Customer Service vs Customer Support – What’s the Difference?

Is there a difference between customer service vs. customer support?

Yes, there is.

And, understanding this difference between the two can significantly help you optimize the customer journey.

In this post, we compare both fields side by side to help you deliver high-quality customer service and support.

We’ll also introduce you to the MioCommerce Multi-Channel Inbox (MCI) and how you can use it to supercharge your customer service and support efforts.

💡Curious to see what the multichannel is all about before proceeding? Why not! Take a quick Live Tour below. 

With that out of the way, let’s get started!

What is Customer Service?

“The best customer service is if the customer doesn’t need to call you, doesn’t need to talk to you. It just works.” – Jeff Bezos

Customer service involves helping customers with their questions, problems, or needs related to a product or service.

It’s the assistance customers receive when they call your company’s help desk, chat online, or ask your team for guidance.

Exceptional customer service makes sure clients are happy, feel valued, and want to come back again.

What is Customer Support?

Customer support, on the other hand, focuses on assisting customers with technical issues or problems they encounter with your service.

It often involves troubleshooting, providing solutions, and ensuring that any technical glitches are resolved.

Customer support aims to ensure that customers can effectively use and enjoy the service they purchased.

Differences Between Customer Service and Customer Support

The differences between customers vs. customer support go beyond the description above. 

The table below zeros in on the two, further highlighting the differences based on the who, what, where, when, why, and how. 

	Customer Service	Customer Support
Who	Anyone in the company who interacts with customers, including sales representatives, store employees, and receptionists.	Specialized team with technical expertise. These are trained customer support teams who have in-depth knowledge of your service.
What	General assistance, guidance, and improving customer experience, from answering questions to helping customers make purchasing decisions.	Troubleshooting, technical problem-solving, and service-related assistance. This can include anything from confirming booking appointments to handling cancellations.
Where	In-store, online chat, phone, email, and social media: You can provide customer service through multiple channels to ensure that customers can easily get the help they need, regardless of their preferred method of communication.	Online chat, phone, email, support tickets: Customer support is often provided through channels that allow for detailed, technical communication. Support tickets allow for tracking and managing ongoing issues until they are resolved.
When	Throughout the customer journey, from pre-sale to post-sale. It continues through the entire lifecycle of the customer’s interaction.	When technical issues arise, mainly after the purchase. It focuses on resolving issues to ensure customer satisfaction.
Why	To enhance overall customer satisfaction and loyalty: This includes building relationships and ensuring customer satisfaction	To resolve specific technical issues and ensure product functionality. This helps maintain customer trust with the technical aspects of their purchase.
How	Friendly interaction, personalized help, understanding customer needs: It’s about understanding their needs and providing tailored assistance to improve their experience.	Technical troubleshooting, step-by-step guidance, and detailed explanations: This involves diagnosing issues and ensuring that the customer understands how to make the most of your service.

Customer Support vs Customer Service – Why You Should Differentiate Between the Two

As a business owner, it is important that you understand the key differences between customer support team and customer service.

That way, you can train your teams to handle their roles effectively and, by extension, spur business growth.

Customer service teams are your front-line warriors. They focus on making customers feel welcome to your business. They greet customers with a smile, help them find what they’re looking for, and answer general questions.

When you fine-tune your customer service representatives’ skills, you enable them to create memorable and positive customer experiences ensuring that every interaction is pleasant and productive.

On the other hand, customer support teams are your technical experts. They solve technical problems.

Whether it’s offering troubleshooting tips over the phone or walking clients through your company’s services, they offer specialized help to improve customer experience. 

Training them to handle these specific challenges ensures that they can resolve technical issues quickly, leaving a trail of satisfied customers.

7 Tips to Provide Top-notch Customer Service and Customer Support

Both customer service and customer support play an integral role in ensuring a satisfying and seamless customer experience.

You, therefore, want to ensure you provide exceptional customer service and support to nurture customer loyalty.

That said, here’s a rundown of expert tips to help your customer support representatives and their service counterparts deliver high-quality service. 

Unify Customer Service and Support

When your support and customer service teams work closely together, they can create a positive customer experience that encourages repeat business.

You see, customer service revolves around welcoming and answering questions. Customer support, on the other hand, focuses on providing technical assistance. Hence, unifying these teams ensures that customers get both friendly help and technical solutions without any hassle.

