Customer Support vs. Customer Service: Key Differences

Every brand strives to have satisfied customers, but successful entrepreneurs know it takes more than a great product or an eye-catching website to build trust. It also takes great customer service and support. Behind every moment that builds long-term customer loyalty is a blend of those two practices that shapes how people feel about a company’s products at every stage of the customer life cycle.

Customer service and support may be the purview of distinct departments in large companies, a single person in smaller ones, or part of the many responsibilities a solopreneur handles. Whatever your company’s size, understanding the distinction between these two functions and how they complement each other helps businesses turn everyday interactions into positive experiences that keep customers coming back for more.

In this guide, you’ll learn the key differences between customer support and customer service, why both matter for your business, and how to deliver excellent experiences in each area—with tips from the founders of ceramics company Jono Pandolfi Designs and lifestyle brand Legendary Rootz.

What is customer service?

Customer service is a broad company function that supports customers at every stage of their experience with your company. It focuses on building relationships, understanding customer needs and expectations, providing helpful information, and resolving general issues in ways that build brand trust and customer loyalty. 

Customer service teams aim to make every customer interaction feel easy, straightforward, and supportive, relying on skilled customer service representatives to deliver consistent care aligned with the brand voice and customer expectations. Customer service agents, whether in-house employees or working for a customer service agency, explain product features, offer recommendations, and answer general questions.

Common channels for delivering customer service

Customer service can be delivered across a variety of platforms, so customers can reach out for help in the way they prefer. Typical channels are phone, email, live chat, and in-person support, as well as proactive outreach like purchase confirmation emails or other follow-up messages. 

For example, say a customer considering a bulk order of new kitchenware reaches out via live chat to ask a customer service representative questions about the brand’s different products. The customer service agent walks them through the various product lines, highlights the most relevant features, and provides a comparison of the offerings. A simple question to customer service can turn into a trust-building moment that helps a potential customer complete a purchase and strengthens customer loyalty.

What is customer support?

Customer support covers the technical and product-related aspects of the customer experience. It requires comprehensive product knowledge to help troubleshoot technical issues and provide step-by-step guidance to ease customer frustration. Customer support falls under the broader umbrella of customer service, with a focus on resolving immediate, product-related problems and maintaining a smooth user experience if something goes awry.

While customer support primarily deals with reactive problem-solving, strong support teams can also help identify recurring issues to inform future product improvements. 

Common channels for delivering customer support

Customer support should be available through multiple channels so customers can choose the format that suits their needs or communication preferences. Customer support channels typically fall into two categories: 

• Self-service resources. This includes FAQ pages and help center articles, explainer videos and demos, and user manuals that customers navigate on their own. 

• Interactive channels. Customers can interact with the company via channels including live chat, AI chatbots, help desks, email, phone support, and social media. 

For example, a customer who just purchased a high-tech coffee machine notices that the settings are not working as expected and reaches out to customer support through a live chat. A customer support agent quickly identifies the issue, walks the customer through adjusting the settings, and follows up with a help-center article for future reference. This interaction turns customer frustration into a helpful and possibly time-saving experience that builds confidence in the brand.

Customer support vs. customer service: Key differences

The distinction between customer service vs. customer support mainly involves scope and intent. While customer service focuses on answering general questions and nurturing customer loyalty through positive interactions, customer support is more specialized. Customer service agents primarily address issues related to product functionality, resolve technical problems, and manage inquiries that require more detailed technical expertise. 

Both shape the overall experience users have with your brand, but the day-to-day responsibilities of these teams differ in meaningful ways:

Importance of customer support and customer service

Customer support and customer service both shape how people experience your brand, and they’re key factors in whether a first-time buyer becomes a loyal, long-term customer.

Here are some of the specific reasons why these roles are important to a business:

• Increased revenue potential. Happy customers are more likely to repurchase, renew, or upgrade through your company, increasing their customer lifetime value. According to a Bain analysis, businesses can increase their revenue by 4% to 8% above market average by excelling in customer experience.

• Brand reputation. Consistently delivering great customer service and dependable support enhances your brand’s image and competitive advantage. 

• Customer satisfaction. Fast, effective service and support reduce frustration and boost overall customer satisfaction with the product or brand. Every interaction, whether it’s customer service during the purchasing process or technical support afterwards, shapes overall brand perception. 

