What is the difference between Customer Success and Customer Service/Support?

Customer success and customer service are two terms that are often used interchangeably, but they actually have different goals and approaches. Understanding the difference between the two is essential for businesses looking to improve customer satisfaction and retention.

Customer service is focused on addressing customer issues and resolving problems as they arise. It is a reactive approach that aims to provide quick and effective solutions to customer concerns. Customer service teams are often measured by metrics such as response time and issue resolution rate.

On the other hand, customer success is a proactive approach that focuses on achieving the long-term goals of both the customer and the business. It involves building strong relationships with customers and helping them achieve their desired outcomes, through strategic insights. Customer success teams are measured by metrics such as customer retention rate, upsell/cross-sell rate, and customer lifetime value.

One key difference between customer service and customer success is their scope. Customer service is often limited to resolving individual customer issues, either in a live-chat support environment like Intercom, or a ticketing system such as Zendesk. Customer success is focused on ensuring the overall success of the customer. This means that customer success teams work to understand the customer's business goals, provide guidance on best practices, and anticipate potential challenges before they arise (and before they churn).

Another difference is the level of personalization involved. Customer service often follows a standardized process, utilizing macros to speed up answers, and leveraging the Help Center to encourage customers to resolve issues on their own. Customer success involves tailoring solutions to the unique needs of each customer. This requires a deep understanding of the customer's business, industry, and pain points, and the ability to provide personalized recommendations and solutions.

Both customer service and customer success are essential components of a successful customer experience strategy, but they have different goals and approaches, and whenever possible you should dedicate different people/teams to each. Understanding the differences between these two approaches, and optimizing both experiences overtime, is vital for any businesses looking to improve customer satisfaction and retention.