A self service customer portal has three surfaces and most small companies build only one of them. The help centre answers the repeating question; the account view shows the customer their own plan, invoices, cases and documents; the request form raises a ticket with the context attached when the first two have not worked. The help centre is the one that takes writing, the account view is the one that takes integration, and the request form is the one that decides whether customers trust the portal or route around it. This page walks the three surfaces and the content each needs; the free portal content plan worksheet on this site sizes the help centre from your own ticket categories.
The help centre: the writing
Categories times articles per category is the articles to write: eight categories at four each is 32, and at 90 minutes an article that is 48 hours of writing on the worked example. The categories come from the ticket log, the article count from how many distinct questions each category holds, and the worksheet turns both into a plan with the share of tickets it will cover, 80% at 30 tickets an article.
The account view: the integration
The customer's plan, invoices, payments, cases and documents already exist in the company's systems; the account view shows them to the customer. It needs no writing and all the plumbing, and it deflects the requests that are not questions: where is my invoice, what is my status. It also needs a real login, per customer, done to the NIST guidelines cited below rather than a shared link.
The request form: the trust
When the help centre and the account view have not answered, the request form raises a ticket with the customer's account, the article they read and their question attached, so the agent starts with context. A form that is hard to find protects the deflection figure and loses the customer; the measure of a portal is that the tickets it does raise are better, not only fewer. The paid plan keeps every request against the customer with the article that failed to answer it.
Questions people ask about self service customer portal
What are the parts of a customer self-service portal?
A help centre for the repeating questions, an account view for the customer's own plan, invoices, cases and documents, and a request form that raises a ticket with context when the first two have not answered. Most small companies build the help centre first.
How much content does a customer portal need?
Categories times articles per category, sized from the ticket log: the worked example's 32 articles cover 80% of 1,200 tickets a month. The portal content plan worksheet on this site works your count, hours and coverage.
Should the request form be easy to find?
Yes. A portal that hides the form to protect its deflection figure is routed around by phone, and the figure is false. The measure is fewer tickets and better ones, with the context attached.