15 Great Customer Service Quotes to Inspire You

We've all had "one of those days" at work.

You know the kind I'm talking about. You sleep through your alarm, your morning coffee doesn't seem to start working, and your to-do list just keeps getting longer and longer.

On days like those, pizza can help, but sometimes all you need is a different perspective.

When you work in customer success, your days might be filled with emails, phone calls, and meetings, but those tasks aren't what defines your career. After all, you weren't hired to answer a phone -- you were hired to help customers succeed by solving problems and educating and empowering them.

So if you're having a tough day, take a break from the process and think about the people you're helping. Customer success is integral to the success of a company -- and when you help customers succeed, you do too. We've rounded up some of the best customer service quotes from entrepreneurs, leaders, and thinkers to keep you motivated and engaged in the big picture of why customer success matters -- to you, your company, and most of all, your customers.

1."We don't want to push our ideas on to customers, we simply want to make what they want." Laura Ashley

Co-founder of her namesake company Laura Ashley may have said this about home furnishing designs, but it applies to any product or service.

When companies create products that help people solve real problems, it's easy to help them derive value and understand the benefits. A goal of customer success is to help customers get the most out of their purchases (thereby preventing customer turnover),  so if you're on a call and a customer is giving signals that they're leaning toward cancellation or nonrenewal, try this: Instead of being reactive, try talking to your customer about the problems they want to solve, and show them how your product can help.

Better yet, be proactive in your approach to customer success. Constantly think about what your customers want, and proactively suggest ways your customers can maximize the impact of their purchase to achieve their goals. Always try to think back to the "why" of your customer -- why did they purchase? What did they want to achieve? Then, refer to their challenges and goals to inform your conversations. Click to tweet this quote.

2. "I believe in the power of recognition and empowerment leading to great employee engagement. And employee engagement is critical to guest engagement. Employee empowerment and recognition is the core of our culture and how we achieve outstanding customer service." Herve Humler

In an interview with Forbes, Ritz-Carlton COO Humler discussed Ritz-Carlton's oft-cited customer service policy, which is predicated on the concept of employee empowerment.

Every employee, from the janitors to the chefs to chief executives like Humler himself, is encouraged to fix any guest problem they encounter -- and they don't need to ask permission to do so, even if it costs as much as $2,000. 

But employees can't connect with customers to answer questions and problem-solve unless they're committed to this mission, which Humler ensures every employee is, starting on their first day of training. By investing in each and every employee, Ritz-Carlton empowers them to be autonomous and attentive to hotel guests -- even if it's outside the realm of their job role.

Customer success leaders should look to Ritz-Carlton as a model for the impact of giving employees autonomy. The more valued employees feel, the more engaged they are in going the extra mile to help a customer succeed -- and happy customers will then recommend your brand to others. Click to tweet this quote.

3. "When you assume negative intent, you're angry. If you take away that anger and assume positive intent, you will be amazed." Indra Nooyi

My colleague, HubSpot's Chief People Office Katie Burke, introduced me to this quote from Nooyi, CEO of Pepsico, and it's equally applicable to customer service as it is to company culture.

We've all experienced less-than-pleasant exchanges with other people. And whether that exchange was a heated phone call or a testy email, it's easy for tempers to rise when the people involved are frustrated.

So the next time you're on the receiving end of that frustration when working with a customer, pause for a moment and remember this quote. Assume good intent of your customer, who could be having a bad day of their own, and work with them to minimize their frustration by solving their problem. Click to tweet this quote.

4. "A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well." Jeff Bezos

Amazon's Bezos has been talking about word-of-mouth marketing for a long time, and he couldn't be more right.

People trust recommendations from friends more than any other form of advertising, and they tell people about it when they have great customer experiences with a company. But, they tell 3X more people when they have a bad experience -- so it behooves of customer success teams to keep their brand's reputation intact.

So, for every customer you make happy -- especially if it's a hard problem to solve -- think about the potential for referral marketing you've just created -- which could lead to even more happy customers. Click to tweet this quote.

5. "Customer service shouldn't just be a department, it should be the entire company." Tony Hsieh

Chances are, if you've heard about Zappos, you've heard about its legendary customer service policy, and Hsieh, its CEO, really believes in its power to make -- or break -- a brand.

