Celebration Stories and Ideas

Every year we gather Customer Service Week celebration stories from around the globe and share the very best through the Customer Service Week Email Bulletins, and right here at the website.

The celebration stories are organized into the following categories. But most celebrations overlap two or more categories so take some time to view them all.

You’ll be inspired by the level of commitment and skill involved in each and every one of these celebrations.


A Speech To Make Everyone Proud

  By Celebration Stories and Ideas, Build Stronger Teams

The team at Taro Pharmaceuticals began celebrating Customer Service Week four years ago and as Carol Augias tells us, “it has grown little by little from a breakfast on Monday, to include a small lunch on Friday, to a week-long celebration that everyone looks forward to.”

But certainly the highlight has to be the Closing Lunch Soiree. A theme is chosen and appropriate decorations and food are provided. At the event, each rep receives an award and Carol gives a carefully prepared speech. In it she talks about the accomplishments of the department and weaves in an anecdote about each rep’s success during the year. She even includes a quote from at least one customer and one outside sales rep.

Additional activities included:

  • Monday. Kick-off breakfast, introducing the Customer Service Week theme, schedule of events, goals for the week, and a presentation from the senior vice president of global sales and marketing.
  • Tuesday. Seminar on time management, plus a fun afternoon playing Minute to Win It.
  • Wednesday. Presentation on the service teams activities, plus announcement of the customer service rep of the year, and a rousing game of Deal or No Deal.
  • Thursday. Donuts and small stress relievers are delivered to other departments. Pizza lunch with company trivia contest.
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Five Days of Fun with a Purpose

  By Celebration Stories and Ideas, Focus on Fun

The team at HelpMeChoose.com.au in Melbourne, Australia hosted a Customer Service Week celebration that was packed with fun activities. And with careful planning and forethought, the activities also included many important lessons on teamwork, service excellence, communication skills, and more.

  • Kick-off brunch. The week started with a kick-off brunch, which was attended by the company CEO. It was also the time for reps to form teams for group activities. To help everyone in the service center get to know each other, they were randomly assigned to teams.To do this, each beverage glass had a different colored ribbon tied around the stem. When reps grabbed a glass, they were randomly choosing their team. Each rep then received a matching lanyard and name tag to help everyone get acquainted.
  • Training day. The national training and development manager for HelpMeChoose.com.au traveled roughly 900 miles to give a presentation on Customer Service Excellence. This was also a dress up day, so a fire fighter, waitress, and others were in attendance.
  • Amazing race. Next came a fun twist on the television program Amazing Race. Local shops got involved handing out clues and acting as sites for different activities. Teams took photographs, or in this case “mug shots,” outside the police station, photographed themselves dancing like chickens outside a popular lunch spot, and more.
  • Office Olympics.The underground garage was transformed for the team’s Office Olympics. Chair races are always popular activities but the team added a vivid example of the importance of accurate communication. One team member pushed the office chair while blindfolded. Another team member sat in the chair guiding the driver through an obstacle course.
  • Closing ceremony. Finally, Friday brought a barbecue lunch and closing ceremony. The highlight of the event was a presentation on the results of the companies first annual customer satisfaction survey.
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Tie-in with Local Activities

  By Celebration Stories and Ideas, Focus on Fun

Many Customer Service Week celebrations tie-in with seasonal events such as the fall harvest, Halloween, or Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

In Winston-Salem, NC, the celebration at Aon Hewitt tied-in with the local county fair, which takes place at the same time.

The festive mood began as reps arrived on Monday morning and were greeted by their managers with music, balloons, and raffle tickets. The winner of the raffle drawing received tickets to the Dixie Classic Fair.

The fair theme continued each afternoon as managers distributed snacks including candy apples, cotton candy, and snow cones. And a classic hot dog lunch, complete with Customer Service Week cake, wrapped up the week.

Games and activities also had a fair theme. Reps tried their hands at ring toss, corn toss, a duck pond, and Wii games. There was also a little good-natured competition between Aon Hewitt service centers in different parts of the country, to see who could collect the most toys for donation to local children’s centers.