According to a Microsoft study, 96% of consumers say customer service is important in their choice of loyalty to a brand. This means that a unified approach can significantly boost customer satisfaction and loyalty.

It’s like having a well-coordinated team where everyone knows their role and works together towards the same goal. 

Give Your Team the Tools They Need

Your team needs the right tools to deliver excellent customer service.

The multichannel Inbox, for instance, allows your customer support agents to manage inquiries from multiple channels in one place. As a result, you can streamline communication, reduce response times, and ensure no message is missed.

Furthermore, with all customer interactions in a single view, your team can provide timely and efficient support, enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty.

The multichannel inbox allows your customer service team to quickly access client information. This reduces wait times and allows them to solve clients’ problems more efficiently.

In addition, it helps boost your customer service administrator’s productivity and improve the entire customer lifecycle.

Help Customers Find Answers Themselves  

We can’t discuss customer service vs. customer support without discussing how you can offer personalized service designed to help users find answers on their own.

70% of consumers prefer to use self service portals to get answers to their questions rather than use phone or email.

Portals allow you to provide great customer service and make users feel in control. It’s like giving someone a detailed map instead of just pointing them in the right direction.

When customers can find answers themselves, they’re more satisfied and less likely to contact customer support professionals.

Want to put control in your customer’s hands with a self-service portal?

Try the MioCommerce customer portal.

In addition to the self-service portal, you can create an FAQ page, how-to guides, and tutorial videos.

Provide Proactive Support

Instead of waiting for customers to come to you with problems, anticipate their needs and offer help before they even ask. This can include sending reminders for updates, offering tips on product usage, or checking in to ensure everything is going smoothly.

According to Gartner, 89% of companies compete primarily on customer experience.

A proactive strategy shows customers that you care about their experience and want to help them succeed. 

In addition, it reduces the number of customer inquiries leading to smoother operations.

Listen to What Your Customer Are Saying

While your teams need stellar customer service skills to ensure client satisfaction, you also need to listen to what your audience is saying to deliver a positive experience. 

According to studies, companies that listen to customer feedback can increase retention by 5%.

Use surveys, social media, and feedback forms to gather their opinions and insights.

When you actively listen, you can understand what your customers like and what they don’t, enabling you to make informed changes that enhance their experience. 

Watch the video below to learn more about the art of active listening.

Communicate Clearly  

Clear communication is key to a great customer experience.

Your customer care messages should be easy to understand, whether delivered through email, chat box or SMS. 

Statistics indicate that 7 in 10 customers are likely to switch brands if they find the messaging and purchasing processes too difficult.

So, avoid jargon and keep your language simple and direct to prevent customer frustration. When customers understand you easily, they feel more confident and satisfied with their interactions.

Ensure the Customer Has a Good Experience

Customer service aims to provide a good experience. 

Therefore, make every touchpoint pleasant and efficient from the first interaction to post-purchase support. 

Pay attention to details, be responsive, and always seek to exceed customer expectations. It’s like hosting a great party—you want every guest to leave happy and impressed.

A good experience not only keeps customers coming back but also turns them into brand ambassadors who spread the word about your great service.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Before we conclude the customer service vs. customer support debate, let’s review a few common questions about the two fields.

Customer Service vs. Customer Support — The Bottom Line

Delivering exceptional customer service means going the extra mile to ensure you answer customer queries in good time, whether technical or non-technical.

That said, the most significant part of the process is equipping your support customer service teams with the right tools.

Because customer service and customer support occur on different channels, you’ll want a multichannel communication platform. That way, you can seamlessly interact with customers wherever they are.

This includes email, chat, and social media, ensuring that customers can reach you in the way that’s most convenient for them.

The idea is to ensure that no customer questions slip through the cracks and that your teams can provide consistent, high-quality support across the board.

…that’s where the multichannel inbox comes in

The multi-channel Inbox centralizes all communications—email, chat, social media—into one tool. As a result, your customer service and support teams seamlessly manage and respond to queries. 

In addition, the multichannel inbox allows your customer service and customer support teams to monitor active communication channels in real time.

That way, your teams can quickly identify pending issues and ensure that every concern is addressed promptly. This efficiency helps in maintaining high customer satisfaction levels. 

Meanwhile, the team chat feature helps enhance support coordination. 

The best part?

You can book a free demo, and one of our product experts will take you through the multichannel inbox and how it fits into your customer service strategy. 

Book your free demo below.