• Customer retention. Interactions with customer service and support are a make-or-break for customer retention. According to a PwC report, 42% of consumers will pay more for a friendly, welcoming customer experience, and 32% will leave a brand they love after just one bad experience. 

• Strong customer relationships. Reliable service fosters trust and builds strong relationships, which may result in word-of-mouth referrals and long-term brand loyalty. 

• Efficient resolution of customer requests. Reliable support teams and skilled support reps work to ensure issues are resolved quickly, which can improve operational efficiency. 

How to deliver excellent customer support and customer service

• Align teams to shared values
• Provide ongoing training for customer service and support staff
• Utilize customer service management tools
• Create omnichannel communication with consistent messaging
• Seek customer feedback and act on it
• Measure performance to stay accountable

Delivering excellent customer service and high-quality technical support requires the right mix of training, tools, and human-centered customer experience design. When service and support teams work together with consistent processes and shared goals, they create a seamless customer experience.

Here are key tips for providing exceptional customer service and support:

Align teams to shared values

Define and communicate company values or a mission statement to act as a North Star for guiding customer service and support interactions. When everyone on your team understands what your brand stands for, they can make decisions that consistently reflect those principles.

As Jono and Nick grew their team at dinnerware brand Jono Pandolfi Designs, they established a set of core values to guide their team. “Our first core value is ‘Build from scratch.’ That one’s the most important to me, because the company’s built from scratch,” Jono says on an episode of the Shopify Masters podcast. He explains that their company values help set the stage for his team and that they can refer back to them to inform their decisions in the workplace, including how customer service and support teams interact with customers. 

Provide ongoing training for customer service and support staff

Regular training helps customer service representatives and support agents deepen their product knowledge and gain confidence in handling a wide range of customer requests, especially as your product or service offerings change over time. Customer service and support communication skills can be honed through practice and training, helping ensure a consistent brand voice across customer touchpoints.

When Jono and Nick’s handmade ceramics business grew to thousands of individual customers worldwide, they had to update their customer service communication to manage expectations. “We had to get really clear on our shipping and return policies and get really clear with how we communicated that to customers,” says Nick. Since their products are handmade, it was crucial to train their employees on how to communicate that delivery times depend on the time it takes to create the products. Even though consumers have grown accustomed to next-day shipping from other retailers, this strict deadline wasn’t feasible for the brand, which is built on quality over quantity and speed for its handmade items.

Utilize customer service management tools 

Equip teams with the right customer service tools, such as customer relationship management platforms (like HubSpot or Salesforce) and automated workflows, to help them deliver more personalized customer service and support through streamlined interactions.

Raven Gibson, founder of Legendary Rootz, took her passion for graphic design and her love of her natural hair to create a fashion and accessories brand dedicated to empowering and uplifting Black women. To grow her business, Raven uses several tools to provide a great shopping experience for her customers. For customer service management, Raven recommends Zendesk.

“With Zendesk, I can pull up an email, the customer’s information, their orders, and shipping information all at once,” she says on a Shopify Masters episode. Having this information in one place helps the team quickly fulfill orders or solve problems when they arise. “It’s helped us streamline the process so we can help customers faster,” she says. 

Create omnichannel communication with consistent messaging 

The typical customer journey rarely takes place on a single platform; customers move between your brand’s website, apps, and social media. Omnichannel communication helps you maintain consistency wherever they are, including across customer service and support interactions.

In fact, a Forrester survey found that 62% of customers want the opportunity to engage with brands across multiple digital channels, and 77% of consumers expect a company’s internal teams to communicate so they don’t have to repeat themselves for customer service.

Seek customer feedback and act on it 

Customer service and support teams are the frontline connection to your customers. Consult with these teams to gather learnings from their live customer interactions. You can also create structures so teams can regularly report findings applicable to technical, sales, marketing, and product development departments.

Tools such as post-purchase email customer satisfaction surveys can offer valuable insight into customer sentiment. Once you have the customer feedback, you can improve processes based on the learnings. 

Measure performance to stay accountable 

To help you understand the effectiveness of your customer service and customer support teams, track key performance indicators (KPIs) such as customer satisfaction score (CSAT), first response time, average resolution time, and first contact resolution. Review these metrics to identify patterns, bottlenecks, or other opportunities for improvement. Over time, these insights will help your teams refine workflows, improve consistency, and create a more reliable, helpful customer experience.