Here at HubSpot, we believe very strongly in the importance of solving for the customer, and Zappos made this same principle its mission, even if it meant making some drastic business changes like moving from San Francisco to Las Vegas to better staff its customer loyalty team.

By making big changes like these to improve interactions with customers, Zappos is rewarded -- when they keep coming back and buying more. For example, Hsieh notes that, while roughly 1/3 of Zappos revenue is returned, customers love the 365-day return policy, and Zappos found that customers are more likely to buy more, and more often, with the added security.

The bottom line? When companies view customer engagement "through a branding lens instead of an expense-minimizing lens," as Zappos does, customer success managers can dedicate the time and effort needed to make each interaction exceptional -- and make customers want to keep coming back. Click to tweet this quote.

6. "Instead of focusing on the competition, focus on the customer." Scott Cook

You might have read this quote and scoffed a little. "Sure, that's easy for you to say when you have a product as well-known as QuickBooks."

But Intuit wasn't always as ubiquitous as it is today. And Cook, its CEO, makes a great point about what companies should prioritize -- especially during a period of growth. Instead of only hustling to out-innovate your competition with new products, dig in and focus on building a customer success-driven mission. If you grow quickly but don't keep your customers happy, you won't outpace the competition.

You'll learn a lot from feedback from your first customers, and going the extra mile to keep them will make them advocates you can activate for quotes, testimonials, interviews, social media campaigns, and, of course, referring future customers. Click to tweet this quote.

7. "It's through vulnerability that human beings create connections. The more vulnerable we can be with one another, the more that we'll trust one another and the more we'll be able to collaborate effectively." Neil Blumenthal

Warby Parker co-founder and co-CEO, Blumenthal shared this quote in an interview with The New York Times, and at first glance, it might give customer success and service professionals pause. But his call for more vulnerability actually makes a lot of sense.

Your customers might come to you for help in times of frustration, or even crisis, and it's sometimes challenging to identify their issues to start solving them. But being open and transparent with customers can go a long way, and that vulnerability between you and a customer can help mitigate conflict and get them the help they need.

If you don't know the answer to a question, be honest, and let them know you're asking someone who will know the answer. If you have to put them on hold, tell them why. Keeping lines of communication open and being fully transparent will (hopefully) be appreciated by your customers and help you form a more trusting relationship. Click to tweet this quote.

8. "Good customer service costs less than bad customer service." Sally Gronow

Gronow, Welsh Water's Head of Customer Contact, couldn't be more right -- and there are numbers to back her up.

Acquiring a new customer is 5-25X more expensive than keeping an existing customer -- and that's nothing compared to how much revenue keeping happy customers can bring in. A study from Bain & Company found that increasing customer retention by just 5% can increase profits by 25-95%.

It's worth it for companies to invest resources and effort in developing a killer customer success team -- after all, they could be leaving money on the table if they don't. Click to tweet this quote.

9. "The more advocates you have, the fewer ads you have to buy." Dharmesh Shah

HubSpot's very own CTO and co-founder dropped this wisdom at INBOUND 2013, and it's one to remember for cost-savvy customer success pros and marketers alike.

Customers referred by family and friends are more loyal and more valuable. In an analysis of 10,000 accounts over several years, one German bank found that referred customers were 18% more likely to remain loyal and that they drove 16% more in profits than other customers.

People take recommendations from friends seriously, and customers have bigger platforms than ever to sing your praises -- or warn friends to stay away -- on social media. By investing in customer success early, you can turn happy customers into advocates using loyalty rewards and brand ambassador programs. Customers promote your brand more authentically than your own ads would, and rewarding them will, in turn, make them happier and more loyal, too. Click to tweet this quote.

10. "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

This has always been one of my favorite quotations, and it's just as applicable for customer success organizations as it is for individuals.

People make decisions with their gut instincts, whether those instincts are necessarily the best. In fact, some studies have shown humans are actually predisposed to making irrational decisions based on instincts and impulses.

For example, I've proclaimed loyalty to brands based on simple things like birthday gifts, text message confirmations, and clever email subject lines. Conversely, I've stopped using products based on one unpleasant phone call, one security breach, and one moldy package of blueberries (it's a long story.) These might not have been the wisest purchasing decisions, but they were made based on how the brands made me feel -- highly valued, or highly expendable.

