Perpetual robot responses. Voicemail. Unconcerned, rude receptionists. None of these leave a positive impression on your customers. In fact, these are the kind of experiences that frustrate them and motivate them to reach out to your competitors. Now in 2025, the world is faster and busier than ever, but that’s why premium quality customer service stands out in a world of endless hold music and unanswered phone calls. This year, it’s time to set new standards for your business’s customer service etiquette, and in this blog, we’ll give you some tips and tricks on how to raise the bar.

-Customer Service in 2025: What Do Your Customers Expect?
-The Role of Technology in Customer Service Etiquette
-How to Handle Challenging Customer Interactions
-Hiring, Training, and Leadership: Setting the Standard from Within

Customer Service in 2025: What Do Your Customers Expect?

Excellent customer service nowadays demands more than just using your manners and delivering error-free messages. While kindness and accuracy remain essential pillars of customer service, consumers in 2025 also expect personalization, empathy, and efficiency every time they exchange with your business– and these qualities aren’t developed overnight. Achieving them requires thoughtful strategy, consistent effort, and a proactive approach to refining every customer interaction. (We’ll dive into the how-to’s later in this blog.)

Kindness

Kindness is the first thing your customers should experience when they contact your business, whether through e-mail, text, or phone call. Kindness is what sets the tone for the remainder of the exchange; it’s a first impression that never, ever goes out of style.

Accuracy

When your customers have questions about your business, it’s crucial that your representatives are able to provide accurate, detailed information in response. If it just so happens that they have to take a message, that accuracy should also be present in what’s recorded about the conversation.

Personalization

Personalization is what takes traditional customer service up a notch or two. In 2025, customers expect you to respond to their unique needs and queries in a way that best suits them. Whether that’s through offering multiple channels of communication or tailoring your responses based on past interactions, personalization ensures that each and every customer feels valued and understood.

Empathy

While similar to kindness, empathy is a little different. Empathy refers to the ability to understand and share in the feelings or experiences of others. It is empathy that inspires kindness– that allows your customer service representatives to genuinely hear and connect with the concerns or problems of your callers, that allows them to keep their cool with particularly frustrated customers.

Efficiency

Last of all, there’s efficiency. Efficiency is also a very “2025” trait to be mindful of when it comes to improving your customer service etiquette this year. This world is fast, and the quicker you are at responding accurately to your customers’ queries and concerns, the greater the chances are of them electing to do business with you.

The Role of Technology in Customer Service Etiquette

Technology on the market today allows for aid in the realms of accuracy, personalization, and efficiency. If you have yet to invest in AI solutions or a reliable CRM (customer relationship management) system, you’re missing out on some tools that could seriously elevate your customer service game.

AI Solutions

First of all, if the term “AI” sort of freaks you out, you’re not alone. We used to feel the same way! Check out our blog “Addressing Common AI Fears to Understand Real AI Solutions” to alleviate those anxieties and discover how embracing AI can truly transform your business for the better.

And when it comes down to customer service? AI shines in that arena, too. Twenty-four seven live AI chat helps to personalize your customers’ experiences, providing them with another option as to how they choose to communicate with your business. This tool also aids in accuracy and efficiency. Once you take the time to “educate” your AI on the inner workings of your business, it can answer any customer’s question with great detail at any time of day. “Educating your AI” is seriously a lot easier than it sounds… you can check it out for free right here.

CRMs

Customer Relationship Management systems store all customer interactions, preferences, and transaction histories in a single database, minimizing errors caused by having these details scattered across e-mails, sticky notes, and other disconnected sources. By centralizing this information in an online space that updates in real time, you can better personalize customer experiences and ensure that your customer service representatives are referring to past exchanges accurately. Without a doubt, this will also help your team to be more efficient in handling customer exchanges across the board.

Interested in investing in CRM software? This blog by Technology.magazine highlights their top ten picks for CRM platforms, outlining each of their distinctive key features.

How to Handle Challenging Customer Interactions

Inarguably, technology can advance your customer service game; still, at the end of the day, the human element remains indispensable. Good customer service representatives treat your customers with compassion, but great customer service representatives extend that same compassion to even the most agitated customers. Mental Health America (MHA) defines emotional intelligence as “the ability to manage both your own emotions and understand the emotions of people around you.” This is where kindness and empathy become MVPs of your 2025 customer service playbook.

De-Escalation Techniques

When your customer service representatives answer the phone to be greeted by an angry voice, it is essential that they remember that the caller on the other end isn’t upset with them– they’re upset because of the negative experience they’re having. Your CSRs should actively listen to the caller, focusing on understanding the heart of the issue at hand. Phrases such as “I totally understand why you’re upset,” or “That is indeed frustrating,” come in handy here, as they convey to the customer that their issue is being understood and received by your company.

From there, your CSRs should remain calm and ask open-ended questions surrounding the caller’s issue. As time passes, the caller on the other end will understand that they’re speaking to someone who wants to help them, not someone who’s looking to add fuel to their fire– effectively de-escalating the situation. From there, your CSR can provide accurate, clear solutions or refer them to the department that can help answer their questions.

Setting Respectful Limits

Alright… so your CSR was empathetic, kind, and remained calm throughout the entire exchange, yet this particular customer remains unreceptive and highly agitated. Here is when setting appropriate boundaries becomes essential for maintaining professionalism, protecting their emotional wellbeing, and ensuring the interaction remains productive.

It is crucial that your CSR avoids matching the tone of the irate caller. To set limits respectfully, use assertive, positive language such as, “I want to help resolve this, but I need us to work together calmly,” or “Let’s focus on finding a solution.” Remaining composed and solution-focused not only diffuses tension but also reinforces the CSR's control over the conversation.

When kindness and empathy play a starring role in your customer service etiquette, you gain the opportunity to turn customer complaints into positive customer reviews. As previously mentioned, it is imperative that your CSRs have “the ability to manage both [their] own emotions and understand the emotions of people around [them].” As an answering service, this is why “compassion” is one of our three core values.

Hiring, Training, and Leadership: Setting the Standard from Within

Improving your customer service etiquette takes time, effort, and a dedicated commitment to growth. It’s essential to prioritize continuous learning while leading by example to inspire and guide your CSRs in getting on the same page as you for improving customer service etiquette in 2025.

Start with your hiring processes. Screen potential employees for a natural sense of compassion and empathy with questions like “Do you enjoy helping others?” and “Can you tell me about a time you remained calm while helping someone who was overwhelmed or angry?” Here at Dexcomm, we screen our agents for our core values with multiple questions (such as these) to ensure that we hire agents who will remain patient with callers. When it comes to your current employees, make time to educate them on the importance of demonstrating kindness and empathy; you could even reward those who demonstrate such empathy with difficult callers.

On the note of educating your employees, ensure they’re well-guided on using new CRM systems or leveraging AI-driven web queries to assess when to reach out to potential customers. Approach their learning process with patience and empathy—this will not only build their confidence but will also enhance their ability to deliver accuracy, personalization, and efficiency with consistency and care.

Conclusion

When you invest (whether that be time or money) in improving your business’s customer service etiquette, you invest in unlocking new levels of success that might otherwise remain out of reach. Start by assessing your current practices, then amplify the principles of kindness, accuracy, personalization, empathy, and efficiency by investigating new technologies and leading by example. You won’t only give your customers a great start to their new year by demonstrating excellent customer service; you’ll also set the standard for exceptional service that leaves a lasting impression, keeping your business one step ahead of the competition.