Customer Experience vs Customer Service: What’s The Difference?

Today, many companies are talking about customer experience (CX) and it’s frequently at the top of the corporate agenda. They’re creating new positions within their organizations and they’re viewing customer experience and service as the single most important way for their organization to achieve success.

Customer service and customer experience are two terms that are often used interchangeably, but they are not the same thing. While both concepts are important in building and maintaining strong relationships with customers, they refer to different aspects of the customer-business interaction. So what’s the difference?

What Do We Mean By Customer Service?

CustomerThink defines customer service as: “Help and advice provided by a company to the customers who are buying or using their products or services. Customer service could be classified as an area of customer experience. It is, however, a key area, and at its core, its role is to provide support.” 

In other words, today’s definition of customer service is reactive in nature.

Customer service refers to the assistance and support that a business provides to its customers before, during, and after a purchase. It includes activities such as answering questions, providing technical support, resolving complaints, and processing returns. This ‘service’ is usually provided by a dedicated team of support representatives who are trained to address customers’ needs and concerns.

Good customer service is important because it helps to build customer loyalty and trust. Customers who feel that they are being heard and helped are more likely to return to a business and recommend it to others. On the other hand, poor customer service can damage a business’s reputation and lead to lost sales.

How Does Customer Experience Differ From Customer Service?

The Harvard Business Review defines customer experience as, “The sum of all interactions a customer has with a company.”

Customer experience isn’t just a single event with your best (or worst) customer care professional when an order is delayed. Today’s definition of customer experience (CX) spans the entire customer journey, from the moment they become aware of your business or brand. The customer experience includes every aspect of the customer lifecycle, from pre-sales customer touchpoints all the way through personalized experiences for return customers.

A good customer experience should leave customers feeling that they are valued and that the business understands their needs and wants. A positive customer experience can help to differentiate a business from its competitors and can lead to increased customer loyalty and repeat business.

Why Does Experience and Service Matter?

It matters, a lot. According to Forbes, the answer is a resounding ‘yes’ with over 70% of customers saying that they would spend more to get great customer service.

Moreover, 73% of consumers claim that a great customer experience drives their buying decisions, while statistics show that increasing your repeat numbers by 5% can increase your profitability up to 95%.

How Technology Can Improve Both Service and Experience

In today’s multi-channel world, technology is being used to improve both customer service and experience. Typically, this might start from something as simple as a social media post, enticing the customer to make an inquiry, perhaps via an online form or even to speak with someone on the phone.

Increasingly, companies are looking at ways they can improve their customer service and experience. They’re attracted to tools such as Natterbox and Service Cloud Voice Integration (SCV) which enables them to bring their telephony and Salesforce CRM system together in one platform. As well as providing single system benefits, SCV allows you to build loyalty with every interaction, enabling you to create seamless experiences without ever needing to leave the Salesforce platform. 

Monitoring calls and call insights will enable you to better handle call volume, speed up call resolution, better personalize the user experience and identify areas where service can be improved. There’s also the ability to send post-call CSAT surveys, a great way to get instant feedback on how customers rate their overall experience with your brand.

So to conclude, you can see how customer service and customer experience are different but they are inextricably linked. To improve service and satisfaction levels, you would be well advised to look at ways technology can help make things easier for both you and your customers.