Customer service and customer experience together make up memorable experiences for people. Both the terms are used interchangeably but they have different functions and meanings. Understanding the difference between customer service and customer experience (CX) can help you deliver better outcomes for your customers and your bottom line. This blog breaks down the key differences, explores their impact, and shows you how to measure and improve both. It should be noted that both these metrics can be measured qualitatively and quantitatively.
What is Customer Service?
Customer service is the assistance and advice a company provides to customers before, during, and after a purchase. It typically happens during specific interactions, such as answering a question, resolving a complaint, or guiding someone through a process.
A company representative will directly solve support tickets and issues raised. This is done by channels of phone, email or chat support (with a human or an AI intervention). Sometimes, a representative can also be present physically for a product demonstration. Customer service is a major part of customer experience.
Key features of customer service:
- Reactive in nature
- Channel-specific (phone, email, chat, social media)
- Focused on problem-solving
- Handled by support teams or agents
Who is responsible for customer service?
In customer service, a brand representative will assist and support customers at various touchpoints. It is reactive in nature and often composed of service representatives, handling customer inquiries and resolving any issues that may arise. Their service can influence a customer’s perception of your brand. It can impact loyalty or churn rates.
Metrics to Measure Customer Service
Here are some key metrics to monitor, measure performance and improve customer service:
- First response time (FRT): FRT tracks the average time it takes for a customer support team to respond to a customer inquiry. Faster response times lead to higher customer satisfaction.
- Average resolution time (ART): ART measures the average time it takes to resolve a customer issue from ticket generation to final resolution.
- First contact resolution (FCR): This metric tracks the percentage of customer issues resolved on the first interaction. FCR indicates how efficient and effective the team is.
- Service level agreement (SLA) compliance: SLA measures how well a support team meets predefined service level expectations. This includes responding or resolving issues within a specific time frame as stated by them.
- Ticket volume: Ticket volume determines how efficient the customer support is, about solving issues. Monitoring ticket volume detects the demand on the customer service team and identifies any recurring issues that need to be solved.
How to improve customer service?
Improving customer service is crucial for delivering exceptional customer experiences. Here are some key points to consider:
- Understanding the difference: Differentiate customer service from customer experience to ensure your service interactions align with your overall experience goals.
- Personalized interactions: Provide personalized support, addressing each customer’s unique needs, and creating a positive emotional connection.
- Timely and effective responses: Respond to customer inquiries and concerns promptly, ensuring their issues are resolved in a timely manner.
- Proactive solutions: Anticipate customer needs and provide proactive solutions, going above and beyond to deliver exceptional service.
- Consistency: Consistently deliver high-quality service interactions, striving to create positive, memorable experiences for every customer.
What is Customer Experience (CX)?
Customer experience is an overall experience a customer has been through while using their products or services. It includes every touchpoint—from seeing your ad to browsing your website to receiving post-purchase communication or services. Customer experience determines the overall perception of the brand.
Example: A seamless and intuitive mobile app, friendly in-store staff, easy checkout, and a follow-up thank-you email all contribute to a great customer experience.
Key features of customer experience:
- Proactive and holistic
- Cross-functional (marketing, sales, support, delivery, etc.)
- Focused on emotional connection and satisfaction
- Influenced by brand values and consistency
Who is responsible for customer experience CX?
Customer experience is a company-wide effort that involves various departments, including customer service, marketing, product development, and operations. Delivering exceptional customer experiences requires collaboration across different teams and functions.
Metrics To Measure Customer Experience
Common CX metrics can measure the level of experience each customer had. These metrics are market standard and track satisfaction levels periodically or based on certain transactions.
- Net Promoter Score (NPS): NPS survey measures the willingness of customers to recommend the brand to others. NPS measures customer loyalty on a long term basis. There are two types of Net Promoter Scores: relational NPS and transactional NPS.
- Customer satisfaction score (CSAT): CSAT surveys use a 1-5 rating scale to measure how satisfied customers are with a certain interaction or service.
- Customer effort score (CES): CES survey will measure how much effort a customer had to undergo to solve a problem. Minimal effort means higher customer satisfaction.
- Customer lifetime value (CLV): CLV is an internal measure of how much business a company can expect from a single customer throughout their relationship with the brand.
- Customer retention rate (CRR): CRR tracks the percentage of customers a company retains over a given period. High retention rates indicate effective CX efforts.
How to improve customer experience?
To enhance customer experience, businesses can adopt several strategies:
- Map out your customer journey: Identify key touchpoints and pain points in your customer journey, allowing you to focus on areas that need improvement and optimization.
