Consistently delivering personalized support, offering timely and helpful advice, and surprising and delighting your customers lead to customer service excellence.
Yes, these activities benefit customers, but they also help you. When customer service is done well, it provides a competitive advantage that improves retention, builds brand reputation, and converts buyers into active promoters.
To learn how to transform your business’s customer service, look at real-life examples. They show how decisions made by leading businesses can influence customer behavior. Whether it’s a simple, thoughtful gesture in the moment or a long-term, well-planned strategy, real-world actions serve as great teaching tools.
In this article, we’ll share 15 customer service examples that you can use as inspiration for your own business. By modeling these success stories, you’ll be well on your way to building a business your customers can’t get enough of. But first, let’s take a quick look at why customer service is such an important pillar of successful businesses.
Why customer service is critical for business success
Customer service affects your target audience at every stage, from long before they buy something to years after their first purchase. The way you talk about your products, offer help, and solve problems all play an important role in the way you interact with your customers.
For example, when customers have questions about how a specific product or service works, your team has an opportunity to connect with them in a meaningful way. They can go beyond simply talking about a specific product to discussing various ways your business can support the customer.
Take customer complaints, for example. Your frontline team handles many issues a day. A skilled customer service team can de-escalate tense situations, prevent issues from snowballing, and restore confidence in your business. When customers feel like their voice matters, it boosts the overall customer experience.
Here are a few ways customer service is directly tied to business success:
- It boosts customer retention: When people are happy with the way you treat them, they are more likely to stick around, which reduces churn and increases customer lifetime value.
- It increases brand loyalty: If customers trust your business, they will prefer your brand.
- It differentiates your business: Even if you sell the same products as your competitors, providing excellent customer service makes your business stand out.
- It enhances your reputation: Positive word of mouth is worth more than any marketing campaign. Excellent customer service creates vocal advocates for your business.
- It minimizes operational issues: Great customer service can happen only when your processes are smooth and friction-free. Efficiency benefits everyone!
- It increases revenue and profitability: Loyal customers purchase more from your business. Plus, it costs significantly less to retain existing customers than to acquire new ones.
Next, let’s look at some real-world stories showcasing customer service excellence. From these examples, you can start to see why treating customers with care is so important to your long-term success.
15 exceptional customer service examples
1. The Ritz-Carlton’s personal touch
Known for its focus on personalization, this luxury hotel chain cultivates a team that often goes the extra mile in catering to individual customers.
Scenario overview: A young boy traveling with his family accidentally left his favorite stuffed animal, Joshie, at the hotel. Staff members packaged up the toy for return; meanwhile, the boy’s father told him that Joshie was going to stay a few extra days on vacation.
Customer service approach:To make Joshie’s story more believable to the boy, the Ritz-Carlton staff took photos of Joshie around the hotel, getting a massage, driving a golf cart, and suntanning by the pool. They also returned Joshie with branded Ritz-Carlton items.
Impact on customer loyalty: The hotel staff could have simply put Joshie in a box and mailed him to the family. Instead, they went above and beyond to make a little boy’s day more magical and memorable. They no doubt gained a customer for life, and many more among the customers who heard this story.
2. Zappos’ above-and-beyond philosophy
This online shoe company has a core principle to “live and deliver WOW” to its customers. In other words, its customer service team lives to surprise and delight.
Scenario overview: A customer called Zappos customer service to get help with her order.
Customer service approach: In addition to helping the customer, the agent stayed on the phone with her for a record-breaking 10 hours and 43 minutes just to chat!
Impact on customer loyalty: For this agent, it wasn’t just about helping the customer with her problem; it was also about building a connection. Zappos was a billion-dollar business before it was acquired, and more than 75 percent of its sales came from returning customers.
3. Southwest Airlines’ focus on employee satisfaction
This airline has built a reputation in a turbulent industry as a company that puts its customers first. Its secret: Southwest’s customer service excels because of how it treats its employees.
Scenario overview: Southwest Airlines believes that a company cannot provide excellent customer service if the employees are unhappy. This is why it offers great benefits, profit-sharing options, job security, and a great company culture.
Customer service approach: Southwest Airlines also offers its team plenty of growth opportunities and professional development courses so they can continue to learn and improve.
Impact on customer loyalty: Happy employees create happy customers. This theory worked for Southwest Airlines, which was ranked No. 1 on Newsweek’s America’s Best Customer Service 2024 List.
4. Costco’s industry-leading return policy
Costco is a membership-based warehouse retailer that offers customers high-quality products at competitive prices. It is famous for its Risk-Free 100% Satisfaction Guarantee return policy.
Scenario overview: Customers often hesitate to buy products due to uncertainty about how those products will work out. The product may not fit, it might not taste good, or it could simply fail to live up to expectations.
Customer service approach: Costco removes this risk with its return policy: The store accepts returns on almost all products. It will also refund the membership fee if customers aren’t satisfied.
