What is the value of good customer service to an employee? It is a metric, which is entirely divorced from incentive. It used to be the owner of that bygone hardware store factored customer service into the wages of his employees, because he had to be able to trust an advancing employee with the brand it took him decades to build.

Walmart doesn’t need to trust an associate with their brand, because they pay marketing people for that. The entire service industry sees labor as a cost to be reduced, and customer service is the casualty of this.

A 17 year old kid standing behind the counter while also working the drive thru is certainly not better off during a late night rush. Her stress level is significantly increased during this period, but her pay remains locked near minimum wage. She will not be rewarded for handling this rush by going above and beyond for the customers increasing this stress.

Whether it is the consumer or management, who refuses to attach monetary value to customer service, is a matter of debate, but none the less, customer service is not a marketable skill set. If it were, you would see companies competing to improve in this area.