When competition is fierce and customer expectations are higher than ever, delivering exceptional customer service is no longer a luxury — it’s a necessity. Businesses that thrive are those that understand the power of a memorable customer experience. They know that every interaction is an opportunity to build loyalty, trust, and an emotional connection with their customers.
Whether you’re a small startup or a global giant, the secret to standing out lies in the consistency and quality of your customer service. It’s not just about solving problems; it’s about creating moments that matter, moments that turn ordinary transactions into unforgettable experiences.
In this article, we’ll explore 10 inspiring examples of brands that have mastered the art of going the extra mile. These stories highlight how authentic, thoughtful, and innovative customer support can transform a business, spark positive reviews, and generate buzz on social media. Get ready to be inspired and see how you can elevate your own customer service strategy to new heights.
Why Is Customer Service Critical for a Business’ Success?
Customer service is when a company provides support to its customers before, during, and after purchasing and using its products or services. It entails addressing customer inquiries, resolving issues, offering support, and making sure you have happy customers. Your customer service can be via various channels, like in-person, phone, email, live chat, and social media.
Here are a few reasons why every customer interaction is important to the success of your business:
- Customer Retention and Brand Loyalty: Good customer service builds trust and, thus, long-term relationships with your customers who are more likely to return and make repeat purchases. By addressing every customer complaint effectively and promptly, businesses can reduce their churn rate.
- Positive Word-of-Mouth and Referrals: Excellent customer service leads to positive reviews and word-of-mouth recommendations. Happy customers are more likely to share their positive experiences with friends and family. In fact, even resolving a customer issue can turn a bad experience into a positive review on social media or review sites.
- Competitive Advantage: In a market where products and services can be similar, outstanding customer service can be the difference that sets a business apart from its competitors. Companies known for superior customer service often become the preferred choice for consumers, even if their prices are slightly higher.
- Feedback and Improvement: Every interaction can provide valuable customer feedback that can be used to improve products, services, and business processes. Understanding customer needs and pain points can provide insights that drive innovation or even the development of new offerings that better meet market demands.
- Increased Revenue: Loyal customers tend to spend more over time. Exceptional customer service encourages repeat business, leading to higher customer lifetime value (CLV). Plus, satisfied customers are more receptive to additional products or services offered by the business, which could mean increased sales.
Great customer service is a vital aspect of a business’s operations that directly impacts customer satisfaction, loyalty, and overall success.
Now, let’s move on to the ten excellent customer service examples.
1) Trader Joe’s: Encourage Your Customer Service Team to Create Personalized Experiences
Trader Joe’s is a popular American grocery store chain known for its unique and high-quality products, affordable prices, and distinctive store environment. Founded in 1967 by Joe Coulombe, the chain has grown to over 500 locations across the United States – and one of the reasons is because of they strive to offer a unique shopping experience.
Take a look at this incredible customer service example:
This example highlights how Trader Joe’s encourages employees to find creative solutions that exceed customer expectations. Going the extra mile, whether it’s fulfilling an unusual request or making an exception for someone who needs extra assistance, illustrates Trader Joe’s commitment to outstanding customer service.
Takeaway: A culture of excellent customer service never gets old. Groom your employees to be future leaders; even if they don’t become CEOs, the customer service skills they learn will be invaluable throughout their life. Plus, those skills will only improve your brand reputation!
2) Starbucks: Give Your Customers Something to Talk About!
Starbucks strongly believes in meeting customer service standards. A great customer service example is about a man named Wei who went to meet some friends at Starbucks and ordered a coffee. Mishearing his name, the barista wrote “Wayne” on the cup. Wei pointed out the misspelling in a friendly way and went to enjoy his drink.
Before his friends arrived, he ordered a second coffee and this time the same barista wrote “Bruce Wayne” on the cup. When Wei saw that, they shared a smile. Finally Wei’s friends arrived, and when he got a third coffee the barista wrote “Batman” and drew a bat. The Starbucks employee could have simply corrected the name and been done with it, but instead, the employee created a unique, personalized experience that recognized the customer as an individual and made them feel special.
