previous icon Back to blog
Aug 06, 2020
3 minutes read

Do you mean Customer Experience, Customer Service or Customer Care?

The words in the title are used a lot lately. And not because they can be called buzzwords, but because companies need to invest into building a strong customer experience if they want to keep up with their competitors. Talking about customer experience, you should not forget about customer service and care. In this blog, we are going to clarify the differences between these terms.

Importance of Customer Experience 

Offering the best possible experience is even more important these days than competing on price or quality. Customers are more likely to renew a relationship with a brand if the interactions are fast and easy. And a positive experience makes it more likely for them to recommend your company’s product to friends and family.  

More and more companies take customer experience seriously. Gartner’s 2019 Customer Experience Management Survey shows that the word is out and that organizations are more committed to customer experience by professionalizing their organization and higher budgets.  

Lost in translation

There are a lot of ways to interact with customers and to work on your customer experience, but what exactly is the difference between customer experience, customer service and customer care?

  • Customer service is the advice or assistance a company gives its customers 

Customer service is the support you offer your customers both before and after they buy and use your products or services. And this no longer only happens through an agent on the phone, but also through messaging channels, email, web chat and social media. Customer service is not only about answering questions, but the goal is to increase customer satisfaction and to make sure your customer has a great buying experience.  

  • Customer care means how well customers are taken care of while interacting with the brand 

Most of the time you see the term customer service instead of customer care. Whereas customer service is more about the advice or assistance you offer your customers, customer care is mainly about the emotional connection with your customers. It means how customers are treated while interacting with your brand. So it’s not only about closing a deal or making a sale, but also about listening to your customers and their needs in order to find the right solution. In most instances, customer care is one step beyond basic customer service.  

  • Customer experience is the complete customer journey when a customer interacts with your brand 

Customer experience is the sum of all contact between a customer and a brand. From the first time searching for a product or service to the purchase, to actually using the product or service and the aftercare. From this complete customer journey with all its touchpoints your customer gets a full impression of your brand and this results in several factors, including your revenue.  

Although all three terms sound similar, they represent different things. What they do have in common is that they all contribute to building loyal and satisfied customer relations. Customer experience is the sum of all contact, customer service and customer care are pieces of the puzzle.  

Our Mobile Service Cloud offers all channels, tools, and features you need to provide superior customer experience, reduce pressure on your customer care team, and even improve business results. Read more.

Want to learn more about how to improve your customer experience through our Mobile Service Cloud?

Was this article interesting?
Share it!
CM.com
connects tens of thousands of companies with millions of consumers via their mobile phone each day. Behind the scenes, from our innovative platform, CM.com makes sure companies can use these millions of messages, phone calls and payments to become part of people’s lives.

Latest Articles

blog-black-friday-customer-retention
Nov 13, 2025 • AI

From Casual Consumers to Loyal Fans: How to retain customers after Black Friday

Black Friday is a huge shopping event, drawing crowds of eager shoppers hunting for deals. But once the rush fades, the real challenge begins: turning one-time shoppers into returning customers. Customer retention is vital for long-term success, and the period after Black Friday is the ideal moment to turn short-term excitement into lasting relationships. In this blog, you’ll learn how to keep customers engaged and coming back long after the rush is over.

3 types of AI
Oct 15, 2025 • AI

Unleashing the Power of AI: How Generative, Agentic, and Predictive AI Are Transforming Customer Experience

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been in development for decades, but the way we use it today has changed dramatically. With the advent of ChatGPT and other applications, AI has suddenly become tangible for the general public. While it was previously used primarily for specific, often invisible applications (think fraud detection in banking or predictive maintenance in industry), it now actively assists in content creation, enhancing customer experiences, and streamlining processes. Within customer experience, three forms of AI are particularly relevant: generative, agentic, and predictive AI. In this article, we’ll break them down and explain how to leverage them effectively.

blog-ai-agent-creation
Jul 25, 2025 • AI

The Agentic AI Playbook: Unlock Ideas for Your New Digital Colleagues

In a world where AI agents are becoming the norm, the real challenge isn’t understanding what they can do but imagining how they can work for you. AI Agents are more than just automation tools; they’re customizable digital colleagues, ready to take on roles tailored to your unique business needs. The possibilities are endless, but it’s not always easy to know where to start. It's time to spark your creativity. From streamlining niche processes to handling tasks you didn’t even realize could be automated, AI Agents can integrate seamlessly into your team. Here are some fresh ideas to inspire your next digital colleague.

Successful Debt Collection With Consumer-Friendly Upgraded SMS
Apr 24, 2025 • Customer Experience

Successful Debt Collection With Consumer-Friendly Upgraded SMS

Debt collection can be a tough industry. Outstanding, late, or unpaid debts are tricky to manage and solve, and strict (security) regulations make the work complicated. On top of that, the industry has a reputation problem - many consumers see debt collectors as aggressive or unapproachable. But how does one make debt collection more efficient, more transparent, and more consumer-friendly?

blog-interview-halo-customer-service
Mar 20, 2025 • Chatbots

Chatting with the Near Future: AI's New Role in the Customer Experience

AI innovations in customer service are emerging more rapidly than ever before, especially with the latest addition of Agentic AI and it’s AI Agents. We spoke with Roel Jansen, our Head of Commerce of our Engagement Platform, on how these AI advancements are transforming customer interactions and enhancing the experience. With Roel's expertise and vision, discover the future of customer service and what it means for businesses today. Whether you're an AI enthusiast or just curious about the future, you won't want to miss these engaging insights!

Live 5 ways to optimize customer service in leisure
Feb 14, 2025 • Customer Experience

Make Your Contact Page Irresistible: 8 Essential Tips for Improved Customer Service

Your contact page is the ultimate business card for your customer service and provides a direct connection to your customer service team. It's a crucial part of the customer experience where you have the chance to significantly enhance the experience right away! To make this happen, the page needs to be well-designed. In this blog, you'll discover 8 steps you can take to make your contact page irresistible!

halo
Feb 06, 2025 • CM.com

Agentic AI Agents: Helping You Get Things Done

Looking for a smart and capable employee that never sleeps? A little helper that can take over all your menial and repetitive tasks to make your life a little easier? One that will continuously learn and improve itself to keep assisting you the best it can? This may sound like a dream (and an unrealistic one at that), but it's much closer to reality than you might realize! Discover Agentic AI!

blackfriday-2024-blog-featured-global
Oct 14, 2024 • AI

The Art of Simplicity: Helping Your Customers Make Quick Decisions This Black Friday

Black Friday 2024 is just around the corner, bringing with it a great opportunity for retailers to maximize their sales. However, standing out in such a competitive event isn’t easy. Consumers expect attractive offers, fast deliveries, and top-notch customer support. In this article, we’ll show you how to simplify the purchasing process during Black Friday, optimizing everything from promotions to logistics and 24/7 customer service. Discover the best strategies to ensure a seamless experience and increase customer loyalty. Don’t fall behind this Black Friday!

Education Technology
Jul 12, 2024 • Mobile Service Cloud

How Do You Create a Tagging System for eCommerce Customer Service?

Once your customer service team has more than three employees, it is difficult to explain to the rest of the organization what the customer service conversations are about. Adding tags to service conversations is a good method to tackle that problem.

Is this region a better fit for you?
Go
close icon