Every successful business knows that you can’t survive without your customers. They inspire your ideas, their purchases help you to become profitable, and they spread the word about your business to their friends and family.
But customers will only help you become successful if you take care of them too. And the best way to do this is by providing them with great customer service.
Even when you aspire to serve your customers with excellence, there are days when you or your whole customer service team need a little pick-me-up. To inspire you to provide exceptional care to your customers even on those slow days, here are 20 customer service motivational quotes to get you excited about customer service again.
What is customer service?
Customer service is the support your business provides to your customers at any point in the customer journey. It can be answering product questions while they’re considering a purchase, helping them to navigate the checkout process while they buy, or solving an issue with your service after it’s purchased.
The purpose of customer service is to help your customers to get the maximum value and delight out of what you sell, making their lives easier and better. Customer service used to be provided mainly in a physical store or by phone, but these days, you can also provide it via live chat, email, and even on social media platforms.
Why is it important?
Why is customer service important? Customer experience is the new battleground for businesses in almost every industry. It’s no longer enough to have a high-quality or innovative product or a low-priced service - the market is too crowded for that to make your business stand out.
To rise above your competition, you must provide an exceptional customer experience, and customer service is a critical component of CX.
Great service also helps to increase customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. But what is good customer service, exactly? It requires treating your customers with care, empathy, and respect - and making business decisions with their needs in mind.
The consequences of bad customer service can drag down even a successful business. Customers will tell their friends and colleagues about their negative service experiences with your company and might take to social media to spread their complaints. They’ll look for other options, and you’ll be forced to spend heavily to acquire even more new customers to repeat this frustrating cycle.
Focusing on improving and refining your customer service is important for any business - there’s always room to get better.
Customer service quotes
If you’re looking to get yourself or your team excited and motivated so you can make improvements, these customer service inspirational quotes can get everyone in the right frame of mind.
#1 “To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity.” - Don Alden Adams, President Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
Customer service is about more than just providing your customers with value for their money - it’s also showing them that you value them as a person by treating them with integrity.
Customers don’t want to be treated like a number or a transaction - they will be loyal to your business if they know you see them as a person instead.
#2 “Courteous treatment will make a customer a walking advertisement.” - James Cash Penney, Founder J.C. Penney Stores
Think back to the last great customer service experience you had - did you tell anyone about you? You likely sang the praises of the company to at least one other person.
That’s why treating customers with courtesy and respect can make them into brand advocates, allowing you to spend less on marketing and win new customers over.
#3 “A customer is the most important visitor on our premises, he is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so.” - Mahatma Gandhi
Treating customers like they’re an afterthought - or worse, an annoyance - is simply poor business sense. Your customers are the reason your business was created, and they’re the reason you’re still in business as well. Treat them like it, and your company will thrive.
#4 “Thank your customer for complaining and mean it. Most will never bother to complain. They’ll just walk away.” - Marilyn Suttle, Success Coach
Knowing how your customers feel is valuable, even if their feelings are negative. Feedback is a gift because you can’t improve what you don’t know about. And most customers are not invested in your business’s success - they’ll simply leave if they’re unhappy without telling you.
Listening to and expressing appreciation for the ones who do give feedback is vital.
#5 “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” - Dr. Maya Angelou
The promises that your sales and marketing departments make when trying to gain new customers are important - you need to live up to the expectations you set.
But what really matters when providing great customer service is making your customers feel seen, valued, and appreciated.
If you and your team can manage that with excellent customer service skills and training, you’ll win customers for life.
#6 “A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all.” - Michael LeBoeuf, Business author, and former management professor
You can develop all the complex business strategies and models you like, but the top-notch companies in every industry know that the real key to success is satisfying your customers.
Customer service helps the people who buy from your company feel more satisfied with their purchases because they know your business stands behind what you sell and is there to help them when they need it.
#7 “The only certain means is to render more and better service than is expected of you, no matter what your task may be.” - Og Mandino, Author The Greatest Salesman in the World
Providing customers with basic help and support when they request it is not exceptional - it’s the minimum required.
Consumers these days have more options than ever before, and so your customer service must exceed their expectations to stand out. Even in the smallest tasks, delivering more and better service will help you to stand out in their minds positively.
#8 “When you make a mistake, there are only three things you should ever do about it: admit it, learn from it, and don’t repeat it.” - Bear Bryant, Former College Football Player, and Coach
Making a mistake is inevitable, but it doesn’t need to be the end of a relationship with a customer. In fact, 78% of people will do business with a company again after a mistake if their customer service is excellent.
But be sure to use these mistakes as a learning experience and ensure they’re not repeated in the future, or customers will become frustrated.
#9 “Never underestimate the power of the human element. Whether it’s assisting a guest with a special request or a friendly greeting from staff members in the hallway, the people aspect plays a key role in guest satisfaction and loyalty.” - Ramez Faza, Sr. Account Manager at J.D. Power and Associates
In today’s digitalized and automated world, sometimes the human element of customer service falls by the wayside. Don’t let this happen to your customer service team, even if you’re investing in the best technology to help customers.
At its heart, customer service is all about people helping people, even if the task or gesture is small.
#10 “Customer service is not a department, it’s an attitude!” - Unknown
Your customer service team is not the only part of your company responsible for caring for your customers - it’s the job of every employee from entry-level workers to your CEO.
An attitude of customer service should be encouraged throughout your business to create a truly customer-centric culture. If there’s a pervasive attitude of “that’s not my job” when it comes to customer service, then you won’t ever get to an exceptional level.
