Human face or Internet interface? : actualizing the potential of service portal

Abstract

E-business and digitalization is becoming part of our daily lives. Banking and the travel industry have been leading in Self Service Technology (SST) for many years. In other businesses the use of SST is increasing every year. Companies are establishing “My Page” or a Customer Service Portal (CSP) for their clients where they can serve themselves and get all the information they need. Instead of having to contact customer service representatives, customers go online and find a solution to their problems or do the work themselves spending the same time or less than before. This paper focuses on the customers’ view on CSP but also on the view of portal users and owners. User friendly and well-designed CSP that saves time and gives customers control is seen as advantageous to customers. Poorly designed and unreliable CSP is likely to annoy customers. When implementing CSP, companies need to take into consideration the fact that people are different. Some customers prefer contact with employees and the level of Technology Readiness (TR) differs greatly. Customers need to be educated about the advantage of CSP and taught how to use it. The best mix seems to be when CSP is a supplement to service, not a replacement.