Customer Experience and Customer Service: Do You Know the Difference?

Over the past few years, we’ve stopped talking only about customer service. Now, it’s all about the customer experience.

Ugh… another trendy buzzword? Just a fancier way to say the same thing?

Not quite. While the two are closely connected, they’re not the same. And if you’re thinking about training your team or improving how customers interact with your business, it’s important to understand the difference.

Customer Service: A Single Moment, a Direct Interaction

Customer service is all about the human-to-human contact—a direct interaction between a customer and an employee. It could happen in-store, over the phone, online, or via live chat.

It’s the part we all recognize.

And yes, that’s where most businesses focus their energy: training frontline staff to respond well, handle complaints, and provide great service. That’s essential—but it’s only one touchpoint in a much bigger picture.

Customer Experience: The Bigger Picture

Customer experience covers everything a customer feels before, during, and after that one-on-one interaction. It includes:

• your website,

• your product or service,

• the layout and atmosphere of your space,

• the tone of your communication,

• post-purchase follow-up,

• and every other impression you leave—even without saying a word.

• Imagine walking into a café.

Before anyone greets you, you notice the cozy decor, the smell of freshly brewed coffee, soft music playing in the background, a clean, welcoming space, and the warmth of the cup in your hands.

That’s sensory customer experience.

And it’s already shaping how you feel—before you’ve even placed your order.

It’s not just about frontline staff

Customer experience isn’t only about the people who speak to customers directly. It’s about everything the customer sees, hears, feels, and senses when engaging with your brand.

• What they see on your social media

• How your products are displayed

• The cleanliness of your store

• How smooth it is to use your website

• The tone of your automated emails

• Even the smell when they walk in

So no, you can’t just train your customer service team and call it a day.

If you want to create a truly customer-centric culture, everyone in your business needs to understand the role they play in shaping the customer experience—whether they deal with customers directly or not.

The 5 senses: The Secret Ingredient in Great Customer Experience

Great customer experience is emotional—but it’s also sensory. Let’s break it down:

Sight: The design of your space, the layout of your website, the way products are displayed in a shop window

Smell: The calming scent of lavender in a wellness boutique, the smell of warm bread in a bakery

Sound: Background music in a restaurant, the tone of voice from a team member, the peaceful quiet of a waiting area

Touch: The feel of a sweater in a clothing store, the solid weight of a well-made item, the smooth texture of great packaging

Taste: Of course in food and beverage businesses, but also at sampling stations or tasting events

This is also why people still love shopping in person: to see, touch, smell, and feel the brand experience firsthand.

If you’re a restaurant owner or in the food industry—this is big. Customers don’t just evaluate your staff’s service. They remember what they taste. That’s what they’ll talk about. That’s what they’ll share.

If you thought customer service training was enough—you might be missing the bigger picture.

Customer experience is everything your customer sees, feels, and lives in relation to your business.

And that’s why everyone, across every department, should understand the part they play in delivering an exceptional experience.

Want to train your team to deliver a better customer experience?

📩 Reach out to us. We’d love to hear about your goals and help you create a customer experience that truly stands out.