The Importance of Customer Service in Marketing: How to Turn Interactions Into Income
Ever walked into a business, spent your money, and left feeling… invisible?
That feeling right there — that lack of connection — is the exact reason so many small businesses miss out on repeat customers.
They treat the moment like a transaction instead of what it really is: an interaction.
If you’re running a local business, your customer service is your marketing.
And the sooner you see it that way, the faster you’ll grow—organically, sustainably, and with better clients.
Who doesn’t love good customer service? No one.
Who does love a good customer service team? Every one.
Excellent service shouldn’t be a luxury, it should be expected, especially since we work so hard for our money and choose where to spend it.
Build longer lasting relationships with better outstanding customer service.
Thus turning your customer service into marketing and a winning strategy.
Why This Matters (And Why I Know It Works)
I’m Willis. I run Another Monday, a Baltimore-based creative marketing agency. But I didn’t start out in marketing. I started with a camera, grinding as a photographer for over 15 years.
Since then, I’ve owned and operated four different service-based local businesses, worked with hundreds more, and helped them generate leads, reviews, and real momentum—not with gimmicks, but with all the learnings and real world experience from running my own.
Across all of my businesses, I’ve consistently earned 5-star reviews, not just by doing great work—but by making people feel like they matter.
From this we built customer loyalty, referrals, customer retention, and a growing base of customers for our clients.
And that? That’s the kind of marketing that actually works. Exceptional customer service isn’t difficult, especially if you build it into your systems.
Proactive customer service starts at the top. so you - the owner - should be providing customer service to your employees and showing them how its done.
Thats what I did with every team I worked with. treated new and existing customers like royalty, provided outstanding customer service at every interaction while delivering solutions to their problems.
It’s Not a Transaction, It’s an Interaction
Every interaction is a potential customer for life. If you look at it that way, you automatically improve into excellent service. Assisting customers should be an honor, imagine if you didn’t have any.
Happy Customers equals better business performance no matter how you slice it. A customer centric approach to business is a key growth driver from a human to human perspective and marketing tactics. We work in such a competitive marketplace, don’t let your customer service fall short.
Every touchpoint is a brand impression—whether someone’s calling your business, stumbling on your website, walking into your storefront, or just replying to your DM.
If you don’t treat that moment like it matters, you’re losing brand equity. You’re saying, without words: “You’re just a number.”
In the fast growing world of AI, its easy to automate everything, this is where human to human connection will matter the most and where customer satisfaction could be best measured. Through interactions you provide true customer delight.
Action Steps:
Train your customer service representatives to greet every interaction with intention.
Use scripts that sound warm and human, not robotic.
Start thinking of every conversation as a chance to make a lasting impression.
“Customer service shouldn’t just be a department. It should be the entire company.”
— Tony Hsieh, former CEO of Zappos
Customer Service Is Marketing
Personalized customer service is easiest to do for a local small business. You meet or hear from your customers directly. This direct contact is the best customer service channel there is. From building new relationships to simply providing exceptional service. It all starts with the person on the other line or the other side of the check out counter.
Satisfied customers is the marketing strategy. Making customers feel valued with top notch customer service the competitive edge.
Here’s the truth: people don’t refer you because your service was perfect—they refer you because your service made them feel something.
According to research by HubSpot:
93% of customers are likely to make repeat purchases and become loyal customers with companies that offer excellent customer service.
90% of customers who are happy with a brand's customer service will recommend it to others.
(Source: HubSpot Customer Service Stats)
If you want organic growth, referrals, and 5-star reviews, stop thinking about customer service as post-sale support.
Think of it as frontline marketing.
Action Steps:
Review your automated messages—are they warm, helpful, and human?
Look at your follow-up process. Is it personal or generic?
Ask your team this: “How do we delight people?”
A Story from the Field: The Flower Shop That Understood the Assignment
I once walked into a flower shop with just $30 and no plan.
Instead of pointing at pre-arranged bouquets and brushing me off, the florist smiled and said, “What kind of vibe are you going for? Something soft like that one, or more bold like this?”
I explained I only wanted to spend $30. This wasn’t a special occasion, it was a “just because” moment.
Five minutes later, she’d created a beautiful, personalized bouquet that made me feel like I mattered. She didn’t have to do that.
But she did—and I’ve gone back multiple times since.
That’s marketing.
Because of the excellent customer service:
They received repeat business from me and most likely from a lot more customers if you take a look at their 5-star reviews
Lowered their customer acquisition cost
Increased their Customer Lifetime Value
And improved their competitive advantage (they have a customer for life and their competitors won’t)
Make People Feel Seen and Remembered
Its pretty simple, but thats all many of us want. To feel seen and remembered. Valued. Doing this immediately increases your brand loyalty.
