10 exceptional customer service quotes to inspire you

Customer service has had a significant paradigm shift in the minds of businesses, whether they are established companies or growing startups. It’s no longer just about solving problems, taking phone calls or answering emails all day - it’s an entire philosophy that drives every single decision you take, from the conception of your products to your recruitment policy, to the choice of a relevant help desk software.

Of course, it takes a lot of time, trials and errors, and honest thinking to define your own customer service motto. Listening to what successful entrepreneurs have to say about the topic cannot hurt either. So take a break (to clarify, this doesn’t mean putting your customer on hold) and check out these ten inspiring customer service quotes by famous authors, thinkers, and leaders from various industries:

Receive feedback to help you improve

“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” - Bill Gates, Founder, Microsoft

“Customers often know more about your products than you do. Use them as a source of inspiration and ideas for product development.” - David J. Greer, Author

At the core of every brand lies the desire to staying up-to-date and, even further, keep on improving. This is why customer feedback is such an essential practice. More precisely, there is a great deal to learn from unhappy and difficult customers. These key players in your business reveal the imperfections of your products or services. They are nothing but a blessing in disguise. It just requires you to change your mindset and realize that, most of the time, when complaining (even publicly on your Facebook feed), these customers aren’t so much trying to antagonize you, but rather giving you a second chance to prove yourself. Having a trained support team and the right help desk software will enable you to provide your customers with everything they need to express their grievances. In return, you will gather unique insights on how your client base feel about you and, if necessary, apply their valuable feedback straight into your product.

One interesting example starts off in the laundry rooms of the Dorchester Collection - a line of high-end hotels around the world. After a rise in customer complaints about damaged luxurious apparel, new measures had to be taken to prevent this lingering dissatisfaction. Ana Brant, the Director of Global Guest Experience and Innovation at the hotel, not only compensated guests, but used this experience to understand what exactly was needed. She hired a luxury goods expert, trained employees on fabrics and fashion design, and added a personal note to every garment explaining how they cared for each item. As a result, the company increased customer satisfaction, and filled in the expectation gap between the brand and their clients. The moral of the story: it’s not about fixing one challenge, but rather, always being on the lookout for new opportunities that will make your business more successful.

Touching the intangible

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”. - Maya Angelou, Poet

“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, Virgin Group

“The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said.” - Peter Drucker, Management Guru & Author

A Walker study found that by the year 2020 (yes, that’s indeed next year), customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator. This means that clients are less and less inclined to choose a brand for objective, concrete factors, but for the intangible connection the brand managed to build with them. Emotions are one of the major elements at stake here. It’s probably due to the fact that we do most of our tasks today in front of a screen, and are desperately craving for any spiritual and human experience.

Take Skyscanner, for example. This leading global travel search engine found a way to humorously engage with a customer who noticed one of the suggested flights had a lengthy 47-year layover in Bangkok. This prompt the client to head over to the company's Facebook page and ask for recommendations. Instead of the company fessing up that it was simply a flaw in the system, the social media manager offered some exceptionally creative ideas. Shown below, you can see how this unexpected response heavily increased customer engagement. In fact, many uninvolved third-parties decided to comment on the post to show their admiration towards the company - and even mention that they would consider using their services after this event.

Who’s the real boss?

“All of your customers are partners in your mission.” - Shep Hyken, Customer service expert & Author

“There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.” - Sam Walton, Founder, Walmart

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” - Warren Buffett, Investor

We’ve all had some kind of turbulent relationship, whether it was with our parents during our teenage angst phase, with a partner or friend. Your business’s customers are just another relationship filled with rejoicing highs and frightening lows. And because they are your partners, your clients have a tremendous impact on the future of your business.

According to one study, 70% of consumers hoped to raise awareness among other consumers by calling out brands on social media. When you provide your customers a channel to freely express themselves, it can also reflect on your business: so be prepared, hold accountability and remain calm. The silver lining is that not only will your customer voice their frustrations, but you’ll be able to take steps to build the relationship, learn from mistakes, and keep progressing positively.

Customer service is the new marketing

“We take most of the money that we could have spent on paid advertising and instead put it back into the customer experience. Then we let the customers be our marketing.” - Tony Hsieh, CEO, Zappos

“The purpose of a business is to create a customer who creates customers.” - Shiv Singh, Founder & CEO, Savvy Matters

In this era, there has been a huge shift away from traditional marketing, where brands educate their customers about their product in a top-down manner. Now, a word-of-mouth and bottom-up approach is adopted by more and more companies worldwide. While it may seem that customer service and marketing are two different departments, they both share the same common ground: the customer. Because of this, clients freely express both positive and negative feedback about their experience for others to see on either brands’ social media channels or through messaging apps. According to a study fielded by American Express, the average American tells nine people when they’ve had a positive customer service experience. Which means, for the company, nine more leads - for zero cent. Understandably, businesses are taking the opportunity to market their incredible customer service. No matter how you decide to market your brand, your patrons are the priority and will pay off not only in sales, but loyalty, praises and overall customer satisfaction.

Feeling inspired? Provide exceptional customer service with the best customer support software today!