Customer Service vs. Customer Experience

by Ed Reiter 19. June 2012 07:23

Many people I talk with are having a problem with the difference between Customer Service and Customer Experience.  The perception seems to be that Customer Experience is just a new name for Customer Service. These two are closely related, but they are very different.  Let’s start with the definitions:

 

Customer Service is the activities an organization performs to satisfy the customer’s need before, during and after a sale or transaction. It is orientated on the provider.

Customer Experience is the customer’s experience while doing business with a provider of goods and services. It can be the experience during one transaction or a long term relationship with the provider.  Customer Experience is focused on the customer.

 

It is this focus or orientation that differentiates the two. One is focused on the activities of the provider and the other focused on the customer. 

Organizations that are refocusing their energies and becoming customer centric are finding that Customer Experience Management is providing morecustomer loyalty and increased profits from greater customer retention.

This is also leading to Experiential Marketing that is based totally on the customer’s experience with a product or service.

Here is an example. A car dealer takes the latest model of SUV to a local event and offers to shuttle the participants from the parking area to the event. This gives the participants a break from the long walk in the parking lot, for example, and gives them a chance to experience the new SUV Model firsthand; as opposed to a Test Drive or Sales Pitch at the Dealership.

More and more we are driven by our experiences with the organizations we do business with. Our future purchases and loyalties are based on these experiences. The organizations that figure this out are the ones that are going to be the winners.

 

By Ed Reiter

Customer Relations Manager

CAASPRE Consulting, LLC

 

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Corporate Culture | Customer Experience

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