Your business and brand reputation depend on how you make people feel. Positive customer experiences not only create a better world, it creates a better business for you and your team.
When was the last time a business used your name in conversation—or remembered a detail you casually shared?
It’s not just polite.
It’s powerful.
Studies show that hearing our own names activates the brain in ways that increase attention and emotional engagement.
“A person’s name is to him or her the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”
— Dale Carnegie
Action Steps:
Use customers’ names in emails, DMs, and phone calls.
Reference things they told you—“How did your daughter’s recital go?” hits different.
Add customer notes in your CRM or a simple spreadsheet.
Why Local Businesses Have the Upper Hand
Let’s be real—big brands and corporate franchises don’t move like you.
They’ve got red tape, policies, and people who sometimes don’t even want to be there.
But you? You can adapt in real time.
You can personalize.
You can leave an impression.
You can change the customer service experience in real time by mapping out the customer journey and creating systems where you can deliver customer service at the highest level throughout.
You can beat big box stores at the game they can’t play: being human.
Action Steps:
Make sure your phone greeting feels like a warm handshake, not a cold robot.
Personalize your in-store and online experiences wherever possible.
Treat every “first touch” like a first date—you don’t get a second chance to make a good impression.
The Barbershop With the Wrong First Line
Barbershops and Salons are some of the businesses with the highest customer lifetime value. Especially now that all the rates have increased across the industry. With all the 1 on 1 time a hair care person gets with their customers, if they’re meeting customer expectations, they can have that customer for life.
Customer interactions happen from the moment you answer the phone, the text, the DM. Exceptional customer experiences begin at first contact.
I worked with a barbershop that had solid cuts, a good space, and great barbers.
But the phone greeting? Just “Hello.”
No vibe. No welcome. No “You’ve reached [Barbershop Name], how can we get you looking sharp today?”
The greeting didn’t match the experience—and that’s the kind of disconnect that can cost you business before the client even walks in.
I explained the difference to the owner, implemented a more welcoming greeting for whoever answered the phone, and improved their brand and marketing efforts with a simple sentence.
The people walking into your business dont have to, they can go online for most things.
They could have searched for a different barbershop, they could have called anywhere else, but they called YOU. Make them feel like that matters, because it does.
Smart owners who are focused on business growth know that everything matters.
5 Things You Can Do Today to Boost Customer Service (and Your Marketing)
You don’t need fancy software or a 10-person customer service agent team. You just need intention.
Here’s what you can implement immediately:
1. Respond Faster Than People Expect
Set up notifications. Use autoresponders that are helpful, not robotic.
Surprise people with speed—it builds trust immediately.
2. Follow Up, Even If You Don’t “Need” To
The art of the follow-up is rare these days.
Checking in = showing you care.
Example: “Just thought of you and wanted to see how things are going.”
3. Make the First Impression Count
Whether it’s a phone call, email, or Instagram message—open strong.
Use warmth and clarity to disarm people and pull them in.
4. Publicly Thank Your Customers
Respond to every review (Google sees it and so do future clients plus these are potentially satisfied clients)
Ask for permission to tag clients on social media and shout them out.
Use content to lift your clients up and showcase their stories.
5. Remember That Good Service Is Shareable
People share what makes them feel good.
Make moments they’ll want to tell their friends about.
Before You Spend a Dime on Ads…
Ask yourself this: Do people feel seen when they interact with your business?
Because if they don’t, no amount of paid traffic is going to fix that. You can throw thousands at Google Ads or Facebook, but if your experience is forgettable? You’re just renting attention. That’s why partnering with a Baltimore Google Ads agency ensures every advertising dollar also creates a quality customer experience, so you get more than just clicks.
But if you're creating meaningful moments at every touchpoint? You're building a brand people trust—and that trust pays you back.
While we’re talking about exceptional customer service, we also build AI Chatbots that provide just that. If you have a website and would like a helpful, warm, AI Chatbot that can greet each customer individually and help them with your services, go here.
This post isn’t about perfection—it’s about effort.
It's about recognizing that every small gesture, every bit of warmth, every follow-up text is a powerful part of your marketing funnel.
If you're already showing up for your customers, I’d love to hear how. Leave a comment below with one way you deliver great customer service—let’s help each other get better.
And if you’re still figuring it out?
That’s okay. That’s why Another Monday exists—to help local businesses like yours build smarter systems, stronger marketing, and better relationships.
Want to talk about how we can make your business more memorable?
From building customer relationships to executing targeted Google Ads campaigns, we help cover all your marketing bases to grow your business.
