How to Build Customer Service That Actually Works: 7 Practical Principles

No matter your role or industry, you’re in customer service.

Customer service is the new marketing. Yet, too often, it’s bad – awful in fact. Poor service isn’t an accident—it’s a reflection of decisions, processes, and culture.

I’ve seen it firsthand:

• A “Top Ten Most Hated Customers” chart in a support office.
• A train company responding to praise with a form letter and £100 compensation.
• A busy retail store with the fewest staff at peak hours.
• Bakery seating left covered in pastry at lunchtime – and nobody clearing it up until after close.
• Forty-two calls to get a basic service restored.

These examples highlight a simple truth: customer experience mirrors employee experience, management quality, and product design.

1. Hire for Character and Competence

Great service starts with great people. Hiring the cheapest or easiest candidates produces mediocre outcomes. Instead:

• Hire people who care.
• Hire people who are competent.
• Support them with good management and training.

2. Great Products Reduce Support Needs

Customer complaints often stem from the product or service itself. Poor design, missing features, and miscommunication generate unnecessary support cases.

Example: A forgotten login system led to hundreds of calls. Adding a simple self-service reset removed 65% of requests. Fix the root cause, not just the symptoms.

3. See the Process Through the Customer’s Eyes

Follow requests from start to finish. Map every touchpoint. Look for friction. Then improve it—not for reports, but for the customer.

👉 See this practical guide on "stapling" yourself to work to map out the journey for improvements.

4. Empower Front-Line Staff

Exceptional service comes from autonomy. Scripts and banners don’t replace judgment and care. Give staff the authority to solve problems and delight customers.

5. Solve Problems With Creativity, Not Just Money

Expensive tools don’t replace human thought. Focus on employees who care, provide clear processes, and remove friction.

6. Foster Cooperation Across Teams

Shared goals encourage collaboration. When support and tech teams aligned on first-call resolution, they solved more problems and prevented recurring ones.

7. Give Time to Deliver Value

Rushing interactions creates frustration. Let staff take the time needed to make customers feel heard, valued, and understood.

Bonus Idea

In his excellent book, Selling the Invisible (aff. link), Harry Beckwith makes a brilliant and insightful challenge for anyone running a service (almost everyone):

Assume your service is bad. It won't do you any harm and it will force you to improve it.

Takeaway:

Customer service is not a department. It’s a system of decisions, processes, and people. Focus on hiring well, empowering staff, improving products, and designing processes around the customer. When you do, every interaction becomes a reflection of competence, care, and culture.