Customer Success vs. Customer Service vs. Customer Support – Know The Difference!
Customer service and customer support are generally taken as the same concept. However, there is a slight difference between the two of them, which eventually results in customer success.
Customer success, customer service, and customer support; all three have different roles and responsibilities accomplishing one goal and, i.e., customer satisfaction.
Herein, we bring you a well-composed summary, clarifying all the little misconceptions that people often have. Read on!
To know the difference between the three of them. It is essential to understand them specifically.
Customer Service and Customer Support- How they both work in attaining customer success.
Customer service is the overall service that people avail while buying a product or booking a service. Customer service can be explained as taking care of the customer before, during, or after the conversion. Customer service is a large-scale context covering all the technical Support and non-technical concerns. It embraces all the interactions between the business and the customer, improving the customer relationship.
Whereas, Customer support is only a part tucked into the umbrella of customer service. In simple words, customer service is the entire process between the customer and the company. On the other hand, customer support steps in when the customer has some issue or query during the complete journey from pre-sales to sales to after sales.
Now, talking about customer success; Customer Success is accomplished when a customer is delighted with the company’s service. Both customer service and support are designed in a certain way that consequently achieve just one thing, customer’s trust. A company is successful only if the customers are happy and share a positive feedback. This is possible only if they are handled with concern and care. Thus, customer support agents look into the customer’s customer service requirement and satisfy them with utmost adherence, building a satisfying customer relationship.
Now that it is clear that customer support is one part of customer service. Therefore, let’s head into how they enhance the company’s market value and attain customer success.
Customer Service/Support and Customer Care
Customer service agents concentrate on dealing with the customers’ needs and providing them with the best possible customer experience. The agent educates the customer, recommends the product or the service, and convinces them about their investment with their company when working in a pre-sales/sales environment. Once the customer has bought the product or service and has issues or queries post that, well trained agents then handle those in a warm and patient manner addressing all their queries, thus resulting in customer success.
The support operation also includes tech support, solves customer problems through all the service mediums like live chat support, phone support, or social media. In the vast canvas of customer service, customer care also plays a significant role in lifting the company’s reputation. Customer care draws a fine line that connects customer service, customer support, and customer success.
As explained, customer service and Support are marginally different. Thus, it is customer care that binds them. Customer care is an essential factor that resonates with customer’s satisfaction with the service or the Support they have been aided with.
Whether the customer support teams are at the initial level of the service’s conversion or the stage of support, the primary goal is to care for their customer beyond their imagination to elite its brand value.
Customer success vs. customer service/support- The main difference!
The following points shall provide a more apparent reasoning and explanation to the whole concept.
The target customer service/support and customer success
Customer support/service deals with customer-centric issues like resolving their problems, collecting feedback, follow-ups, etc. In contrast, customer success focuses on acquiring the customer happiness and the desired business conclusion that gives the company a long-lasting customer, who acts as a promoter for the company and it’s products and services.
The metrics of the service
Customer success pinpoints the overall metrics related to the business value like customer’s interest in the brand, retention, expansion, etc. Simultaneously, customer support evaluates the quality of the service provided to the customers at each touch point, like time taken to resolve, first-time resolutions and overall customer satisfaction etc.
The set of skills and etiquettes
The customer support agents have the quality of addressing and solving the issues and concerns. On the contrary, customer success goes on to an extra level by providing additional care and support to the customer. A comprehensive understanding and empathetic response can play a massive role in bringing out customer success.
Impact of the business
Customer support is indispensable to run a business as customer inquiries and queries always require an appropriate response. Customer success is typically a value-added functionality of the business, bringing in high-rate revenues and conversion rates. Whether the company is dealing with general customer support or success, answering their questions adequately is the only key to achieve progress.
The bottom line- Customer service and Support
Customer service and customer support are essential for maintaining existing customer relationships. Hence, it is vital to offer your customer loyalty, credibility, and authentication with the company’s exceptional service.
As both customer support and service are often mingled and create complications in understanding it, it’s essential to distinguish between the two and lend Support in both departments to ensure customer satisfaction and extraordinary customer experiences.
Suppose a company can offer both customer support and customer service by being spontaneously responsive. In that case, the company can gain enormous turnovers and earn perks over other market competitors.
Customer Support and Customer success go hand-in-hand.
Usually, each team is authorized to handle specific roles and responsibilities to make the customer’s experience remarkable. Yet, together they encompass all the aspects that are required to complete the customer’s journey.. The service provider that embraces the quality of handling their customer with utmost honor is the one that sustains long in the market, leaving all their competitors behind.
Customer Success ultimately improves the brand value and constructs a bond of loyalty and trust with the customer. The customer’s satisfaction is a priority; if they are happy and pleased with the company’s service, they will stick to the specific company whenever they need it. Also, they will end up recommending other customers for that particular company.
Simply, Customer support resolves the issues that occur with the customer, and they further spread awareness about the brand and the services they are dealing with. While customer success team enthusiastically offers assistance to the customers to know their goals and helps them in finding success with the service or the product, eventually giving the company a lifetime value in the sight of the customer.