单项选择题
| The fact that superior service can
generate a competitive advantage for a company does not mean that every attempt
at improving service will create such an advantage. Investments in service, like
those in production and distribution, must be balanced against other types of
investments on the basis of direct, tangible benefits such as cost reduction and
increased revenues. If a company is already effectively on a par with its
competitors because it provides service that avoids a damaging reputation and
keeps customers from leaving at an unacceptable rate, then investment in higher
service levels may be wasted, since service is a deciding factor for customers
only in extreme situations. This truth was not apparent to managers of one regional bank, which failed to improve its competitive position despite its investment in reducing the time a customer had to wait for a teller. The bank managers did not recognize the level of customer inertia in the consumer banking industry that arises from the inconvenience of switching banks. Nor did they analyze their service improvement to determine whether it would attract new customers by producing a new standard of service that would excite customers or by proving difficult for competitors to copy. The 0nly merit of the improvement was that it could easily be described to customers. |
The primary purpose of the passage is to ______.