Do you know the difference between customer service and customer experience?  Want to take a guess at how your employees would answer that question?  

Here’s our take on the difference.  In short, customer service is a more forced action taken by employees because it is their job. Customer experience (CX for short) is a more natural action taken by employees who work hard to improve customer experience because they understand the importance of their job. (If you want a more in-depth comparison, check out our CX-focused blog.)

In the service-based industry, it’s the responsibility of every employee on your team to provide excellent customer experience. Whether you are the CEO, division manager, technician, or CSR, you play a role in the overall customer experience for your company.

WHAT COUNTS AS CX?

Here’s a little test to see if you understand the difference.  See if you can identify if the following are examples of customer service or customer experience.

• Calling a customer when you’re 30 minutes away from their house

• Arriving at service stops on time

• Bringing in the trash can from the street

• Staying an extra 5 minutes to talk about a favorite customer’s recent vacation

The first two are great examples of customer service, and something that you probably already train your team to do.  But the second two are part of the customer’s experience with your brand - they’re things that your employees don’t have to do, but they want to do to go the extra mile.  And more often than not, they’re the reasons you get so many referrals and positive service reviews.

Our Coalmarch account specialists work with business owners all across the country - so everything we do for our clients ties back to their ROI.

Why? Not just because I want to provide good customer service to our clients. Rather, because I truly believe in what Coalmarch is doing for our clients in order to help grow their businesses — it is a shift that has shown me the real value in what I do here. And that dedication is why my clients are getting a better experience from Coalmarch than from other agencies they may have tried

WHY IT MATTERS

If you are a business owner in the service-based industry, you understand the importance of having technicians who provide excellent customer service. Your technicians are the employees that are going to a customer’s home, treating their property, and communicating with them face-to-face.

But, what you might not fully realize is that shifting your focus to CX can have an impact on your ROI. When you have technicians who understand and represent your company’s culture, values and mission, they will be able to:

• Resolve issues more effectively

• Boost customer satisfaction

• Enhance brand awareness

• Increase customer retention

While the entire list above is important for your business, increased customer retention should take the cake. It is no secret that customer retention is important to the success of a business. So this season, try putting more focus on CX.  It can help you build brand loyalty, produce recurring revenue, gain more upsell opportunities, improve your closing sales rate, and so much more.

HOW TO INTRODUCE IT TO YOUR TECHS

It’s no secret that happy employees beget happy customers. Think of your CX as something that happens from the core of your company and radiates out through your employees. If you’re taking care of them, and they believe in your mission as a company, they’re more likely to spread that goodwill to your customers.

So how do you ensure your employees are providing both? Good customer experience goes beyond providing good customer service —  it involves training employees to believe in your company’s culture, values and mission. Why? When you have employees who actually believe and understand what your company is doing for its customers, you will start to notice a shift.

Give them a quiz like the one above, and talk with them about ways they can make an even better impression on your customers.

If you remember anything from this blog, let it be this: CX-focused technicians will improve your ROI. This simple, yet complex statement can make a big difference in the growth of your company.

Don’t have time to build a training program?  Curious how you can service your customers this season while still keeping your employees learning and growing? Check out Forgely and give your company the competitive advantage it needs by training your techs for CX.  

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

LIZ KEYES

Liz joined the Coalmarch family in 2015. As the Director of HR, Liz manages the recruiting strategy and team experience as well as handles all of the HR policies and operational...