It’s no wonder that 20% of Starbucks customers visit one of their cafés 16 times or more in a month!
Takeaway: Great customer service is more than just being quick or efficient. There’s always an opportunity to delight your customers by adding personal touches to their experiences. As shown by the Starbucks barista who turned a simple name correction into a fun, memorable interaction, these small gestures can make customers feel recognized and appreciated, which drives repeat business and positive word-of-mouth.
3) Restaurateur Danny Meyer: Train Your Employees in the Art of Hospitality
Danny Meyer is a successful New York restaurateur who loves creating a real sense of hospitality. All his restaurants have a distinctive Meyer touch. Led by Meyer, Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG) is known for its restaurants as well as its distinctive culture of “Enlightened Hospitality,” which has allowed his small group of restaurants to evolve into a multi-faceted hospitality organization.
As Meyer says: “The best way to make the most customers happy is to make sure that the people who come to work in your organization are having a great experience coming to work.”
He only hires new employees based on what he calls the “hospitality quotient ” whose skills are divided 51-49% between emotional hospitality and technical excellence. These skills, or personality traits, are:
- Optimistic and kindness
- Curiosity about learning
- Exceptional work ethic
- Self-awareness and integrity
- High degree of empathy
Takeaway: The human aspect of customer experience is irreplaceable. Apply Meyer’s tips to your customer support hiring process to make sure that your employees are well-equipped to make your customers feel recognized. In turn, they’ll give your company the recognition it deserves.
4) Virgin Atlantic Airlines: There’s No Such Thing as a Bad Customer
It’s impossible to please every customer every time, but customer service statistics show that your response to unhappy customers matters A LOT. Virgin Brands is spectacular at using negative feedback to bond with its customers.
“A complaint is a chance to turn a customer into a lifelong friend,” says Virgin Group co-founder Richard Branson. “At Virgin, we think that if we address a complaint well and even involve the customer in the solution, it brings customers closer to our brand.”
In a famous episode, a customer in first class had what sounds like a dreadful Indian-themed meal on a flight. The letter he wrote to Branson was both funny and disturbing. The passenger described one item as a “miscellaneous central cuboid of beige matter.”
The most significant part of the story isn’t the letter, though, it’s how Branson responded. He invited the passenger to help Virgin overhaul its menu. He also later asked the passenger to be on the board of the airline’s culinary council.
Takeaway: A customer complaint is a gift, so treat them as opportunities to engage and win over your customers. Respond promptly, listen actively, and involve them in finding solutions if possible. By transforming negative experiences into positive interactions, you can turn dissatisfied customers into loyal advocates.
5) Zappos: Empower Your Employees to Wow Your Customers
Can you imagine a leading e-commerce company whose core principle is “to live and deliver WOW”? Zappos is exactly that company.
Zappos grew to be a leader in the online shoe space with its obsessive customer devotion. The company is willing to spend any amount of time on the phone to serve and bond with a customer – even up to a world record 10 hours and 29 minutes, made famous on late-night TV by Jimmy Fallon!
A customer service representative will do anything — even spend Zappos’ money — to “wow” customers. Not only has the company won customer support awards for it, but its founder literally wrote the book on customer service best practices.
Takeaway: Strive to wow — in other words, to surprise and delight — every customer need. Your customers are real people and people love feeling special. What can you do to make a customer say “Wow” about your company?
6) The Ritz-Carlton: Taking Personalized Service to the Next Level
The Ritz-Carlton is a luxury hotel chain that is renowned for its exceptional customer service, personalized experiences, and unwavering commitment to creating memorable stays for its guests. For instance, when a family departed from their stay at the Ritz-Carlton in Florida, their young son became upset when he realized that he’d accidentally left behind his beloved stuffed giraffe named “Joshie.”
