101 Inspirational Customer Service Quotes

Customer service is hard work. Some days are rewarding and energizing. Others are challenging, making it difficult to feel like what you do is important.

We’ve collected this list of inspirational customer service quotes to help you reignite your motivation on those difficult days. Read through them when you need a reminder of the extraordinary impact that your hard work has on both your company and the people you help.

101 inspirational customer service quotes

1. “Life is for service.” – Fred Rogers

2. “To earn the respect (and eventually love) of your customers, you first have to respect those customers. That is why Golden Rule behavior is embraced by most of the winning companies.” – Colleen Barrett, Southwest Airlines President Emerita

3. “Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” – Albert Einstein

4. “To keep a customer demands as much skill as to win one.” – American Proverb

5. “To give without any reward, or any notice, has a special quality of its own.” – Anne Morrow Lindeberg, Author and Aviator

6. “There is a spiritual aspect to our lives — when we give, we receive — when a business does something good for somebody, that somebody feels good about them!” – Ben Cohen, Co-Founder Ben & Jerry’s

7. “Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, ‘What’s in it for me?‘” – Brian Tracy, Author and Motivational Speaker

8. “When you help others feel important, you help yourself feel important too.” – David J. Schwartz, Author and Motivational Speaker

9. “Don’t dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward toward finding the answer.” – Denis Waitley, Author and Motivational Speaker

10. “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

11. “Men are rich only as they give. He who gives great service gets great rewards.” – Elbert Hubbard, Artist and Writer

12. “I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.” – Ernest Hemingway, Author and Journalist

13. “To listen closely and reply well is the highest perfection we are able to attain in the art of conversation.” – Francois de La Rochefoucauld, Essayist

14. “What do we live for if not to make life less difficult for each other?” – George Eliot, Novelist

15. “Sometimes one can become lost in a big company and lose sight of how what one does truly helps or impacts the end customer. If you are one of those, think of a fire brigade, a line of people passing buckets of water from one to the other from a source of water to the site of the fire. An individual in the brigade may not be able to see the end result, i.e., the water being thrown on the fire to put it out, but the contribution of the individual is indispensable to the final outcome.” – Grant Bright, Former Project Lead IBM

16. “Happiness is a by-product of an effort to make someone else happy.” – Gretta Palmer, Author and Editor

17. “The world is moved not only by the mighty shoves of the heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.” – Helen Keller, Author and Political Activist

18. “Most people spend more time and energy going around problems than in trying to solve them.” – Henry Ford, Founder Ford Motor Company

19. “Two important things are to have a genuine interest in people and to be kind to them. Kindness, I’ve discovered, is everything.” – Isaac Bashevis Singer, Author

20. “Courteous treatment will make a customer a walking advertisement.” – James Cash Penney, Founder J.C. Penney Stores

21. “We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job to make the customer experience a little bit better.” – Jeff Bezos, Founder Amazon

22. “Biggest question: Isn’t it really ‘customer helping’ rather than customer service? And wouldn’t you deliver better service if you thought of it that way?” – Jeffrey Gitomer, Author and Professional Speaker

23. “You don’t earn loyalty in a day. You earn loyalty day-by-day.” – Jeffrey Gitomer, Author and Professional Speaker

24. “If you make a sale, you can make a living. If you make an investment of time and good service in a customer, you can make a fortune.” – Jim Rohn, Author and Motivational Speaker

25. “If you just communicate, you can get by. But if you communicate skillfully, you can work miracles.” – Jim Rohn, Author and Motivational Speaker

26. “The most important adage and the only adage is, the customer comes first, whatever the business, the customer comes first.” – Kerry Stokes, Chairman of the Seven Network

27. “Face the simple fact before it comes involved. Solve the small problem before it becomes big.” – Lao Tzu, Philosopher

28. “Our greatest asset is the customer! Treat each customer as if they are the only one!” – Laurice Leitao, Customer Service Professional SeraCare Life Sciences

29. “Your ability to communicate is an important tool in your pursuit of your goals, whether it is with your family, your co-workers or your clients and customers.” – Les Brown, Author and Motivational Speaker

30. “One of the deep secrets of life is that all that is really worth doing is what we do for others.” – Lewis Carroll, Writer and Mathematician

31. “Words of comfort, skillfully administered, are the oldest therapy known to man.” – Lous Nizer, Lawyer

