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Working with people can be both very rewarding and quite upsetting at times. A customer service specialist deals with many different situations and personalities every single day, and that definitely requires not only professional knowledge, specific character traits, and, of course, reliable customer service software, but also inspiration to keep doing your job well, no matter what the day will throw on you.

That’s why in this article, we gathered some of the most inspiring customer service appreciation quotes told by the people who really know the price of a happy customer. All of them contain years of experience that can be turned into important lessons for every customer support team, and this is exactly what we did. So equip yourself with a bunch of sticky notes, write these quotes down, and spread the inspiration around the office – because those support tickets are not going to solve themselves!

What is customer service and why is it important?

Technically speaking, customer service is an interaction between a customer and a representative of the company that happens before, during, and/or after purchase to assist, solve issues, and provide high-quality support.

Why prioritize it? Good customer service is crucial for such things as customer retention, brand awareness, reputation, and loyalty, revenue increase, even company culture. Customer service is actually something that distinguishes a business from its competitors, and making it shine might be the first step towards standing out from the crowd.

According to Microsoft's State of Global Customer Service report, as the expectations of customers continue to grow, it gets harder and harder for the brands to set themselves apart from the competition. However, customer service remains one of the most important factors of customer experience, and 95% of people who participated in the survey agreed that customer service is one of the most important factors that influence their loyalty to the brand. Yes, you have read that right… 95%!

When such numbers are at stake, there is only one solution – to seek customer service excellence. Because good service is good business – and it goes just as simple as that.

How to deliver great customer service told in quotes

1. Put customer first

• “One customer, well taken care of, could be more valuable than $10,000 worth of advertising.” – Jim Rohn, entrepreneur, author, motivational speaker
• “When the customer comes first, the customer will last.” – Robert Half, founder of Robert Half International
• “If you are not taking care of your customer, your competitor will.” – Bob Hooey, business success catalyst, international speaker

These simple quotes can easily serve as customer service mottos since they highlight the importance of a single interaction that finally adds up to something big. Meeting the needs of a customer, in this case, should be the focus of every business since it can not only result in customer retention and boost growth but also reduce costs for other departments, for instance, marketing.

On the contrary, poor customer service will most definitely mean either negative word-of-mouth (and you definitely don’t want that) or result in a customer loss – according to the already mentioned report by Microsoft, at least 61% of respondents have had to stop doing business with a brand due to poor customer experience.

2. Great customer service is a teamwork

• “I believe that customer service is not a department. On the contrary, it’s the company’s culture. It’s the philosophy of the leadership that permeates from the CEO to the newest hire.” – Shep Hyken, customer service expert, NY Times bestselling author
• "Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships." - Michael Jordan, professional basketball player
• "Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success." - Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company

This one is actually sort of an extension of the "Put customer first" strategy. The idea of this approach is to keep a customer in mind when making any possible decisions in the company, no matter the department. To be more specific, think about how it will affect a customer and what can be done to come up with a great solution for both sides.

It can be perceived in many different ways though, without narrowing down this approach to only very specific business decisions. It starts in the deeper levels of the company’s culture already. So if you think that organizing a nice evening out for employees has no impact on customers – think twice. It most definitely has, since feeling valuable and happy at work noticeably reflects in the results.

3. Be open to feedback and listen to improve

• “The only right way to run a company — and the most profitable way — is to saturate your company with the voice of the customer.” – Richard C. Whiteley, vice president of the Forum Corporation
• “When customers share their story, they’re not just sharing pain points. They’re actually teaching you how to make your product, service, and business better.” – Kristin Smaby, author of “Being Human is Good Business”
• “The customer is not necessarily always right, but the customer always has a point.” – Daniel Griggs, founder and CEO of ATX Web Designs

Feedback and reviews are very important for two reasons. First, they tell you what’s wrong (or what’s great) with your business, and help to improve. Second, a lot of customers, especially nowadays with so many similar choices around, base their purchase decisions on other customers’ experience, and it can either end up in another sale or, at the very worst, destroy trust and brand reputation.

So whenever there’s a complaint – listen. No business can truly look at their product from a customer’s perspective, and hearing the opinion from someone without the context might be a huge help for actually making it better. Negative feedback should be considered as a gift – and when handled right, might even build stronger relationships with those who give it to you.