The father told his son that Joshie was just staying for an extra vacation at the hotel, and when the hotel staff was alerted to this, they went above and beyond. They took pictures of Joshie “on vacation” to make the father’s story more believable. A few days later, a package arrived at the family’s home with Joshie along with Ritz-Carlton branded items like a frisbee and football.
But most impressively, the package included a binder documenting Joshie’s “extended stay” with pictures of him getting a massage at the spa, sunbathing by the pool, meeting other stuffed animal “friends,” and even working the hotel security cameras!
Takeaway: The Ritz-Carlton staff put in the extraordinary effort to make the young boy happy and turn a negative situation into an amazing memory for the family – who will remember this experience forever. It’s a great example of the hotel chain’s renowned customer service philosophy of going above and beyond expectations. So remember, there are always efforts you can make to ensure that your customer support stands out.
7) Amazon: There’s No Reason Not to Provide Swift Problem Resolution
Among other things, Amazon is known for its customer-friendly return and replacement policies. The company prioritizes quick resolution of issues, usually shipping replacement items immediately, providing prepaid return labels, or even letting the customer keep the wrong shipment. This practice is a key aspect of Amazon’s customer service model and is frequently praised by customers.
One customer hopped on Amazon’s live chat to complain that they hadn’t received their order. Without first pummeling the customer with a slew of questions, the customer service rep simply said, “I’ll just create a replacement order for this with one day shipping.”
Another customer story involves a person who had accidentally received a duplicate of an order they’d already received. Using Amazon’s “Call Me” service, in which you leave your number and they call you back within five minutes, a customer rep immediately told them to just keep the duplicate order (worth about $75)!
Takeaway: Prioritize swift problem resolution to enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty. By quickly addressing issues and offering convenient solutions, such as immediate replacements and hassle-free returns, you can turn potential frustrations into positive experiences that strengthen your brand’s reputation. Any financial costs your brand eats will be recouped by the happy customer making additional purchases and referring their friends to you.
8) USAA: Treat Your Employees as Your First Customers
The United Services Automobile Association (USAA), an American financial services company exclusively for members of the military, always has a top rating for customer satisfaction. One of their secrets is their unique approach to propelling customer-focused innovation. The culture of innovation here is so strong that a security guard authored 25 patents for the company. These patents are among the 10,000 submissions from employees each year — and 897 of these have received U.S. patents! Each of these are about ideas to improve USAA’s customer experience.
USAA also urges employees to be on the lookout for moments to create loyal customers. Beyond this, USAA harvests ideas through “Always On Ideas Platform,” its internal “ideas platform” that allows all employees, from the CEO to frontline staff, to submit and vote on ideas for new products, services or improvements. Employees submitted over 10,000 ideas, and 1,206 of them were implemented.
Takeaway: Foster a company culture of innovation by treating your employees as your first customers. Encourage them to contribute ideas and solutions to improve the customer experience, as USAA does with their “Always On Ideas Platform.” By empowering employees to innovate and recognizing their contributions, they will then create loyal customers for you.
9) Nordstrom: Be Willing to Say “Yes!” Every Time
Staying in business for over 100 years is rare. Thriving in business for more than 100 years — in a competitive field — is even more so. Seattle-based Nordstrom could not have managed to pull this off year after year with poor customer service.
For example, Nordstrom values customer retention so much that it once refunded a customer for a tire – even though the company doesn’t sell tires! This is a great example of a business that strives to get you a “yes” to anything you request.
Takeaway: Be ready to say “yes” to your customers, regardless of the request. With this approach, not only will your brand reputation skyrocket, but you’ll have a loyal customer for life.
10) Drybar: Deliver a Customer Experience They Can’t Find Elsewhere
Drybar, the renowned “blowout bar,” has grown from founder Alli Webb’s basement to over 100 locations. Their $40 hair wash and blowout service, along with their bestselling line of hair dryers and products available at Sephora, have cultivated a loyal customer base.