32. “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

33. “Service is the rent we pay for being. It is the very purpose of life, and not something you do in your spare time.” – Marian Wright Edelman, Founder Children’s Defense Fund

34. “Thank your customer for complaining and mean it. Most will never bother to complain. They’ll just walk away.” – Marilyn Suttle, Success Coach

35. “How you think about your customers influences how you respond to them.” – Marilyn Suttle, Success Coach

36. “If you don’t care, your customer never will.” – Marlene Blaszczyk, Motivational Specialist

37. “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.” – Maya Angelou

38. “Every company’s greatest assets are its customers, because without customers there is no company.” – Michael LeBoeuf, Business author and former management professor

39. “A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all.” – Michael LeBoeuf, Business author and former management professor

40. “Bottom-line obsession comes from turning the pursuit of money into a God and forgetting the real master your business serves: The Customer.” – Michael Shevack, Executive Coach

41. “Be kind and merciful. Let no one ever come to you without coming away better and happier.” – Mother Teresa

42. “Remember, the best job goes to the person who can get it done without passing the buck or coming back with excuses.” – Napoleon Hill, Author “Think and Grow Rich”

43. “How you think about a problem is more important than the problem itself — so always think positively.” – Norman Vincent Peale, Author The Power of Positive Thinking

44. “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

45. “It is not your customer’s job to remember you, it is your obligation and responsibility to make sure they don’t have the chance to forget you.” – Patricia Fripp, Professional Keynote Speaker

46. “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

47. “The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said.” – Peter Drucker, Best-Selling Author

48. “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

49. “Until you understand your customers — deeply and genuinely — you cannot truly serve them.” – Rasheed Ogunlaru, Author of Soul Trader

50. “If you work just for money, you’ll never make it, but if you love what you’re doing and you always put the customer first, success will be yours.” – Ray Kroc, Founder McDonald’s

51. “People expect good service but few are willing to give it.” – Robert Gately, President Gately Consulting

52. “When the customer comes first, the customer will last.” – Robert Half, Founder of Robert Half International

53. “Inside of every problem lies an opportunity.” – Robert Kiyosaki, Author Rich Dad Poor Dad

54. “There are no traffic jams along the extra mile.” – Roger Staubach, Former NFL Quarterback

55. “Good customer service costs less than bad customer service.” – Sally Gronow, Customer Manager Welsh Water

56. “The goal as a company is to have customer service that is not just the best but legendary.” – Sam Walton, Founder Walmart and Sam’s Club

57. “When a customer complains, he is doing you a special favor; he is giving you another chance to serve him to his satisfaction. You will appreciate the importance of this opportunity when you consider that the customer’s alternative option was to desert you for a competitor.” – Seymour Fine, Author The Marketing of Ideas and Social Issues

58. “Seek first to understand. Then to be understood.” – Stephen Covey, Author “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”

59. “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.” – Steve Jobs, Co-founder Apple

60. “Rule 1: The customer is always right. Rule 2: If the customer is ever wrong, read Rule 1.” – Stew Leonard’s Grocery Store Customer Policy

61. “Be helpful — even if there’s no immediate profit in it.” – Susan Ward, Small Business Expert and Writer

62. “The magic formula that successful businesses have discovered is to treat customers like guests and employees like people.” – Tom Peters, Best-Selling Author

63. “We asked ourselves what we wanted this company to stand for. We didn’t want to just sell shoes. I wasn’t even into shoes — but I was passionate about customer service.” – Tony Hsieh, CEO Zappos

64. “A sale is not something you pursue; it’s what happens to you while you are immersed in serving your customer.” – Unknown

65. “The purpose of business should be to make life better for people.” – Unknown

66. “Profit is the applause you get for taking care of your customers and creating a motivating environment for your employees.” – Unknown

67. “Customer service is not a department, it’s an attitude!” – Unknown

68. “You can have what you want if you help other people get what they want.” – Zig Ziglar, Author and Motivational Speaker

69. “If you love your customer to death, you can’t go wrong.” – Graham Day, Lawyer and Corporate Director

70. “What helps people, helps business.” – Leo Burnett, Advertising Executive

71. “Be dramatically willing to focus on the customer at all costs, even at the cost of obsoleting your own stuff.” – Scott D. Cook, Founder Intuit

72. “Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten.” – Gucci Family Slogan

