When is a customer portal worthwhile?

A customer portal only makes sense if your customers find something in it that they genuinely ask for today.

The test

Look at the questions your support desk receives. If half of them are about the status of a case, an invoice or a document, a portal removes that work on both sides.

What belongs in it

Exactly what your customers ask for, and nothing else. A portal requiring a login for three rarely-needed facts stays empty.

The password hurdle

This is what sinks most portals. Provide simple recovery, and ask whether some information could be reachable through a unique link without an account.

Keep it current

A portal with stale data generates more calls than it prevents. The connection to your internal systems must be automatic.

Measure the right number

Not logins but the fall in questions to your support desk. That is what justifies the investment.