Whether or not you’re a fan of soccer, chances are good that you’ve at least heard or seen a bit of the World Cup. The FIFA World Cup was first played back in 1930, and since then it has become the largest single-event sporting competition in the entire world. Business 2 Community reports some of the valuable customer service lessons that are to be learned from the game of soccer.

There Is Always Competition and Only One Winner

While you might not be up against the 208 member associations of FIFA, you undoubtedly have your share of competitors. No matter what you’re selling or what industry you’re in, customers only choose one vendor which means there is only one winner. Make sure that you’re always providing and using awesome customer service to your advantage to make your customers stand and cheer you on.

Operate as a Team

No customer service employee should ever be abandoned on an island, no matter how good they might be at their job. Not only will your employees need the best support possible, your customers will to. Never forget that working in a team is more productive than working on your own as the lone ranger.

Pass the Ball When the Time Is Right

Sometimes doing what’s best for your team and your customers is admitting when something is beyond your abilities. Don’t be afraid to pass a customer along to another team mate or tell them that you’ll get back to them in a short while with a more informed answer. The customer will appreciate your honesty even if it takes bit longer. Lying is a sure fire way to fail at turning customers into advocates for your business.

Understand Your Team’s Strengths and Weaknesses

While you may like the idea of being a jack of all trades, your customers probably won’t. It’s better for your business and your customers to be assisted by employees who know where their strengths lie and when they should allow someone else to take care of a support request. Rather than “winging it” when a customer calls about something that you’re unfamiliar with, transfer them and make a note to learn more about their inquiry so that you can be better informed for next time.

It’s Important to Have Both Defense and Offense

Not only should you and the rest of your support team be in place to take care of customers when they call (defense), you’ll also want to get in touch with customers to see how they’re doing before they call (offense). Take a minute and think about how reassuring it feels knowing that you’re supported by your customer service team mates. Make your customers feel the same way.

Don’t Go Out of Bounds

While it might be tempting to use any means necessary to win the customer service game, always play by the rules and refrain from playing dirty. Even if you don’t get caught the first time or even the third time, you never know when the truth will catch up to you.