This quote is one to bear in mind for anyone working in a customer success organization. Whether you're developing products, creating marketing content, or working with customers every day, think about how what you do will make them feel -- and aspire for that feeling to be positive. Click to tweet this quote.

11. "As a membership site we're always focused on reducing churn and increasing satisfaction. We know that collecting feedback from customers throughout the customer's lifecycle has allowed us to achieve both."James Bake

James Bake is the VP of a subscription-based online yoga studio called Yoga International. After adopting Service Hub, the company experienced a 20% decrease in customer churn and a 5% increase to its customer base. Bake attributes this success to their ability to centralize customer data and create a consistent process for collecting and distributing customer feedback. 

For example, about two weeks after signing up, the site sends customers an NPS® survey to measure their satisfaction. The survey asks the customer if they would refer Yoga International to one of their friends. If the response is negative, the company reaches out to address the criticism. If it's positive, it tries to turn these customers into advocates who participate in their "refer-a-friend" loyalty program. 

Additionally, Yoga International shares these reviews with its marketing, sales, and product development team. That way, teams can remove roadblocks in the customer journey and improve the customer experience. Click to tweet this quote. 

12. "You are serving a customer, not a life sentence. Learn how to enjoy your work." Laurie McIntosh

Laurie McIntosh is an accomplished writer and teacher for Business Training Works, a career-building website that provides in-depth training courses. She uses her experiences from working in healthcare to explain the fundamentals of providing excellent customer service. 

This quote is one of her most notable tips provided in her courses. She states that sometimes agents underperform due to a lack of motivation in their role. She reminds them that their job is to help customers, and it's their choice to pursue that goal or not. Reps need to find value in their work because without it, it's impossible to build meaningful relationships with customers. 

This advice is extremely important because of the negative stigmas surrounding customer service roles. Most agents love their jobs, and it's very rewarding to help people accomplish their goals. Your reps should feel that personal sense of achievement every time they solve a problem for a customer. Click to tweet this quote. 

13. "What sets us apart as a company is that we want to deal with anyone that owns our product, regardless of where you bought it. If you have an issue with a Santa Cruz Bike and come to us with your issue, we'll help you resolve your issue." Kyle Harder

This quote comes from Rider Support Lead, Kyle Harder, who oversees customer service at Santa Cruz Bicycles. His company has differentiated itself through excellent customer service and applying a customer-first strategy. 

But, that's not always easy as Santa Cruz went through a sudden growth spurt that challenged its original approach. Its customer base was growing rapidly and the company needed to find new ways to organize incoming and outgoing information. This is where HubSpot's Help Desk Software came in handy as it helped the team manage its daily workflow. Tickets were distributed automatically to reps and self-service options provided customers with quick and easy solutions. 

Sometimes, even the best service teams need help. As a business grows and develops, more customers will be utilizing your support teams to address their issues, placing more pressure on your reps to keep up. Without the right tools for the job, your team may struggle to keep pace with customer demand. Click to tweet this quote. 

14. "Service, in short, is not what you do, but who you are. It's a way of living that you need to bring to everything you do if you're to bring it to your customer interactions." Betsy Sanders

Betsy Sanders was Nordstrom's first female store manager and made history when she turned her store into the company's most profitable and largest location. Under her leadership, the store made over 1$ billion in annual sales. Needless to say, she knows a thing or two about customer service. 

This quote focuses on the voice of the customer, and why it's important to consider it during every business decision. Customer opinions aren't limited to the customer service department; rather, they affect every team in your organization. 

If you want to improve sales, marketing, and product development, these departments need to be aware of what your customers are saying about them. That way, they can make informed decisions that always put the customer's needs first. Click to tweet this quote. 

15. "Happy customers are your biggest advocates and can become your most successful sales team." Lisa Masiello

This quote comes from Lisa Masiello, who's the founder and CMO of TECHmarc Labs. As a B2B marketer, Masiello has won multiple awards and is well-respected for the work she's done with leading IT service providers.

I like this quote because it reminds management about the financial value customer service provides. When customers are satisfied, they're less likely to turn to your competitors. Instead, happy customers will refer your business to their peers, creating word-of-mouth lead generation. 

Masiello reminds us that customer service is about more than just solving problems. It's relationship-building that leads to long-term benefits for both your customers and your business. Click to tweet this quote here.

To learn more, review our list of customer service blogs to read next.