73. “We are superior to the competition because we hire employees who work in an environment of belonging and purpose. We foster a climate where the employee can deliver what the customer wants. You cannot deliver what the customer wants by controlling the employee.” – Horst Schulze, Former Ritz Carlton President

74. “Go beyond merely communicating to ‘connecting’ with people.” – Jerry Bruckner, Author The Success Formula for Personal Growth

75. “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, EVP American Express

76. “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

77. “Your best customers leave quite an impression. Do the same, and they won’t leave at all.” – SAP Advertising

78. “Customer service shouldn’t just be a department, it should be the entire company.” – Tony Hsieh, CEO Zappos

79. “Virtually nothing else is as important as how one is made to feel in any business transaction. Hospitality exists when you believe the other person is on your side.” – Danny Meyer, Restaurateur and Author

80. “When you assume negative intent, you’re angry. If you take away that anger and assume positive intent, you will be amazed.” – Indra Nooyi, CEO Pepsico

81. “If you have a job without aggravations, you don’t have a job.” – Malcolm Forbes, Former Publisher of Forbes Magazine

82. “I empathize with women in their high heels so I’ll be there in my kilt and T-shirt and I’ll walk around all day just to prove that if I can wear the shoes for 36 hours then certainly our customer can wear them.” – Marc Jacobs, Fashion Designer

83. “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” – Bill Gates, Co-founder Microsoft

84. “It’s much harder to provide great customer service than I would have ever realised. It’s much more art than science in some of these other areas and not just about the facts but about how you are conveying them.” – David Yu, CEO Betfair

85. “Our mission statement about treating people with respect and dignity is not just words but a creed we live by every day. You can’t expect your employees to exceed the expectations of your customers if you don’t exceed the employees’ expectations of management.” – Howard Schultz, CEO Starbucks Coffee

86. “You are allowed to do this — don’t worry about the rules, don’t worry about getting into trouble, your job is to take care of the customer. Your job is to make the person leave happy.” – John Pepper, Founder Boloco

87. “Stellar service should be non-negotiable and merchants shouldn’t hide behind self-service tools and technology when it comes to knowing their products and taking care of their customers.” – Lauren Freedman, President The E-tailing Group

88. “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

89. “If the shopper feels like it was poor service, then it was poor service. We are in the customer perception business.” – Mark Perrault, Co-Founder Rally Stores

90. “Whether you are big or small, you cannot give good customer service if your employees don’t feel good about coming to work.” – Martin Oliver, Managing Director Kwik-Fit Financial Service

91. “Everyone in an organisation should be involved with customer service, not only are they feeling the customer but they are getting a feeling for what’s not working.” – Penny Handscomb, Chief People Officer at Mind Candy

92. “Customer service represents the heart of a brand in the hearts of its customers.” – Kate Nasser, Speaker and Trainer

93. “Zappos uses call center technology to track average call time per agent. But the goal isn’t to reduce this average — it’s more important that we make an emotional connection with the customer, rather than just quickly getting them off the phone.” – Tony Hsieh, CEO Zappos

94. “Sales without Customer Service is like stuffing money into a pocket full of holes.” – David Tooman, Customer Service Professional

95. “You’ll never have a product or price advantage again. They can be easily duplicated, but a strong customer service culture can’t be copied.” – Jerry Fritz, Director of Management Institute University of Wisconsin

96. “Even the best of what formerly passed for good customer service is no longer enough. You have to be no less than a customer concierge, doing everything you can to make every one of your customers feel acknowledged, appreciated, and heard. You have to make them feel special, just like when your great-grandmother walked into Butcher Bob’s shop or bought her new hat, and you need to make people who aren’t your customers wish they were.” – Gary Vaynerchuk, Author The Thank You Economy

97. “Goodwill is the only asset that competition cannot undersell or destroy.” – Marshall Field, Founder Marshald Field and Company

98. “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

99. “Here is a simple but powerful rule: Always give people more than what they expect to get.” – Nelson Boswell, Author of Inner Peace

100. “The two most powerful things in existence: a kind word and a thoughtful gesture.” – Kenneth Langone, Venture Capitalist

101. “Service, in short, is not what you do, but who you are. It is a way of living that you need to bring to everything you do, if you are to bring it to your customer interactions.” – Betsy Sanders, Author Fabled Service