Superb Customer Service: How Great Retailers Deliver It

After spending time in London, shopping between meetings with clients, I became even more convinced that superb customer service is possible — and repeatable.

I saw it firsthand in store after store, whether I was shopping in iconic department stores like Selfridges, Harrods, and Fortnum & Mason or smaller brands including Poetry, Wrap London, ME+EM, Jo Malone London, Hackett London, and many others.

So why did superb customer service feel so consistent?

I interviewed a manager at The Cadogan, A Belmond Hotel, where we were staying. He acknowledged that consistency is a challenge, but shared something that stuck with me:

“You have to deliver the unexpected every day, not just when you feel like it.”

That is the difference.

Superb customer service cannot be an emotional decision based on how busy the store is, who is working, or whether someone happens to feel particularly helpful that day. It has to become the standard.

What Does Superb Customer Service Mean?

Let’s start by defining “superb.”

The dictionary defines superb as excellent or impressively splendid.

For me, superb customer service goes one step further:

It means anticipating what your customer needs before they even realize they need it.

Here is a simple example.

I was having breakfast at our hotel when the manager walked over to our table carrying an umbrella.

He said, “It is starting to rain. You will need this on your journey.”

I didn’t know it was raining. The day had actually been predicted to be sunny.

He noticed something that could affect my experience and solved the problem before I knew I had one.

That is superb customer service.

I experienced it again while shopping at Hackett London.

My husband tried on a sport coat. After a couple of attempts at finding the right fit, the Sales Associate excused himself and returned with several styles available in his size.

Then he brought trousers.

Not just any trousers. He had listened to my husband and me talking and selected styles in the classic fit my husband preferred.

We hadn’t asked him to do that.

What started as a purchase of a shirt and sweater became a much larger sale.

But it didn’t feel like someone was trying to sell us more.

He was helping my husband build a wardrobe, not simply adding items to a transaction.

That distinction matters.

Great customer service isn’t about pushing more product.

It is about listening, anticipating, solving problems, and making it easier for the customer to buy.

What Superb Customer Service Is Not

Not every experience during the trip delivered that same standard.

The UK is well known for its commitment to sustainability, and many retailers have made significant changes to packaging.

At Harrods, however, customers were charged £6.00 for a shopping bag.

I had just made a purchase at a luxury department store and found myself walking around carrying it wrapped in tissue paper because I chose not to purchase the bag.

For me, that created friction in an otherwise luxury experience.

Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason were still providing bags with purchases.

The lesson isn’t really about shopping bags.

It is this:

Sometimes businesses make operational decisions without considering how those decisions affect the customer experience.

Every decision should be looked at through the customer’s eyes.

Does this make the experience easier?

Does it reinforce our brand promise?

Or are we asking the customer to absorb the inconvenience?

How Retailers Can Deliver Superb Customer Service

Retailers, it is time to light it up in our stores.

Treat every customer who walks through the door like the non-renewable resource they are.

Instead of asking only:

“Did we serve the customer?”

Ask:

“How did we make this experience better than the customer expected?”

And you don’t have to develop all the answers yourself.

Ask your team.

They are often closest to the customer and see opportunities leaders miss.

One of the biggest opportunities I continue to see in apparel retail is the fitting-room experience.

If your customer is in a fitting room and needs another size, another color, or something to complete the outfit, don’t make them get dressed, leave the fitting room, search the store, and start over.

Bring them another size.

Bring them another color.

Bring them the item that completes the look.

Bring them something they didn’t know to ask for but that makes their experience easier.

The goal isn’t simply to sell another item.

The goal is to remove friction from the customer’s experience.

Make Superb Customer Service the Standard

Superb customer service doesn’t happen because you tell a team to “take care of the customer.”

It happens when leaders create the conditions for it.

Set the expectation.
Train people who need additional support.
Coach customer interactions in real time.
Hold the team accountable to the standard.
Recognize improvement.
Celebrate great examples.
And take care of your people.

When employees feel supported, prepared, and clear about what great looks like, they are much better equipped to create exceptional experiences for customers.

Most importantly, don’t let superb service become something that happens only when the perfect employee happens to be working.

Build it into the way your store operates.

Because when customers can buy almost anything, anywhere, the experience inside your store matters more than ever.

Superb customer service is possible.

But it doesn’t happen by accident.

It happens when great service becomes the standard — every customer, every shift, every day.

If you want a practical system for helping Store Managers build stronger leadership, accountability, customer experience, and execution, 30 Days to Running Great Stores gives leaders a step-by-step framework they can use with their teams.