“Some of the most successful businesses have one thing in common—great customer service,” says Desk. “Great customer service is a differentiator that can’t be bought; it’s a competitive advantage that can only be earned.”
Improving the customer experience also increases customer loyalty, satisfaction, and retention, which, in turn, leads to a better bottom line.
We’ve gathered some of the best customer service quotes out there to help small retailers excel at providing the best customer experiences on the planet:
- “Customers don’t expect you to be perfect. They DO expect you to fix things when they go wrong.” – Donald Porter
- “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
- “The goal as a company is to have customer service that is not just the best, but legendary.” – Sam Walton
- “When people call our call center, our reps don’t have scripts, and they don’t try to up-sell. They are just judged on whether they go above and beyond for the customer and really deliver a kind of personal service and emotional connection with our customers.” – Tony Hsieh
- “Always keep in mind the old retail adage: Customers remember the service a lot longer than they remember the price.” – Lauren Freedman
- “Make a customer, not a sale.” – Katherine Barchetti
- “Open, honest communication is the best foundation for any relationship, but remember that at the end of the day it’s not what you say or what you do, but how you make people feel that matters the most.” – Tony Hsieh
- “Go beyond merely communicating to ‘connecting’ with people.” – Jerry Bruckner
- “Courteous treatment will make a customer a walking advertisement.” – James Cash Penney
- “The way to a customer’s heart is much more than a loyalty program. Making customer evangelists is about creating experiences worth talking about.” – Valeria Maltoni
- “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
- “The best advertising you can have is a loyal customer spreading the word about how incredible your business is.” – Shep Hyken
- “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
- “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
- “We have entered the era of the customer. Today, providing customers with outstanding customer service is essential to building loyal customers and a long lasting brand.” – Jerry Gregoire
- “Revolve your world around the customer and more customers will revolve around you.” – Heather Williams
- “Every company’s greatest assets are its customers, because without customers there is no company.” – Michael LeBoeuf
- “Customer service is the new marketing.” – Derek Sivers
- “Any customer that walks away, disrespected and defeated, represents tens of thousands of dollars out the door, in addition to the failure of a promise the brand made in the first place. You can’t see it but it’s happening, daily.” – Seth Godin
- “There are many who subscribe to the convention that service is a business cost, but our data demonstrates that superior service is an investment that can help drive business growth. Investing in quality talent, and ensuring they have the skills, training and tools that enable them to empathize and actively listen to customers are central to providing consistently excellent service experiences.” – Jim Bush
- “No amount of advertising can repair the damage done by failing to properly address a customer’s concern.” – Albert Schindler
- “Getting service right is more than just a nice to do; it’s a must do. American consumers are willing to spend more with companies that provide outstanding service — ultimately, great service can drive sales and customer loyalty.” – Jim Bush
- “Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, ‘What’s in it for me?’” – Brian Tracy
- “Don’t reinvent the wheel. Focus on winning one customer at a time. Be honest and sincere. Do what’s right. There’s nothing magical about this. That’s been my guiding principle. To make it work, you have to live it every day. Make it your mindset.” – Robert Spector
Learn more about Rain’s retail marketing tools to help enhance the customer experience.