Terms such as customer service quality or customer service are commonly confused or used interchangeably. They are not the same thing, but they are related. The difference between these is that customer service is one piece of the puzzle. That focuses on human interaction and direct customer support. However, the customer experience is the sum total of the customer’s journey to your business. Let’s move on to this topic and you will take a closer look at the customer service vs customer experience.
The most important difference between customer experience and customer service is that customer experience relates to the entire customer journey, including customer service.
Customer service refers to the interactions that a customer has with a company or organization when seeking advice or assistance with a product or service. By contrast, understanding customer experience can involve analyzing data from non-customer-centric groups. That create an overall customer experience with a service or product.
Customer service quality and customer service are key elements of a company’s success. But it is impossible (or important) to draw a hard line between the two. The distinction between how customers use a product and how they connect with those who support it is becoming increasingly blurred. Buyers take the big picture into account when they think about your offerings, and so should you.
Customer service is what happens when a customer or prospect interacts with your company looking for more information to move them up the sales funnel. So, within that definition, let’s read a few examples of customer service below.
- Chatbot responses on the site
- The return process and how the team interacts with customers going through the process.
- Any replies by email
- Replies to direct messages on Facebook and Instagram messengers (either from customer support or using logic and artificial intelligence using a messenger bot).
- Replies to comments on Instagram
- Paid responses on social media
- Store employees and how they interact with customers and potential customers
The customer experience, by contrast, is the umbrella under which customer service lies. However, customer service is not the only area of customer service. Let’s repeat this because it’s very important to understand that customer experience includes customer service. But customer service is not the only area of customer experience that needs to be thought of. Below are some examples of digital customer experiences.
- How do you structure the return process: whether it is difficult or easy to return an item.
- How do you pack your products: Branded packaging? Are there instructions?
- What is your shipping policy: is there free shipping, is it fast shipping, etc., etc.
Today, more and more companies take customer experience first, then customer service seriously and then exceed expectations and delight customers. There are actually many ways to take care of and interact with your customers, but these three terms do not mean the same thing, and you need to stop talking about them like they do.
However, no matter how hard the company tries, not all customers will be satisfied. There should always be a demand for customer service, customer service quality, and customer service. The joint work of all three elements will help you create a base of satisfied customers who are loyal to the company and will return for new ones.