Last month, Jasmine Charbonier, a pet owner in Tampa, Florida, lost her elderly cat. She tried to return an unopened bag of prescription food. But the food company, Chewy, said no—instead, they told her to donate it to a shelter and gave her the refund anyway, but didn’t stop there. “They sent me a beautiful hand-painted portrait of my cat based on a photo from my account, along with a heartfelt sympathy card. I literally burst into tears,” she says.
New Jersey pet owner Michele C. Hollow got a call from the company when she ordered half of her usual cat food order. One of her cats had passed away. After finding this out, the rep sent flowers the next day with multiple signatures from Chewy staff.
Chewy’s gestures above aren’t random or isolated incidents. Instead, they’re part of a cohesive and intentional strategy. “If you’re building for the long term, investing in customer experience isn’t optional—it’s essential,” says Diane Pelkey, head of communications at Chewy. “Customers remember how you made them feel. That emotional connection drives their loyalty and defines your brand.”
Her company’s philosophy is backed by research. A 2024 survey from customer engagement experts Khoros found that 83% of consumers said that good customer service had the most important impact on their decision to buy. The survey also found that 86% of consumers became long-term buyers after a good customer service experience.
Here’s what top-notch customer service teams know about building loyalty that also improves the bottom line.
1. A complaint is an opportunity
A 2023 report from Coveo, an AI search platform, found that only 56% of 4,000 consumers surveyed actually complained when they experienced poor service. The rest of respondents reported “ghosting” the company and using a competitor instead. Respondents shared it only took two negative customer service experiences to have them abandon a company.
When they do give negative feedback, that’s an opportunity, according to Lacy Eyre, director of client success at Aventus in Charleston, South Carolina. “A well-handled setback can turn a one-time buyer into a long-term brand advocate,” she explains. “Imagine this: A customer contacts your service team upset about a delayed order. The rep listens, empathizes, offers a quick solution and maybe even throws in a personal touch. Suddenly, that customer feels valued, seen and understood. This isn’t just a resolution; it’s an opportunity to wow them and turn a negative experience into a comeback.”
2. Pay attention to your customer service team
“If you want to know what’s working and what’s not, look no further than your customer service team. They are the first line of defense when things go right or wrong, the frontline warriors who can take your brand’s reputation to soaring heights or drive it into the ground,” Eyre says.
“Every complaint, every suggestion is an opportunity to evolve. If you ignore this invaluable feedback, you’re essentially putting your business on autopilot. But when you embrace it, you’re setting yourself up for sustained growth and innovation,” she says.
Customer service isn’t all doom, gloom and aggravated customers. Meg St-Esprit, a Pittsburgh-based mom of four, found out McDonald’s is on its social media game, and was impressed by the brand’s customer engagement practices. After a representative from the fast food chain saw a tweet of hers, the brand reached out to send her kids McDonald’s swag.
“When this box showed up, they were just bowled over. The box had all sorts of fun red and yellow paper confetti in it, a hoodie for each of them and some gift cards for us to get dinner that night,” she says. “I think they felt like YouTube stars with some type of brand partnership or something—for weeks they chose to wear their hoodies in unison like a little roving marketing team.”
“Even given my previously positive opinion of the company, it certainly elevated my opinion of their team,” St-Esprit says. “They’re also clearly out there, on social media, connecting with customers. That tells me they are tuned in to what’s going on.”
Similarly, interactive calendar company Skylight shared that one TikToker went viral after she accidentally received three extra Skylight calendars in her shipment. According to Skylight’s PR team, the client returned them, “restoring everyone’s faith in humanity.”
Skylight President Aviv Gilboa responded immediately and offered to send calendars to three of the client’s loved ones, hand-delivered her a new unopened calendar she was on the waitlist for and gifted her a free Skylight Plus lifetime subscription to thank her for her integrity.
4. Show customers your sense of humor
If you find yourself on hold at ItsEasy Passport & Visa Services, you’re in for a whole experience. Narrated by founder David Alwadish, the hold message features customer stories and educational content about passports and visas, interwoven with songs from classic artists such as Earth, Wind & Fire, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Tina Turner and Gloria Gaynor.
“One of our executive customers was so inspired by the on-hold message that he wanted his entire staff to hear it—not only to better manage their personal and business travel, but also as a model for how to truly serve customers,” Alwadish says. “With this recording, we are excited to bring back the passion behind great customer service—something that’s been missing since the days Sam Walton was holding the door open for customers at Walmart.”
You can expect to hear lyrics to Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” as they detail passport woes, for example. The entire recording is 52 minutes, but luckily the company shares that customers are only ever on hold for a few of those minutes. “I got carried away with the effort because I had so much to share,” Alwadish adds.
5. Wow them with a personalized experience
In the digital age where you can bulk email millions of people at once, a tailored, personalized customer experience stands out. Recent research from Deloitte has found that companies that personalized the customer experience were 71% more likely to have customer loyalty and 48% more likely to have exceeded revenue goals.
“If your customers feel like they’re just a number, just another ticket to close, that’s when you lose. Poor customer service leads directly to churn, lost revenue and negative word of mouth,” Eyre says. “In a world where consumers have countless options at their fingertips, if your team doesn’t go above and beyond, they’ll simply move on to a competitor who does. With the evolution of e-commerce and the shift toward personalized experiences, people now expect genuine connections with brands. They want to feel like more than a transaction.”
GiAnna Orangio, vice president of The Dana Agency in Miami, shares a story of a couple who loved their trip experience so much, they named their child after the hotel they stayed at—Arlo. So, when the couple returned, they were met with balloons for the child’s first birthday and an upgraded room, demonstrating the “importance of thoughtful, personalized gestures in the world of hospitality,” she says.
Similarly, Erik Wright, founder and CEO of New Horizon Home Buyers in Chattanooga, Tennessee, remembers an “elderly widow” selling her 43-year-old home after her husband’s recent death. After his team noticed military decorations they learned her husband was a Vietnam War veteran. “At closing, we presented her with a customized shadow box containing her husband’s service medals, professionally restored photographs that we had printed from albums that she had pulled out to share with us and a donation certificate to a veterans’ organization in her husband’s name. She was moved to tears, subsequently referring three of her friends to our company, and she is still in contact years later.”
Wright calls the cost of the shadow box “inconsequential” compared to the newly formed relationships and the additional business it brought. “We’ve since implemented a company-wide ‘meaningful memories’ program where sellers assign personal touches to commemorate each seller’s unique situation.”
So, whether it’s a shadow box, bouquet of flowers or a simple validating phone call with a human representative and not an AI bot, customer service might be your next key area of focus.
Photo by PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock
