The Power of Customer Service Week
- Tony Johnson
- Oct 5
- 6 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
This week is Customer Service week. I always like to begin this week by understanding it's origins and why it matters.
Every year during the first full week of October, we pause to celebrate Customer Service Week and dedicate time to honor the people who deliver experiences, solve problems, and keep promises.
But let’s be honest. For too many companies, it’s still cupcakes in the breakroom and a copy-paste “thanks team” email. If that’s all we’re doing, we’ve missed the point.
Customer Service Week isn’t a party. It’s a promise - and one as a leader you need to keep. Never forget that the most successful businesses are built not service not slogans.
They listen, empower, and keep people center stage.
Customer Service Week isn’t a party - it’s a catalyst. It’s the spark that reignites purpose, connection, and pride in the people who bring your brand to life.
The best businesses don’t just celebrate service, they operationalize it. They listen to their teams, empower them to act, and build cultures where doing what’s right for the customer is the standard, not the exception.
Remember that AI and technology are enablers for your team and your customers, not the whole answer.
When President George H. W. Bush officially established Customer Service Week in 1992, the proclamation wasn’t filled with corporate fluff. It was grounded in action:
Great businesses anticipate customer needs and design their products and services around them.
They deliver what they promise. Packaged right, priced fairly, on time, and followed up with care.
They listen to employees because those employees meet customers at the crossroads of need and experience - and they empower them to make a difference.
They understand that the most successful businesses are those that display a strong commitment to customer satisfaction.
It was true then. It is still true now. The best businesses listen deeply, trust their teams, and fix what’s broken instead of hiding behind policy. Customer Service Week was never meant to be the only time during the year that businesses appreciate their teams. It was a challenge to lead better, serve smarter, and build organizations that thrive because of their people.
And to keep the U.S. as a leader in an ever changing global economy where experience matters.
So let's talk about the three prongs of a successful Customer Service Week:
Focus on Your Team
Every great experience starts with an employee who cares enough to make it happen. When you listen to your team, you uncover the truth about your business. They know where the friction lives, where processes break, and how customers are really feeling.
This is about listening to your team and taking action on what you hear - that builds trust and engagement.
Empowerment keeps that trust alive. It’s not about slogans or posters, but about ownership. It’s giving people the tools, authority, and confidence to make decisions that put the customer first. This is a struggle for some leaders as empowerment takes work, time, and connection with your team - and the willingness to let them make decisions.
A direct manager is responsible for influencing 70% of team engagement. - Gallup
A part of empowering your team in this evolving marketplace will be integrating AI and technology into their days. The key is to supercharge them with information so they can spend more time on high value customer interactions. You can help them find items in the store, understand how a product works, or even find just the right replacement or complementary items for customers.
As you embark on this amazing week, here are some ways you can bring it home for your team. Remember, although your customers and business are the outputs, the real focus this week is on your team and their great work.
Hand write thank you cards for your team members.
Share great customer feedback and stories of service during your daily meetings.
Hand out snacks and swag with messages of gratitude - personalized for each team member and delivered with a personal thanks from you as a leader.
Encourage your clients and customers to write out thank yous for your team
Email "bingo" for when customers use certain key words or poking fun at silly corporate language. We can "circle back" on that one.
Contest to design the best customer service meme or Tik Tok.
Learning and Development opportunities
Thank you or WOW wall.
Whatever you do, make sure leadership is present, it's personalized, and it's authentic. No one wants a crummy pizza party with no engagement from their leaders. Alternatively, a morning donut drop off can be impactful with the right leadership engagement and energy.
Book Tony Johnson today to speak at your next meeting, consult on your customer experiences, or lead a training event in you business. Set up a call to discuss your personalized event.
Understand Your Customers
The second part of the equation are customers. Customer service is where promises are kept, loyalty is earned, and reputations are established. It’s the human moment that defines the entire brand (and never forget your team is the face of your brand).
Customers don’t see your org chart. They don’t care who does what. They never care whose fault something is.
They just want to feel like someone cares. That’s why service is the heartbeat of your brand. This is how customers decide whether to come back, tell others, or move on.
This echoes back to President Bush's proclamation that service is the engine of industry and growth.
When your employees feel supported, your customers will feel that in the service they receive. It inspires them to deliver on your promise to them and to go the extra mile when they might not have much left in their tank during a busy day.
Technology and AI play a significant role in customer service as well - just as it impacts your team's experience. It can either improve or derail your customer's journey with your company. The best way to approach this is to ensure that technology and innovation drives the experience forward and isn't ever just tech for tech's sake.
Great customer service experiences increase chances of repurchase/renewal by 82%. - HubSpot
The most admired companies - Disney, Ritz-Carlton, Chick-fil-A, Apple - all share this in common: they obsess over the customer experience. They listen, they anticipate, and they empower people to deliver. It’s not accidental, but rather designed into their ethos.
This week is a great time to ask:
Do we truly listen to our customers and teams?
Do our processes make service easier or harder?
Do our policies exist to protect the business or to help the customer?
Do we celebrate service excellence as intentionally as we celebrate sales?
When you get those answers right, everything else follows.
Driving Business Results
Let’s talk results, because there is a business case for providing great customer service - it isn't just a nice to have.
Customer service drives revenue, reduces churn, and protects your reputation. It’s the difference between having customers who are passive and those who are advocates for you - and will recommend and defend you in the marketplace. When you treat employees well, cultivate customer relationships, and embrace service as a strategy (the other SaaS), your bottom line reflects it.
A business rooted in service doesn’t chase trends. It builds trust while solving problems and creating innovative experiences for customers and employees alike.
This starts with understanding your teams and your customers.
Review your most recent employee and customer surveys - then act on what you learn.
If you haven't been actively collecting feedback from either group, now is the time to get started.
Check out your most recent customer reviews on Google or social media to ensure you have a handle on your reputation.
Review your company reviews on hiring sites to understand what current and former employees are saying about you.
Continue to improve based on what you learn along the way and drive a culture of continuous improvement.
Customer Service Week is more than just a celebration - it is a catalyst.
This week gives you motivation to look beyond the noise of daily work and focus on people. It gives you license to connect with your team and build relationships with your customers in meaningful ways that drive results.
The trick is to see Customer Service Week as the starting point, not the finish line. This is the spark that can ignite amazing conversations, recognitions, and behaviors. This should echo moments you've been having all year long, but if not, you are now off to the races.
The trick becomes using this as a springboard for the year to come. Take your intention and strategy and translate it into the nitty gritty daily actions that drive results. These are the actions most leaders ignore, so that leaves you a wide-open field to leapfrog your competition.
This is the perfect week to put people at the center of everything you do through empowerment, appreciation, and relationships. The winners will be your team and your customers - and your business results.
Tony Johnson
* Written by a real human, not A.I.
Tony is an award winning speaker and author on the topics of sales growth, customer experience, and leadership. Tony speaks to thousands annually and has been featured on ABC News and Fox News. He is available for business planning, motivational keynotes, leadership workshops, and employee service skills training.
Tony is the founder of Ignite Your Service + Consulting and the Co-Managing Partner, Co-Owner, and Chief Experience Officer for 4xi Global.
Tony is available to help with your Customer Experience and Employee Engagement Strategies, inspirational keynote talks, team training and development, and executive leadership coaching.
* (C) 2025 The Tony Johnson, LLC. May not be used to train A.I.
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