Customer Success versus Customer Service

Customer success and customer service are two important functions that are often related, but they have some key differences.

Customer success is a business strategy that focuses on helping customers achieve their desired outcomes and goals through the use of a company's products or services. It's about building long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with customers by proactively helping them to get the most value out of what they've purchased. The goal of customer success is to create loyal, satisfied customers who will continue to do business with a company and recommend it to others.

In contrast, customer service is typically focused on addressing problems or complaints that customers have after they've purchased a product or service. The goal of customer service is to resolve issues and ensure that customers are satisfied with the resolution.

One key difference between customer success and customer service is the timing of their interactions with customers. Customer success typically occurs before or during the purchase process, while customer service typically occurs after the purchase has been made.

Another difference is the focus of their efforts. Customer success is focused on helping customers achieve their desired outcomes and goals, while customer service is focused on addressing and resolving problems or complaints.

Finally, customer success often involves a more proactive approach to working with customers, while customer service is typically more reactive. Customer success managers may work with customers on an ongoing basis to provide assistance and support, while customer service teams typically only interact with customers when they have a specific issue to address.

In summary, customer success and customer service are two important functions that play a role in ensuring that customers are satisfied with a company's products or services. While there are some similarities between the two, they have some key differences, including the timing of their interactions with customers, the focus of their efforts, and the approach they take to working with customers.