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Breakfast Celebration

  By Celebration Stories and Ideas, Build Stronger Teams

A creative team building activity was the highlight of the breakfast celebration at RACO Industries. The activity was designed to encourage team members to learn a little bit more about each other. When they do, stories are shared, bonds are formed, and cooperation and teamwork soar.

Manager Tracey Veith asked each person on her team to bring in one item from home. It had to be something that was meaningful to them but not easily identifiable as theirs.

During breakfast at a local pancake house, all of the items were arranged at the center of the table. Throughout the meal reps took turns trying to guess who brought in each item. When all of the connections were made, each person shared a few words about their item and why it is important to them.

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Pay It Forward Day

  By Celebration Stories and Ideas, Build Stronger Teams

Last year’s Customer Service Week celebration at the Cooper Creek Event Center was a huge success.

Organizer Jamie Marie Zamora summed the week up when she told us, “It truly was a celebration of the hard work each employee does! They felt appreciated and were reminded that their positive attitudes and kind acts do not go unnoticed!”

The team celebrated every day, but Jamie says that Friday was the favorite. It was pay-it-forward day, a day to focus on the positive cycle of kindness.

Each employee was given an envelope with a simple act to perform that day. Each person who received a kindness was also asked to “pay it forward” by repeating it or another act of kindness.

The tasks were not complex says Jamie, and included everyday things such as: opening the door for a stranger, writing someone a nice letter, giving a stranger a compliment.

And for one day during Customer Service Week, Cincinnati was a kinder place, thanks to the positive cycle Cooper Creek started.

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Carnys and a Snake Charmer

  By Celebration Stories and Ideas, Focus on Fun

At Advanced Drainage Systems, the 19 person service department celebrated with a carnival theme.

Team members dressed as a snake charmer, tightrope walker, ring master, and more. They celebrated with traditional carnival foods and games. But rather than awarding prizes for each game, the winners earned points. Then on the final day of the celebration everyone gathered to “spend” their points selecting their prizes.

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Classic Activities Get a High-Tech Update

  By Celebration Stories and Ideas, Focus on Fun

Pioneer Investments took three classic Customer Service Week activities and added some contemporary twists.

You’re sure to want to save these great ideas for your next celebration.

  • Morph Contest. The popular matching contest in which participants must match a baby photo, smile, or pet with its owner was updated to the Morph Contest. Reps were photographed and then every two photos was morphed into one. The photos were distributed via email and everyone tried to guess which two people made up each photo.
  • Selfie Scavenger Hunt. The traditional scavenger hunt, in which teams or individuals travel through the organization following clues and collecting items, was updated to a Selfie Scavenger Hunt. As each item was found, a selfie was snapped and later shared with the group.
  • Power Point Compliments Board. No more poster board for this team, the classic compliments board was re-imagined as a PowerPoint presentation that was played during a staff meeting.
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Celebration Combines Fun and Education

  By Celebration Stories and Ideas, Focus on Fun

The Customer Service Week celebration at CMA CGM (America) combined fun and education in an ambitious five full days of festivities.

The week started with a Star Wars theme. When employees arrived at work, they were transported to the future. The elevator whisked them skyward to the sounds of a spaceship lifting off. They were also accompanied by an actor dressed as Chewbacca, the wookie warrior. The building was filled with space ship decor and the lunchroom was converted to the raucous Star Wars Cantina.

The company’s out of this world celebration also included many down to earth activities that would make a wonderful addition to virtually any Customer Service Week event.

  • Dress Up. A daily theme gave everyone the opportunity to dress up and take photos. “Selfie-stations” were located on each floor and a photo booth was in the lobby.
  • Learn. Guided tours gave employees an opportunity to visit many departments and learn about the work of all 600 plus employees at the company’s headquarters. Lunch and learn events featured speakers from within the company and outside guests.
  • Play. Teams from many departments participated in daily rounds of Family Feud. Those who did not play were encouraged to support their teams. In addition there were daily opportunities to play Taboo and Name that Tune, and to participate in relay races. All winners received tickets for a prize drawing.
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