"The world of services is undergoing a revolution. All around us, companies are radically reconfiguring the ways they interact with customers. That, in turn, is changing irrevocably how people employed in all manner of service positions – which is most of the work force – relate to customers and their jobs."

Preview the Introduction 

In the introduction, we provide an overview of the themes in the book and a summary of the book chapters. We analyze the new realities of business that have made the quality of customer interactions the next frontier of competitive advantage. Now more than ever, success is based on how well firms manage interactions with customers. Technology is taking over "front office" roles in customer interaction and relationship management–sparking a revolution in how firms serve customers and compete with rivals.

We also introduce concepts and language that will be used throughout the book, including:

• Automation
• Front-office reengineering
• Service interfaces
• Interface systems
• Three basic archytypes: people-dominant, machine-dominant, and hybrids of people and machines