Breakthrough managers look at the same relationships and see something else. They see the service encounter as a dynamic force with a potential for fueling a set of Self-reinforcing relationships shown in Figure 1-2. They take advantage of relationships that propel a firm through the competitive sound barrier, often by defying conventional logic concerning trade-offs. These managers spend less to achieve higher value and higher margins. They lower prices to increase margins. They raise prices and sell more. They understand customer value, quality, and ways of leveraging value over cost. Most important, they understand how to develop fanatical loyalty among customers, employees, suppliers, and investors, loyalty that produces the flow of results bordering Figure 1-2. In short, they frequently astound and often confuse their merely good competitors, who work just as hard but end up being second- or third-best.