#11 “A lot of people have fancy things to say about customer service, but it’s just a day-in, day-out, ongoing, never-ending, persevering, compassionate kind of activity.” - Christopher McCormick, CEO Of L.L. Bean
When it comes to customer service, consistency matters. It’s easy to overcomplicate serving your customers (should you create a closed-loop feedback system? Which customer experience metrics should you use? What is a customer journey map, exactly?).
But while these tools are all powerful ways to improve your customer service, at its core, you need to focus on delivering reliably consistent care to customers. Everything else is just a bonus.
#12 “Whether it’s a bored demeanor, a dismissive look or just plain rude behavior, sloppy customer service spells disaster faster than just about any other business transgression.” - Lauren Simonds, Managing Editor of Small Business Computing
Walking into a store and encountering an employee who does not want to be there - and makes their displeasure clear - is a common and very negative customer service experience. It can turn off even a previously loyal customer right away.
This is why focusing on the employee experience is also a vital part of providing excellent customer service. Your employees are the face of your business, and you want to keep them engaged and motivated to do their best every day.
#13 “Being on par in terms of price and quality only gets you into the game. Service wins the game.” - Tony Alessandra
Consumers have more options than ever before when they’re going to make a purchase. Competing on price or quality is now only one piece of the puzzle - you must go above and beyond with your customer service to succeed at winning over new customers and retaining existing ones.
Since 93% of customers are likely to make repeat purchases with companies offering excellent customer service, great customer service helps you to retain those profitable, loyal customers that help your business grow.
#14 “It takes months to find a customer…seconds to lose one.” - Vince Lombardi
Your sales and marketing departments will tell you - it’s challenging, expensive, and time-consuming to find and attract new customers these days. And since gaining a new customer takes not only time but between 5 to 25 times more money than retaining an existing one, keeping the customers you already have happy is vital to growing your business sustainably.
Customer service is the key to retention and loyalty. One bad experience with your company can lose a customer you spent months acquiring.
#15 “Great customer service doesn’t mean that the customer is always right, it means that the customer is always honored.” - Chris LoCurto
The customer isn’t always right - no one knows this better than customer service professionals. Even your best customers make mistakes, like accidentally damaging their new product. But what matters more than pretending that they’re right? Honoring them no matter the circumstances.
This can mean replacing an item even if the problem is the customer’s fault, or accepting a return out of warranty, or simply treating an angry customer with kindness and respect. It doesn’t mean the customer is right - but it does show them that you value them when things go wrong.
#16 “Customers don’t expect you to be perfect. But they do expect you to fix things when they go wrong.” - Donald Porter
On the flip side, when your business makes a mistake, it doesn’t mean you’ve lost a loyal customer. But it does require you to take effective action to fix that mistake. Customers don’t expect your business to be perfect, but they do expect you to own up to your mistakes and make them right.
And great customer service means fixing those mistakes proactively and being upfront with your customers. It also means learning from those mistakes so you’re not making them over and over again, disappointing multiple customers in the same way.
#17 “In the world of Internet Customer Service, it’s important to remember your competitor is only one mouse click away.” - Doug Warner
Customers these days don’t need to go far to find another option when they feel let down by your company - a competitor can be found with just a quick Google search. After just one bad experience, about 50% of customers would switch to a competitor - and that rises to 80% after more than one bad experience.
Remembering that your customers have many options and they chose you is a key driver of your customer service. Why should they stay with your company when they can go elsewhere? Customer service is the answer.
#18 “Customer experience is the next competitive battleground. It’s where business is going to be won or lost.” - Tom Knighton
If you’re struggling to compete on price or innovation, as most businesses these days are, where can you stand out? By providing an exceptional customer experience. Consistently going above and beyond for your customers sets you apart from everyone else in your industry because truly great customer service is unfortunately still rare.
Investing in improving your customer service is money well-spent if it helps you to rise above your competition. This could mean providing additional training for your customer service reps, or new technologies like IVR or live chat - but however you spend your money, it will be well worth it.
#19 “The magic ‘mind reading’ anticipatory service phrase is: ‘If that was me, what would I want?’” - Steve Cokkinias
63% of consumers expect businesses to know their unique expectations and needs. And that number rises to 76% of B2B buyers. How is your business currently getting into the minds and hearts of your customers? Looking at things from a customer’s perspective is a good start. Actively soliciting customer feedback, and acting on it, also helps you understand your customers better so you can anticipate their needs.
#20 “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning” - Bill Gates
Hearing negative feedback is always challenging. But it’s also an important source of growth for your business. You won’t know what’s working well, and what’s failing unless you hear it from your customers themselves. Never assume that you know what your customers are thinking.
Negative feedback can help you make much-needed improvements so your customer service delivers exceptional experiences every time.
Key takeaways
Serving your customers with friendliness, attention, and care isn’t simply good for its own sake. It has real, tangible benefits for your business as well. But too many businesses fail to deliver good customer service, whether it’s because they don’t know how or don’t make it a priority.
These great customer service quotes should provide the inspiration and knowledge you need to improve and enhance your customer service. And if you’re not sure where to start, begin by asking your customers what they think. With our complete customer experience platform, you can listen to your customers and understand their needs deeply, allowing you to create the optimal customer service experience.
Learn how GetFeedback by Momentive can help you exceed customers’ expectations—start your free trial today.