Consumer Self-Service Portal

Challenge

• Consumers require multichannel support
• Existing “static” portal view of account status was alienating clients
• Clients expected a full fledged online portal to interact with the company, similar to their bank
• The company needed to offload agent processes to keep pace with client growth
• Competitors were rapidly entering the debt settlement market and the company needed to differentiate its offering

Solution

• Implemented Salesforce Customer Portal
• Polled customers to determine which processes to move to the portal
• Interviewed agents to identify the types of customer service requests (CSRs) that would lend themselves to self-service
• Developed governance rules around CSRs created by customers; frequency and timing for changing payment dates, amounts, etc.
• Implemented Group Card from AppExchange so agents could send personalized, signed electronic cards to customers

Results

• Put clients in control of interaction
• Provided better information to clients and put them more in control of their debt settlement program
• Transparency into the program legitimized the company by reassuring clients that the company was working hard on their behalf
• Self-service enhanced customer satisfaction and improved agent productivity
• Multichannel support created a competitive differentiator for the company