Customer Service Culture: How Much We Celebrate, How Much We Tolerate

In the world of customer service, culture isn’t built overnight,  it’s shaped by a thousand small choices made every day. One of the most defining of those choices is what we choose to celebrate, and what we choose to tolerate.

As the saying goes: “You get what you celebrate, and you get what you tolerate.”

This powerful idea should guide every customer service leader aiming to build a high-performing, values-driven team. Let’s explore what this means in practice.

The power of celebration

Celebration is more than just praise, it’s strategic recognition. It reinforces positive behaviours, boosts morale, and aligns your team with your service values.

When you celebrate the right things, you’re telling your team: “This is what excellence looks like. Keep doing it.”

What should we celebrate?

• Empathy and human connection: the heart of great service lies in treating customers with care and respect.

• Proactive problem-solving: going beyond the script to truly help.

• Customer praise: anytime a customer takes the time to compliment an agent, it deserves to be amplified.

• Consistency and professionalism: quiet, dependable excellence should never go unnoticed.

• Teamwork and knowledge-sharing: celebrate those who lift others up and create shared success.

• Taking ownership: when someone owns a mistake or challenge and turns it into a win.

  
  

How do we celebrate?

• Shout-outs in team meetings or internal chats

• “Customer Angel of the Month” or peer-voted awards

• Small, meaningful incentives — vouchers, time off, lunch with leadership

• Highlighting success stories in newsletters or dashboards

• Making great service part of career progression and development pathways

In short: celebrate often, sincerely, and publicly.

The cost of tolerance

While celebrating the good, we must also confront the difficult: What are we tolerating?

Tolerating the wrong behaviours, even occasionally, sends a dangerous message: “This is acceptable here.”

Left unchecked, this corrodes trust, lowers team morale, and diminishes the customer experience.

What should we stop tolerating?

• Rudeness or indifference to customers

• Lack of accountability — blame-shifting or finger-pointing

• Consistent lateness or poor attendance

• Apathy or “just enough” effort

• Failure to follow process or uphold service standards

• Toxic attitudes or disrespect among the team

  
  

Why does tolerance happen?

Tolerance often comes from a good place: empathy, second chances, avoiding conflict. But without clarity and boundaries, tolerance turns into acceptance. Over time, standards slide — and the culture erodes.

How should we handle it?

• Have clear expectations, well communicated and documented

• Address issues early, in a supportive but direct way

• Use coaching and performance improvement plans when needed

• Be fair but consistent. No double standards.

• Reinforce that accountability is a form of care, not punishment

  
  

The balance: Celebrate 4x more than you correct

Research and experience show that for every corrective piece of feedback, employees need several positive reinforcements to stay engaged. A good rule of thumb?

Celebrate four times more than you correct.

This isn’t about ignoring poor performance, it’s about recognising that positivity drives performance better than pressure alone. But tolerance, if misused, is more damaging than silence.

Final thought

Every customer service culture is defined by the silent signals it sends. When we celebrate high standards and refuse to tolerate mediocrity, we create an environment where people thrive and so do our customers.

Build your culture intentionally.

• Celebrate loudly.

• Tolerate wisely.

• Lead clearly.

  
  

That’s the formula for customer service excellence. But we know every organisation is different, and we'd love to hear from you.

What do you celebrate in your customer service culture?

What have you learned the hard way about what should never be tolerated?

Join the conversation by sharing your thoughts in the comments or connecting with us on LinkedIn.

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Together, let’s build cultures worth celebrating.