Customer service is an integral part of every business. It’s your customer’s lifeline—a place where they know they can always go to find help, understanding, and resolution.
That’s why creating an excellent customer experience should be everyone’s No. 1 priority.
A survey by Hyken discovered that half of consumers find great customer service to be more important than price. 🤯
Customer service, customer care, customer support—these teams can go by many names and that’s because they essentially do it all to ensure customer satisfaction, retention, and success.
And they are taking on more now than ever before, with 88% of service professionals saying that customer expectations have become higher than they used to be.
It’s a demanding role, and one that everyone within the business needs to support.
What Makes a Customer Service Team Great?
There are many things that make a customer service team great, but these are the qualities that we think really stand out:
Knowledge: A crucial role that customer service must play is being the master of the products or services the business offers. One has to know details, processes and then some, in order to have effective, productive conversations with a customer.
Empathy: When you can fully see from your customer’s perspective and have understanding for their issue, situation, complaint, etc., then you can really meet them where they’re at to find the right solutions.
Patience: Whether happy or angry, a calm, patient presence is key to making any customer feel like they have the floor and their voice will be heard.
Follow-through: Customers are looking for support and answers, so creating a plan of action and following through on that plan is key.
Attentiveness: Active listening and attention to detail is what every customer service team must offer when speaking with a customer. They need to be met with thoughtfulness and consideration.
Customer Service Quotes to Live By
Whether you’re just starting out or are a seasoned business owner, it never hurts to remember the importance of your customers. After all, you wouldn’t be around if it weren’t for them.
For a little inspiration, here are 17 customer service quotes every business should live by:
“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
“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”
– Bill Gates
“We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.”
– Jeff Bezos
“Know what your customers want most and what your company does best. Focus on where those two meet.”
– Kevin Stirtz
“Make the customer the hero of your story.”
– Ann Handley
“Don’t find customers for your products, find products for your customers.”
– Seth Godin
“Be genuine. Be remarkable. Be worth connecting with.”
– Seth Godin
“Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends.”
– Walt Disney
“Stop selling. Start helping.”
– Zig Ziglar
“There are no traffic jams along the extra mile.”
– Roger Staubach
“Get closer than ever to your customers. So close, in fact, that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves.”
– Steve Jobs
“Customers don’t expect you to be perfect. They do expect you to fix things when they go wrong.”
– Donald Porter
“The customer’s perception is your reality.”
– Kate Zabriskie
“Customer service is not a department, it’s everyone’s job.”
– Anonymous
“Every contact we have with a customer influences whether or not they’ll come back. We have to be great every time or we’ll lose them.”
– Kevin Stirtz
“If you make a sale, you can make a living. If you make an investment of time and good service, you can make a fortune.”
– Jim Rohn
“Make every interaction count, even the small ones. They are all relevant.”
– Shep Hyken
Looking Ahead
We deliver the best customer service when we are solely focused on the customer; it’s their experience, their perspective, and their needs that matter most.
With that, we’ll leave you with just one more (bonus) quote:
“The success of our clients is truly our success; we’d be nowhere without them.”
– Ross Marranca