4. Help your customers, not just provide customer support

• “What do we live for if not to make life less difficult for each other?” – George Eliot, British writer
• “Be helpful — even if there’s no immediate profit in it.” – Susan Ward, small business expert and writer
• “If you light a lamp for somebody, it will also brighten your path.” - Buddha

Serving and helping a customer are actually a matter of attitude. It‘s more or less like that thin line between doing something you like in your free time and doing the exact same thing for a living – it might sometimes get frustrating, no matter how much you enjoy it.

Customer service is challenging on its own yet looking at it from the “helping perspective” might bring you closer to understanding the issue. There's another famous saying, and it's called the Golden Rule, which suggests treating others as you want to be treated, and that is basically the main focus of helping a customer.

5. Patience goes a long way

• “You don’t earn loyalty in a day. You earn loyalty day-by-day.” – Jeffrey Gitomer, author and professional speaker
• “Great customer service doesn’t mean that the customer is always right, it means that the customer is always honoured.” – Chris LoCurto, CEO at Chris LoCurto, entrepreneur
• “Customer service is just a day in, day out ongoing, never-ending, unremitting, persevering, compassionate, type of activity.” – Leon Gorman, CEO at L.L.Bean

Sure, we all have those terrible days when everything just goes wrong, and they seem to never end. So do your customers. Whatever happens, staying concentrated and patient is one of the key rules of every customer service specialist. Losing control once can mean losing the customer for good. Contrarily, as Robert Collier puts it, small everyday efforts will someday result in success.

6. Customer service is about empathy

• “Put yourself in their shoes.” – Jesse Harrison, CEO at Employee Justice Legal Team
• “Memorable customer service can only take place in a human-to-human situation.” – Jeffrey Gitomer, author and professional speaker
• “Imagine your customer is your best friend—listen to their concerns, be a shoulder to lean on and then shift the focus from what went wrong to how you can help make it right.” – Rachel Hogue, Customer Service Manager at Azazie

People are emotional creatures, and that will always play the biggest role in any kind of situation. Customer service is not an exception – while you might think that the reason behind some issue you're trying to solve for a few hours already is purely financial, it's actually rarely the case – it’s emotions.

According to the quotes above, the key is to understand this and look at the problem from the customer’s point of view. Empathy is an important personality trait of any customer service representative that helps to better understand the reason for a specific interaction, thus finding a solution without leaving a customer feeling misunderstood.

7. Go the extra mile, it won’t ever go unnoticed

• “Courteous treatment will make a customer a walking advertisement.” – James Cash Penney, Founder of J.C.Penney
• “The key is to set realistic customer expectations, and then not to just meet them, but to exceed them — preferably in unexpected and helpful ways.” – Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group
• “The single most important thing is to make people happy. If you are making people happy, as a side effect, they will be happy to open up their wallets and pay you.” – Derek Sivers, Founder of CD Baby

“Going the extra mile" is an expression that we’re all familiar with – it means doing more than expected, providing additional value, going beyond the norm. Although it might not always be possible for a customer service person due to the lack of time, many inquiries, calls, etc., it never goes unnoticed when it happens. Because, if Roger Staubach was right, not a lot of companies are willing to do this.

According to Accenture’s Strategy Global Pulse Consumer Research report, almost half of customers indicate that they wouldn’t mind paying more if the company provided a higher level of customer service. Whether it’s 20 extra minutes of research or a few additional and sincere suggestions, customers will definitely appreciate the gesture and reward you back.

8. Enjoy the process

• “Nothing is so contagious as enthusiasm.” – Samuel Taylor Coleridge, English poet
• “Customers will never love a company until the employees love it first.” – Simon Sinek, author and motivational speaker
• “A sale is not something you pursue; it’s what happens to you while you are immersed in serving your customer.” – Unknown

Finally, who could deny that the best results are usually achieved if you genuinely enjoy what you do? Customer service is one of those roles that might be truly rewarding, yet it can never be accomplished if you find yourself wondering how long until you get to go home and forget all this.

Laurie McIntosh, an inspiring writer and teacher, states that underperforming is a common problem between support agents since some of them don’t see value in their work and don’t feel motivated enough. Therefore, they can't build strong, meaningful relationships.

When you think of it, it’s actually a rule that fits every possible role in the world – enjoy the process and you soon will get to enjoy the positive outcome.

Final thoughts: “Make the customer the hero of your story”

This quote by Ann Handley, an accomplished writer, business speaker, and marketer, summarizes it all well. Make your customers heroes of your story – think of them when making decisions, listen to them when making improvements, appreciate them and they’ll most definitely do the same for you. Now, there’s nothing to wait for anymore – draw inspiration from these customer service quotes and go for it!