In the service business industry, customer service can play a critical role in retention and expansion of customer base.

Furthermore, many customers testify that smooth customer self service outperforms service desk both in reviewing service content and in making service changes.

Self service portals can be key to service business creation and management, but only if they meet criteria that makes them desirable.

Bad Customer Service Portals, Websites and Applications Kill Brand!

Many companies pride themselves on full service customer service, the people principle and believe high touch equals higher customer satisfaction. However, not every customer wants to talk on the phone to make changes, resolve issues or ask questions. Many consider self-service easier and faster.

On the other end of the spectrum self service, whether through a customer service websites or customer service applications, may at first seem like a cost cutting activity. Although self service may prove to be a delightful way to reduce cost, care should be taken in the design and delivery of a self service tool. Above all, customer self service portal should be designed to provide easy interaction and accurate results.

Self service can be key to service business creation and management, but only if they meet criteria that makes them desirable:

1. Ensure it’s engaging and inviting
2. Ensure it’s not a fancy layer that leads only to the same old service
3. Ensure it is about the customer not about you

The Engage

The key to a self service website or application in terms of engagement, means it should be treated with the same respect, management, design, flow and usability as any commerce or eCommerce portion of your business. It needs the same care in brand, visuals, experience and responsiveness.

Ensure scalability but start slow. Over engineering can be a curse of any major digital initiative. Discover what people are most willing to serve themselves with, try it out, test it, expand from there. Keep in mind it is a channel in customer service, not a replacement for the whole function.

The Layers

Whether its a portal, a quick information card, an automated phone line, or a representative in the field, please, please make sure they or it has the power and can actually accomplish something besides just being another barrier to the people who can. When I go to a service portal and make a change to a service I expect that:

1. It’s changed.
2. I receive confirmation of the change.
3. When the bill comes through it reflects the change.

This may sound simple, but seemingly it is not. It requires integration to operating and billing systems, fairly quick turn-around time and accuracy.

Three things can help with this necessity. Don’t try to solve world hunger, solve a specific problem, then two then three. And… stop thinking of it as a portal and think of it as service - end to end. Find the automation capability if you don’t have it!

The Customer

Set it and forget it may work for a chicken in an oversized toaster oven, but if constant change helped you realize the need for self service capabilities to meet your customers need, only measurement and management will make sure you stay there.

Simple rules:

• If no-one is using it it is not useful,
• If the need isn’t resolved at single point of contact and passed upwards in the service channel, it’s not useful enough.
• If your average length of service visit is more than 3 times the shortest, you aren’t a service portal you are an information website.
• If you receive phone calls or other channel inquiries outside the portal that are your key portal resolutions, you’ve under marketed the opportunity.
• If you have repeat inquiries on the same topic from the same user, your service resolution rules are false.
• If you can’t measure any of this, you aren’t managing it. Period.