“Customer service is not a department, it’s an attitude” (also ““Customer service is not a department, it’s a philosophy” and “Customer service is not a department, it’s everyone’s job”) is a business saying that means that everyone in the business must work to satisfy a customer, and not simply a department called “customer service.” “Customer service is not a department, it’s an attitude” has been cited in print since at least 1994 and is of unknown authorship.
 
   
Google Books
How to Win a Lot More Business in a Lot Less Time
By Michael LeBoeuf
London: Piatkus
1994
Pg. 32:
Similarly, customer service is not a department. It’s an attitude. There’s no room for “It’s not my department” in a world where customers have so many choices.
 
17 August 1994, Mountain Democrat (Placerville, CA), “Service is the key to redefining a company’s competitive edge” by Jim Cathcart, pg. A-4, col. 6:
This means that customer service is not a department, it is the lifeblood of the organization.
 
Google Books
Marketing Channels
By Barry Berman
New York, NY: Wiley
1996
Pg. 193:
According to Dell’s director of marketing, “Customer service is not a department, it’s a philosophy.”
 
Google Books
Value-Added Customer Service:
The Employee’s Guide for Creating Satisfied Customers
By Thomas P. Reilly
Chicago, IL: Contemporary Books
1996
Pg. 128:
Explain that customer service is not a department that handles complaints. It’s an attitude for servicing people and creating satisfied customers.
 
Google Books
Breakthrough Customer Service:
Best Practices of Leaders in Customer Support
By Stanley A. Brown
Toronto: J. Wiley & Sons Canada
1997
Pg. 43:
Customer service is not a department, but a philosophy, and should therefore be practised by all employees at every level of the organization.
 
Google Books
Think Outside the Box:
The Most Trite, Generic, Hokey, Overused, Clinched Or Unmotivating Motivational Slogans
By Jim Tompkins
Raleigh, NC: Tompkins Press
2001
Pg. 42:
Customer Service is not a department, it’s an attitude.
 
Customer 1
99 Legendary Customer Service Quotes
Posted by Omar Zaibak on November 8, 2010
(...)
31. Customer service is not a department, it’s everyone’s job.
Anonymous
 
Google Books
Security Strategy:
From Requirements to Reality
By Bill Stackpole and Eric Oksendahl
Boca Raton, FL: Auerbach Publications
2011
Pg. 43:
Customer service is not a department, it’s an attitude.
Unknown