The key to their success? Exceptional customer service experience at every touchpoint. With romantic comedies playing on flat screens and custom-designed chairs, Drybar spares no detail. “The experience is everything — if it weren’t for the experience we create, we would just be another place styling women’s hair,” says co-founder Michael Landau.
Takeaway: Transform your offering from a mere commodity into a unique experience that makes your customers say “Wow.” Invest in out-of-the-ordinary customer care whenever possible to differentiate your brand and build lasting customer loyalty.
So, What Do all These Companies Have in Common?
While each customer story here spans different industries, they have these in common:
- Accessible FAQs, self-service content, or self-ordering kiosks
- Clear customer service responses to questions via email, social media, and phone
- Easy access to a customer support representative
- Personalized solutions based on each customer’s situation or context
- The widespread practice of active listening and empathy
- Sense of accountability, including zero tolerance for bad customer service
- Smart use of software like CRM, data analytics, and surveys in customer support
- Focus on building long-term relationships and seeking feedback and customer testimonials
- Seamless alignment with the overarching customer experience strategy
- An authentic, motivated, and highly trained customer support team
Any business with an efficient customer service organization will stay relevant, but customer service that goes above and beyond will reap many more rewards. Excellent customer support has a measurable link to customer retention, customer satisfaction, and revenue. And it’s easy to optimize your business’s customer service with a CRM.
Nextiva’s Customer Service Solution
Whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise, customer service plays a vital role in attracting, retaining, and nurturing your valuable clients. Customer success leads to revenue generation, customer loyalty programs, and referral campaigns. So get inspired by these examples and build them into your own customer service strategy.
Nextiva’s call center solution offers features such as intelligent call routing, real-time analytics, and seamless integration with CRM systems, which helps your customer service team provide efficient and personalized support. By leveraging Nextiva’s technology, you can streamline your customer service operations, improve response times, and deliver a consistently high-quality experience that will delight your customers and set your business apart.
Customer Service Examples FAQs
Some excellent customer service examples include:
Personalized Service: A customer calls a tech support line and the representative addresses them by name, recalls their past interactions, and resolves their issue promptly.
Proactive Support: An airline sends notifications about flight delays along with alternative booking options before the customer even realizes there’s a problem.
Quick Resolution: A retail store quickly processes a return without hassle, providing a replacement or refund within minutes.
Follow-Up: After a service is rendered, a company follows up with a call or email to make sure the customer is satisfied and to see if there are any further issues.
Empathy and Understanding: A hospitality business accommodates special requests or needs, such as dietary restrictions, with care and concern so that the customer feels valued.
Empathy: Understanding and sharing the feelings of the customer to provide more personalized and compassionate service.
Patience: Allowing customers to explain their problems fully without rushing them or cutting them off, and handling frustrations calmly.
Knowledge: Having a deep understanding of the products or services offered, enabling the representative to answer questions and solve issues effectively.
Reliability: Being dependable and consistent in providing service and resolving issues.
Communication Skills: Clear, concise, and effective communication, both in listening and in providing information.
Problem-Solving Skills: The ability to quickly understand the issue, find a solution, and implement it efficiently.
Positive Attitude: Maintaining a friendly and positive demeanor, even in challenging situations, to make the customer feel appreciated and respected.
The three types, or channels, of customer support that are most common are:
Phone Support: Customers call a dedicated phone line, often at a contact center, to speak with a representative who can address their questions or resolve issues. Phone support is known for its direct and personal interaction, making it a popular channel for handling complex or urgent issues.
Email Support: Customers send an email detailing their questions or concerns, and a customer service representative responds, typically within 24-48 hours. Email support is preferred for less urgent issues and allows for detailed, documented exchanges.
Live Chat: Customers use a website’s live chat feature to communicate in real-time with a customer service representative. Live chat is popular due to its convenience and speed, offering immediate assistance without the need for a phone call.
