Join us as we raise a glass to George Wendt – Norm from the classic US sitcom, Cheers, who died this month.

If you’re of a certain age, you’ll be familiar with the fictitious Boston bar where a group of locals meet to drink, relax, socialise, and escape from the day-to-day. Norm sat at the same place at the bar every time and loved only two things: his beer and his bar stool.

If you weren’t even born in the 1980s & 1990s when Cheers was on our screens for over a decade, you missed a treat. Not just because it’s wonderfully written comedy (it holds the record for most Emmy and Golden Globe nominations – 148 in total) but because it is a brilliant story about business. It reminds us of a simple but powerful lesson: you build customer loyalty by getting to know what matters most to your customers. Cheers wasn’t just a setting for sitcom laughs, it was a masterclass in customer experience – the bar where everybody knew your name.

Forgive us for shoehorning some Customer Experience ‘lessons’ here but respect must be paid. Here’s what Cheers teaches us about building great customer experiences – and why those lessons still matter in today’s digital-first, brand-obsessed world.

Personalisation builds loyalty
Cheers didn’t rely on slick ads or loyalty programmes. Loyalty came from one thing: personal recognition.

• Norm walks in. The bar shouts his name.
• He’s welcomed by the bar staff (Norm usually responds with a witty remark, frequently about his life, and orders a beer…)

He’s treated like a person, not a transaction.  Long-time customer loyalty begins with basic human recognition. Use data to find your customer – then prove you know them. Get their name right. Remember their preferences. Show up with relevance.

Make it a ritual
Every episode of Cheers was different, but some things never changed: the warm welcome, the banter, the bar stool, the beer. That consistency was the hallmark of the experience.

Little rituals matter – your customers come to expect and love them. From how you greet them to how you say goodbye, they can be hallmark moments that make your brand memorable

Names not numbers
Cheers didn’t use CRM software. But it was a CRM, only it was run by people. The bar staff cared about Norm (well, perhaps less so in the case of Karla). But on the whole, they listened, they noticed, and they made space for him to just be himself.

Intentionally or not, your people are your brand. Tech enables scale but care builds loyalty. Train your team not just on service but on empathy. Make care part of BAU, not just a KPI.

The bar wasn’t just a bar: it was community
Cheers succeeded because it was more than a bar. Before we even knew what the term meant, it was a safe space. Norm didn’t just go for the beer – he went to belong.

Humans respond to emotional connections. Craft experiences that move beyond product and into meaning. When you make people feel something, they stick around. And they bring others with them.

The Experience didn’t end with the tab
OK, in Norm’s case, paying the tab was a tomorrow problem but metaphorically speaking, you get the point. There was follow-up. There were stories. Norm’s relationship with Cheers had depth – he wasn’t there once and forgotten.

Last orders: Customer Experience that feels like home
In an age of AI, automation and analytics, it’s easy to forget the basics. But Cheers reminds us that the best customer experience is still the human one. It’s built on familiarity, trust, humour, and heart.

Want to build the Cheers of your industry?

• Personalise with purpose
• Deliver rituals your customers love
• Empower your people to treat customers as people
• Turn customers into community
• Extend the experience beyond the sale

We leave you with one of the many memorable Norm moments and give thanks for the genius of George Wendt.

Sam: ‘What’ll you have, Norm?’
Norm: ‘Well, I’m in a gambling mood, Sammy. I’ll take a glass of whatever comes out of that tap.’
Sam: ‘Looks like beer, Norm.’
Norm: ‘Call me Mr. Lucky.’