Impact on customer loyalty: By removing the risk from purchasing, Costco compels customers to come back again and again. Today, it’s one of the most successful chain stores in the world.
5. Chewy’s thoughtful gestures
This pet food and supplies retailer understands just how much pet parents care for their little creatures.
Scenario overview: A woman’s dog suddenly died, and she contacted Chewy to see if she could return an unopened bag of dog food.
Customer service approach: Chewy not only provided her with a full refund but also asked her to donate the dog food to a shelter. The company also sent her a bouquet of flowers, signed by the customer service representative she spoke with.
Impact on customer loyalty: The refund may have been store policy, but the flowers were a spur-of-the-moment, thoughtful gesture. The brand’s empathetic approach to customer service has helped build a real connection with customers, contributing to net sales of $3.1 billion in the first quarter of 2025 and 80 percent of sales coming from returning customers.
6. Target’s commitment to service excellence
Target sells everything from groceries to electronics. And its customer service team does more than help shoppers find products. They sometimes also offer meaningful life advice.
Scenario overview: A young teen ventured into a Target in search of a clip-on tie for a job interview. The store sold only regular ties.
Customer service approach: An employee took the time to help the teen learn how to tie a tie and also practiced handshakes and interview questions with him.
Impact on customer loyalty: The employee could have simply told the boy the store didn’t have clip-on ties. Instead, the focus was on building a relationship and providing help the customer didn’t even know he needed. This type of service builds lifetime bonds. Today, Target has a brand value of $28 billion.
7. Apple’s genius idea
This tech giant takes a unique approach to customer service by involving its biggest supporters in everything it does.
Scenario overview: When you walk into an Apple retail store, you’re met with people who are incredibly passionate and knowledgeable about Apple’s products. They give the impression that they’re not just doing a job; they are also having fun talking about things they love.
Customer service approach: Apple hires its ideal customers to become part of the company’s customer support and repair team.
Impact on customer loyalty: This approach creates a circle of loyalty. Passionate customers evolve into employees, who then become even more loyal and excited about Apple’s products. It’s no wonder Apple consistently has one of the highest Net Promoter Scores (NPS) in the tech industry. (NPS is a commonly used metric to determine how many customers would recommend a company’s products to someone else.)
8. Sainsbury’s focus on incorporating customer feedback
Sainsbury’s, a British supermarket chain, makes it a point to respond to customer feedback and incorporate suggestions into its stores where possible.
Scenario overview: A little girl wrote to Sainsbury’s to complain that its tiger bread didn’t look like a tiger at all, but instead looked like a giraffe because of its splotchy pattern.
Customer service approach: The grocery store responded to the sweet feedback by changing the name of its product to giraffe bread.
Impact on customer loyalty: This small yet important act shows that Sainsbury’s values what its customers think about its products. No feedback is too small, and every customer matters.
9. LEGO’s understanding of its customers’ interests
LEGO, the Danish maker of the ever-popular building blocks, fully understands that small things can be built up to create something great.
Scenario overview: A little boy had spent his Christmas money on a LEGO set and lost an important character piece. He wrote to LEGO to see if the company would send him another one.
Customer service approach: LEGO sent the boy a new character piece and some extra pieces along with a personal letter.
Impact on customer loyalty: LEGO’s customer service team builds loyalty by caring about its products just as much as its customers do. No doubt that’s a big part of the reason the LEGO Group was recently named the “most reputable company” for a second year by RepTrak.
10. Gaylord Opryland’s unique approach to taking care of customers
Gaylord Opryland is a resort and convention center in Nashville, Tennessee. It doesn’t hesitate to help guests in whatever way it can.
Scenario overview: A loyal guest at Gaylord Opryland loved the clock radios at the hotel, especially the ones that played soothing music. She asked where she could purchase the same ones, but they were not available to the public.
Customer service approach: Gaylord Opryland gave the guest two clock radios (the second one was just in case!) along with a thoughtful note.
Impact on customer loyalty: Gaylord Opryland already had a returning customer, but it wanted to earn her loyalty again by doing something special for her. Leading businesses never stop building relationships with their customers.
11. Burger King’s quick thinking to take care of customers
Fast-food chain Burger King empowers employees to take care of customers, even in unusual situations.
Scenario overview: A woman pulled into the drive-thru and said she was diabetic and that her blood sugar was dangerously low. She needed food fast.
Customer service approach: The cashier at the drive-thru sprang into action, bringing the woman food immediately. The employee then asked the customer to stay in the parking lot for a few minutes so she could keep an eye on her and ensure she recovered.
Impact on customer loyalty: This speedy act of kindness helped a customer feel better and potentially saved her life. When employees are empowered to act, that translates to a company’s willingness to resolve situations in any way possible.
12. Patagonia’s commitment to living by its core values
This outdoor apparel brand aligns its customer service process with one of its core values: environmental and social sustainability.