- Train your employees: Provide your customer service team (and customer-facing employees) with the necessary training and support to deliver exceptional service and create memorable experiences.
- Utilize technology: Leverage tools such as chatbots, artificial intelligence, and personalized messaging to enhance the experience, omnichannel.
- Collect customer feedback: Actively seek feedback from your customers to understand their needs, preferences, and pain points, enabling you to continuously improve your customer experience strategy.
Customer Service vs Customer Experience: A Quick Comparison
Despite being two sides of the same coin, let us explore some key differences between the two commonly used terms.
Aspect | Customer Service | Customer Experience (CX) |
Approach | Reactive – Addresses issues when customers reach out for support (e.g., purchase problems, complaints, refunds). | Proactive – Monitors and improves the overall brand experience through ongoing feedback and journey analysis. |
Nature of Interaction | Single event – A specific instance where a customer seeks help. Measured by resolution time and CES. | Relationship-based – Encompasses multiple interactions over time. Measured by retention rates and customer health scores. |
Scope | Individual-focused : One-to-one interactions between customers and support representatives (human or AI). | Holistic : Covers the entire customer journey, from initial inquiry to post-purchase advocacy, across multiple touchpoints. |
Ownership | Usually a dedicated and trained support team. Mainly during onboarding and post-purchase interactions. | All departments collectively are responsible for better CX at every touchpoint. |
Main objective | Resolve in-the-moment issues immediately | Deliver positive outcomes and seamless experience across every interaction |
Why the distinction matters
A great support team can’t make up for a clunky app or a confusing website. Your customer service could be top-notch, but if the rest of the journey isn’t seamless, your customer experience will still suffer. Understanding the difference helps you:
- Identify where breakdowns in the journey happen
- Improve more than just support channels
- Align all departments toward CX goals
- Design proactive solutions
Customer Service vs Customer Experience: How Are They Related?
Customer service is a direct, customer-facing function that handles complaints, support tickets, product assistance, and online reviews. Customer experience (CX) depends on how well a service department resolves queries and closes the feedback loop.
A strong CX strategy incorporates both proactive and reactive approaches to customer feedback. Key metrics for evaluation include:
- Customer service metrics: Fewer repeat calls, faster average response time, reduced hold times, and lower call volumes.
- CX metrics: Website analytics for friction points, positive CES (Customer Effort Score) and CSAT (Customer Satisfaction) survey results, and high employee morale.
Why you need customer experience and customer service together
A business’s success depends on customer retention and engagement. To achieve this, brands must:
- Create positive experiences that encourage repeat purchases and word-of-mouth marketing.
- Eliminate friction points in the customer journey for smoother interactions.
- Leverage social proof through website reviews, third-party testimonials, and social media mentions.
How customer service supports CX
- Source of direct customer feedback: Support teams gather insights that help improve product features and address knowledge gaps.
- Reduces customer service workload: A well-structured CX strategy minimizes recurring issues, decreasing the burden on support teams.
- Clear brand communication: Ensuring product information, pricing, and navigation are easily accessible on websites and apps prevents unnecessary customer frustration.
- Lowers churn and improves loyalty: Customers expect quick resolutions—unanswered calls and unresolved tickets create negative experiences. Proper employee training can turn complaints into positive interactions.
Real World Examples: Customer Experience vs Customer Service
Example 1: Apple Inc
- Customer Service: Apple’s Genius Bar helps fix devices quickly across cities. People are equipped to handle issues at ground level. This determines positive customer service.
- Customer Experience: Intuitive UI, product packaging, store design, and branding create a premium feel. Additionally, how customers are treated at the stores is also a major contributing factor to a positive CX.
Example 2: Amazon ecommerce
- Customer Service: Call centers are equipped to handle customer complaints immediately without escalation.
- Customer Experience: CX in Amazon Inc is determined by fast deliveries across pin codes, easy returns, personalized recommendations. This also includes post-purchase service via website chatbots or customer service call-backs.
Example 3: Zappos
- Customer Service: Known for empathetic, human support
- Customer Experience: Easy navigation, fun branding, and surprise upgrades
Conclusion
Customer service and customer experience are deeply connected, yet fundamentally different. To thrive in a competitive landscape:
- Deliver great service when customers need you
- Build a consistent, frictionless experience across every touchpoint
- Use data, tools, and empathy to keep improving
Want to improve both CX and service with one smart tool? Try Merren’s AI-driven tool to run multichannel, interactive surveys and measure feedback where it matters.