‘ Customer service’ vs ‘ customer experience ‘, both terms are used to manage every aspect of your business. The differences between the two terms are often confusing or blurred. So what are the actual differences between these two aspects?
Customer service
“Excellent customer service is the number one job in any company! It is the personality of the company and the reason customers come back. Without customers, there is no company!”
Connie Elder, Founder & CEO, PEAK 10 SKIN
The term service refers to what happens from the human perspective and the support the customer receives. Customer service is provided by teams in contact with the customer who possess all the necessary skills, such as knowledge and patience.
The idea of good customer service is to help customers and provide assistance with the product or service in question, as well as solutions.
Customer service is normally applied in case of after-sales problems. It is a reactive element and can be a unique interaction. For a long time, working on strategies to improve service was seen as a cost center for the company.
Customer experience
“We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.”
Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.
Experiences are a series of continuous and daily interactions throughout the entire journey that impact feelings and emotions.
A remarkable experience will help you make better decisions that increase customer loyalty, boost sales, and grow your market shares.
The experience is part of the overall view customer journey, from beginning to end, on their side and on the company’s side. It also covers the various interactions with the customer as they engage with every touchoint.
A proactive approach is mandatory for a good customer experience. Companies have to be actively seeking ways to understand cutomers’ needs and desires.
Meeting this criteria in terms of the product or service in not enough, the most important part is the emotions that the customer has towards the company.
Customer experience vs customer service: the differences
In contrast to customer service, which is reactive, punctual and focused on short-term customer satisfaction, Customer Experience t is above all proactive and aims to improve and grow the relationship with each customer over a longer horizon.
This difference in vision leads to very clear differences in mentality depending on whether or not the customer relationship management department attaches importance to customer experience management.
A company that is content to ensure the minimum, with a customer service that responds punctually to customer requests, can certainly maintain a correct level of satisfaction but will rarely offer an exceptional customer experience.
To become a brand that stands out from your competitors and matters in the lives of your customers, improving the digital customer experience is a step to take.
Originally published at https://feedier.com on December 14, 2020.
