles, visit UpYourService.com.

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