An Understanding Between Customer Service and Customer Support

When you hear of outsourcing customer service and customer support, you probably think they are the same. They usually tend to be used interchangeably. But in truth, customer service and customer support have different meanings and functions, though they have one main objective. And that is to serve customers and give them the best assistance they need regarding the brands they purchased. It is challenging to differentiate the two words, and even the Internet and dictionaries define them similarly.

The primary function of customer service is to handle and assist the needs and queries of the customers by providing helpful guidance before, during, and after purchasing. It aims to support the bigger and nontechnical concerns of customers. It also involves extensive interactions between a business and a customer and aims to intensify customer experiences. Through customer service, it improves the relations between the brand and consumers.

For a clear and definite definition, the difference between customer service and customer support is that customer support teams support a product, and customer service teams provide service to a customer.

Customer service’s primary role is to take care of the customer’s needs by providing helpful assistance before, during, and after product purchasing. It is about supporting the larger and nontechnical concerns of customers. It involves extensive interactions between a business and a customer and aims to enhance customer experiences. It improves the relations of product owners and the customers, whereas customer support is just a part of those interactions.

Below are the tasks performed by the outsource customer service agents:

1. To entertain old and new customers
2. To answer queries and concerns of the customers
3. To help customers with their billing and delivery issues
4. To resolve non-technical account issues
5. To recommend better tools or techniques
6. To gather customer reviews and feedback
7. And if there would be the opportunity, to make an upselling

Customer support is a specific type of customer service, and it involves documentation, product feedback, and solving technical problems. The interaction is reactive and short-term. Typically, the customer contacts the company to express their concerns and ask for support about the products or services acquired. The online customer support staff will implement the solution themselves or assist the customers on more relevant steps.

Below are the tasks performed by the outsourced customer support agents:

1. To provide actual troubleshooting to customers through support emails and live chat
2. To help customers install, maintain, upgrade, and dispose of the product or service
3. To create product documentation and support resources
4. To provide input into product development

However, there are some similarities between customer service and customer support:

1. Their main goal is to assist the customers’ needs
2. They use similar customer support tools for communication, such as phone, e-mail, and chat
3. Customer service and customer support employees possess similar skills to give their customers great satisfaction
4. They are both significant to achieve a great customer experience.

Outsourcing customer service and customer support are some of the factors to sustain product competency. They are also the reasons to make customers loyal to your brand and to acquire potential customers. It’s a big attraction for customers to choose the brand that provides customer service and support. They feel secure knowing that there are support teams that are always ready to assist them.

Through outsourcing, you can make your customers feel that you care for them in a cost-effective way. Many companies choose to outsource after discovering how useful and helpful it is to increase sales and profits.