Self-service Revisited:: How to Balance High-tech and High-touch in Customer Relationships

In recent years, many companies have infused more and more self-service technology into their customer relationships. As a result the balance between high-tech and high-touch has become a key challenge of today’s customer relationship management initiatives. In this paper, we present a cross-case analysis of two companies that we identified as “good practices” in achieving this balance. From the case studies’ findings we derive two possible strategies for service automation: an intimacy-driven and a personality driven approach. We also discuss key success factors that have to be considered for the implementation of these strategies.