In recent years, Israeli consumers have grown more demanding as they’ve become wealthier and more worldly-wise. Foreign travel is a national passion; this summer alone, one in 10 citizens will go abroad. Exposed to higher standards of service elsewhere, Israelis are returning home expecting the same. American firms have also begun arriving in large numbers. Chains such as KFC, McDonald’s and Pizza Hut are setting a new standard of customer service, using strict employee training and constant monitoring to ensure the friendliness of frontline staff. Even the American habit of telling departing customers to “Have a nice day” has caught on all over Israel. “Nobody wakes up in the morning and says, ‘Let’s be nicer,’” says Itsik Cohen, director of a consulting firm. “Nothing happens without competition.”
近年来，以色列消费者的要求越来越高，因为他们变得越来越富有，越来越世故。出国旅行是一种民族热情；仅今年夏天，就有十分之一的公民将出国。在其他地方，以色列人面临着更高标准的服务，他们回国后也期待着同样的服务。美国公司也开始大量涌入。肯德基、麦当劳和必胜客等连锁店正在制定新的客户服务标准，通过严格的员工培训和持续的监控来确保一线员工的友好。甚至美国人告诉离开的顾客“祝你今天愉快”的习惯也在以色列各地流行起来。一家咨询公司的主管Itsik Cohen说：“没有人早上醒来会说，‘让我们变得更好’。没有竞争，什么都不会发生。”
Privatization, or the threat of it, is a motivation as well. Monopolies that until recently have been free to take their customers for granted now fear what Michael Perry, a marketing professor, calls “the revengeful consumer.” When the government opened up competition with Bezaq, the phone company, its international branch lost 40% of its market share, even while offering competitive rates. Says Perry, “People wanted revenge for all the years of bad service.” The electric company, whose monopoly may be short-lived, has suddenly mopped requiring users to wait half a day for a repairman. Now, appointments are scheduled to the half-hour. The graceless El Al Airlines, which is already at auction, has retrained its employees to emphasize service and is boasting about the results in an ad campaign with the slogan, “You can feel the change in the air.” For the first time, praise outnumbers complaints on customer survey sheets.
私有化，或者说私有化的威胁，也是一种动机。垄断者直到最近，他们还可以自由地认为自己的客户是理所当然的，现在他们担心市场营销教授迈克尔·佩里所说的“报复性消费者。”当政府与电话公司Bezaq展开竞争时，其国际分公司失去了40%的市场份额，即使提供有竞争力的价格。Perry说，“人们想为多年来糟糕的服务复仇。”这家电力公司的垄断可能是短暂的，但它突然取消了要求用户等待半天修理工的要求。现在，预约时间安排到半小时。优雅的艾尔航空公司已经处于拍卖中，对员工进行了再培训，强调服务，并在一场广告活动中吹嘘结果，广告语是“你可以感受到空气中的变化”。客户调查表上的赞扬首次超过了投诉。
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