Towards a new definition of service: service providers have to do more than ever.

When Tom Wolfe wrote in his 1998 novel A Man in Full that "the only thing considered duller, safer, and less adventurous than working for a bank was working for some old-line can't-miss industrial firm ... which only needed caretakers," he was underestimating the impact that the New Economy would have on major companies.

Although the prediction that "brick and mortar" companies were going away--to be replaced by ebusiness service-oriented firms--has not come true, technology has changed customer expectations forever. Today, even well-established service providers can't afford to have mere caretakers at their helms.

The very definition of service is changing. It's no longer a matter of having a customer call and ask for a specific service to be delivered at a specific time. Today, technical information is readily available, and consumers can research the details of nearly any purchase before approaching a sales office to "close" the deal.

That same mentality influences business-to-business purchases, too. Companies already understand what we are capable of doing for them technically. When our customers get hold of a tool like the Internet, the conversations we have with them change fundamentally. Now they want us to anticipate their needs and make suggestions even before they have time to pick up the phone or hit the "send" button. I see this pattern of change ricocheting through many industries. And because the service sector comprises 80 percent of the U.S. economy, I'm convinced something important is happening in the very structure of the economy.

Achieving the new level of service is about more than just the right technology. A service provider's internal culture is where a CEO has to start--because that's the culture that comes into contact with the customer. We need to create a climate where we listen to our people and encourage them to take advantage of opportunities. One thing I do at EMCOR is to hold meetings that bring together all the CEOs of our operating companies. These companies serve diverse markets from software to soft drinks, and they all have areas of expertise, which, when shared across functional lines, create an exciting flow of new ideas. For example, the president of a Midwestern company specializing in ammonia-based cooling systems spoke to the president of a New England-based mechanical contractor working on an industrial bakery project, and the two ended up working together to serve a customer need. Likewise, the CEO of a Baltimore-based company that installed mechanical systems in biotech labs traded ideas with the leader of a company bidding on a high-tech plant in Arizona, with similar results.

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Opening up the exchange of ideas internally results in a steady flow of new ideas to the customer. In today's market, you can't expect to gain a customer's trust simply by doing what you say you are going to do. That's the lowest common denominator. We must get involved in our customers' businesses, not just one transaction at a time, but rather on a much deeper, client-partnership level. We need to make them want to turn to us.

I've seen a great example of this at a subsidiary of United Parcel Service. UPS Supply Chain Solutions performs what are, for UPS, some very different functions--everything from fixing electronics to answering customer phone calls to issuing corporate credit cards. UPS has identified a powerful opportunity. Companies are now finding they can benefit by focusing on the front office and leaving the back office to someone else specializing in those areas, like UPS.

Increasingly, more is going to be expected of all service providers. It means our people have to understand what the world looks like from the end-users' perspective and offer the right advice at the right time. When we help our customers mitigate their risk by focusing on the ancillary parts of their businesses, we add value and we both succeed. Without such added value, a service provider is at best a commodity, at worst a cost center. And we all know what happens to cost centers, Old Economy and New, when times get tough.

Frank T. MacInnis is chairman and CEO of Norwalk, Conn.-based EMCOR Group, a $4.5-billion provider of construction and facilities services.