Customer Experience vs. Customer Service: 7 Key Differences
The title of this blog post might have even surprised some people. Generally speaking, customer service and customer experience are wrongly used as interchangeable terms.
Admittedly, these terms are deeply interconnected, and we don’t blame anyone for the confusion.
But if you want to progress your business to new heights, you need to know the different aspects of managing a customer journey.
To be clear, you can use ‘customer service’ and ‘customer support’ interchangeably because they actually mean the same thing, but ‘customer experience’ refers to something much bigger.
However, before we discuss all the differences, let’s first explain the definitions of these terms.
Customer Service (CS)
Customer Service (CS) is the direct assistance and support provided by a company to its customers before, during, and after they purchase and use a product/service. It involves addressing inquiries, resolving complaints, and offering guidance to ensure customers have a smooth experience while interacting with the brand.
Customer service and customer support are the same thing, and they are typically delivered through channels such as phone, email, chat, and social media. Effective CS aims to resolve issues promptly, communicate clearly and professionally, and maintain a high level of customer satisfaction.
Customer Experience (CX)
Customer Experience (CX) is the complete view and feeling a customer has about a brand or company during their whole time doing business with them.
CX encompasses every aspect of a customer’s interactions, including pre-purchase, purchase, and post-purchase experiences, across all touchpoints, such as online platforms, physical stores, customer support, and product usage.
The primary objective of focusing on customer experience is to create positive, memorable, and personalized experiences that foster customer satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy. By understanding customer needs, preferences, and pain points, companies can design and deliver seamless experiences that strengthen the overall customer perception of their company.
Scope: Customer Service vs Customer Experience
Customer service has a relatively narrow scope, primarily concentrating on individual transactions and interactions between customers and a company’s support staff. It deals with resolving specific issues and providing direct assistance when customers seek help. The aim of CS is to ensure that the customers receive timely and satisfactory resolutions to their concerns.
On the other hand, customer experience has a much broader scope, spanning all touchpoints and interactions across the entire customer journey. This journey of customer service vs customer support experience includes pre-purchase experiences, such as browsing a website or engaging with marketing materials, purchase experiences like the checkout process, and post-purchase experiences involving product usage, customer support, and ongoing engagement. Customer experience focuses on creating a seamless, consistent, and positive interaction at every stage, ensuring customers have a favourable impression of the brand.
Focus: Resolving Issues vs. Building Emotional Connections
Customer service primarily centres around resolving inquiries, addressing complaints, and assisting customers who encounter issues or have questions. The focus is on troubleshooting, problem-solving, and maintaining efficient communication to help customers overcome obstacles and achieve their immediate goals.
In contrast, customer experience emphasizes creating memorable, positive interactions and fostering emotional connections with customers throughout their journey. This kind of relationship building involves understanding customer needs, preferences, and expectations and consistently delivering experiences that exceed them. The focus is on building long-term customer satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy for the brand.
Timeframe: Short-Term Interactions vs. Long-Term Relationship Building
Customer service interactions are generally short-term and occur when customers require immediate assistance. These interactions may be one-time occurrences or issues that customers face sporadically. The primary objective is to provide prompt and practical solutions to address the customer’s concerns during these instances.
Customer experience, however, extends over the long term, with interactions and touchpoints occurring continuously throughout the customer lifecycle. It starts from the awareness stage and continues to the post-purchase engagement stage. Customer experience shapes perceptions, builds trust, and influences loyalty over time. It involves fostering a lasting relationship with customers and continually adapting to their evolving needs and preferences.
Responsibility: Support Teams vs. Company-wide Collaboration
Customer service is typically the responsibility of a dedicated customer support team, including customer service representatives, who interact directly with customers to address their concerns and provide assistance. These frontline employees are trained to handle various customer inquiries and complaints, ensuring customers receive the support they need.
In contrast, customer experience is the entire organization’s responsibility, involving multiple departments and stakeholders working together to deliver a cohesive and positive experience. Under this umbrella, we have marketing, sales, product development, customer support, and other teams collaborating to understand customer needs, design seamless experiences, and maintain consistent communication. A customer experience-oriented organization prioritizes customer satisfaction and loyalty across all functions and processes.
Metrics: Evaluating Success in Customer Service vs. Customer Experience
Let’s compare some metrics used by the industry to measure both disciplines(cs vs cx).
Customer service performance is often measured through various metrics, focusing on the efficiency and effectiveness of specific interactions. These metrics include:
Response time: It’s basically the average time a customer service representative consumes before responding to a customer inquiry or request.
Resolution time: The average time it takes for the resolution of a particular issue or complaint from the moment it is reported.
Customer Satisfaction Scores (CSAT): Ratings or scores provided by your actual customers, collected to assess their satisfaction with a specific customer service interaction.
Net Promoter Score (NPS): A metric that estimates the probability that your particular customer will recommend your product or service based on their experience with customer service.
In contrast, customer experience metrics take a more holistic view, reflecting the cumulative impact of interactions across the entire customer journey. These metrics include:
Overall Satisfaction: A comprehensive measure of a customer’s satisfaction with a brand, product, or service.
Loyalty: It’s simply the extent to which a customer is loyal to a brand regarding a particular need, as measured through repeat purchases, engagement, and retention rates.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): The total amount of money a customer is expected to spend on a brand or product throughout their entire relationship with the company.
Brand Perception: Customers’ overall perception of a brand is influenced by factors such as reputation, trust, and quality.
Likelihood to Recommend: The probability of a customer recommending a brand or product to others, often measured using the Net Promoter Score (NPS).
Proactiveness: Reactive vs. Proactive Approaches in Customer Service and Customer Experience
Customer service primarily adopts a reactive approach, focusing on responding to customer inquiries, complaints, and requests as they arise. The goal is to provide prompt and practical solutions to address immediate customer concerns.
In contrast, customer experience can involve a more proactive approach, which entails anticipating customer needs and preferences through personalized communication, predictive analytics, and tailored offerings. By proactively engaging with customers, businesses can enhance satisfaction, foster loyalty, and drive growth.
Impact: The Effects of Customer Service and Customer Experience on Business Succes
Customer service does have a direct impact on customer satisfaction and retention. It’s all about addressing immediate issues and concerns that can significantly affect a customer’s perception of a brand or product. However, its influence may be limited to individual transactions or interactions.
On the other hand, customer experience has a broader and more significant impact on overall brand perception, customer loyalty, advocacy, and business growth. As it shapes the entire customer relationship and journey, a consistently occurring positive customer experience will lead to increased retention, higher customer lifetime value, and more effective word-of-mouth marketing through positive recommendations. In other words, it’s a comparison of customer service vs customer satisfaction.