Scenario overview: If you damage clothing or gear you purchased at Patagonia, the company won’t encourage you to replace your item with a new one. Instead, it will send you free patch kits so you can fix small holes and tears.
Customer service approach: Patagonia understands that its customers love outdoor activities. As a result, its clothes are bound to get damaged from time to time. However, it’s not environmentally sustainable to buy new outdoor gear because of minimal damage.
Impact on customer loyalty: Having a process for repairing damaged items with free patch kits saves its customers money and stays true to the company’s core values. This practice builds trust and loyalty among customers. KPMG ranked Patagonia third in its 2024–25 US customer experience excellence survey.
13. IKEA’s commitment to caring
IKEA is a Swedish furniture retailer known for its Scandinavian designs and thoughtful customer service.
Scenario overview: When a massive vehicle crash happened on a motorway near an IKEA showroom, closed roads led to hundreds of people being stranded.
Customer service approach: Instead of leaving people to sleep in their cars until the roads reopened, IKEA’s team invited them to sleep in real beds in the store’s showroom.
Impact on customer loyalty: The furniture giant gained hundreds of loyal customers that night by putting people first. Its employees saw that people were in immediate need of assistance and stepped up.
14. UPS’ cheery outlook on customer service
Shipping and receiving company UPS, or United Parcel Service, has a sense of humor, which customers have found endearing.
Scenario overview: A delivery driver came upon a house with a doormat that stated, “Please hide packages from husband.”
Customer service approach: Instead of leaving the package on the porch as many had before, he chose to hide the large package under the small doormat, resulting in a hilarious image.
Impact on customer loyalty: Sometimes customer service is all about having a good time. The delivery driver was clearly having fun at his job, and the customers had a good chuckle when they opened their door. This created a memorable moment for both the customer and the brand.
15. Spotify’s ability to solve problems with products
Spotify is a digital streaming service that enables users to create playlists of songs, which the company uses as part of its customer service.
Scenario overview: When customers reach out to Spotify with technical issues or questions, Spotify’s customer service team will have an answer. And sometimes an individually curated playlist.
Customer service approach: Instead of just resolving an issue, Spotify’s team will often create a playlist for the customer with unique or funny songs relating to the issue.
Impact on customer loyalty: Spotify knows that music is important to its customers, so it uses music to build personal connections.
Key takeaways from these real-life examples of service excellence
What can you learn from these examples? If you want your business to stand out, follow these customer service best practices:
- Personalize each interaction: Focus on individual customers’ needs, interests, and priorities when resolving issues and answering questions. Customers notice when you offer generic solutions or answers.
- Put people over profit and process: Customers are people first. Relate to them on a personal level, even if that means putting profit or process aside. In the end, it will make a big difference in the way customers see your business.
- Take the empathetic route: Customer service is all about building relationships, which means you must have empathy for the people around you. Show customers your business genuinely cares for them.
- Find joy and humor in the everyday: Everybody loves a laugh, especially during difficult times. Where possible, find ways to make customers smile. It lightens the mood and helps them feel more at ease.
- Empower employees to act: If your employees feel empowered to take action in serving customers, they will be able to go the extra mile. Don’t weigh them down with unnecessary rules or policies.
- Think outside the box: Customer service comes in all shapes and sizes. You’ve got to be creative if you want your business to stand out.
Customer service excellence with Jotform
Support your team in its pursuit of customer service excellence by giving them the right tools. Jotform is a leading form builder that can support your processes and enhance your customer service management, whether you’re registering new patients, giving customers discounts, collecting customer feedback, or anything else.
Here are some of the ways you can use Jotform to excel:
- Engage with customers: Create customer forms such as satisfaction surveys or NPS surveys to get a greater understanding of what customers think about your business.
- Personalize your forms: Jotform offers advanced form features such as conditional logic so you can provide customers with highly relevant form questions based on their previous answers. This practice shows customers you listen to their needs.
- Automate your processes: Use Jotform’s customer service automation tools to set and speed up processes, such as getting email notifications when a customer submits a service request or complaint.
- Generate customer service reports: Use the Jotform Report Builder to create visual reports that analyze common service issues, monitor resolution times, and offer suggestions for ways to improve service offerings.
Jotform supports a whole range of customer service activities, whether you need to create feedback forms, build reports, or anything in between. With a free plan, you can start enhancing your customer service with Jotform today.
Elevate your business by enhancing your customer service
Customer service excellence doesn’t happen by accident. It requires a thoughtful customer service strategy, employee training, and innovative tools. Leverage tools like Jotform to enhance your customer service. If you need a form, survey, poll, or questionnaire, Jotform is the way to go. Gather customer details, ask for product feedback, survey their satisfaction, and more with intuitive and easy-to-use forms. Give Jotform a try today. It could be exactly what your organization needs to serve up its own brand of service excellence.
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