Consumer vs Customer: What exactly is the difference? Which Portal should I be using?

[Chris Roser]

I've been in the ITSM wheelhouse for the last few years and had little interaction with 'Customer Facing' side of SNow. I'm trying to figure out what the difference is between Customer Service and Consumer Service. My other issue in line with this is that ServiceNow seems to have updated and split away from the 'CSM' portal and now use 'CSP', with both of these being aligned with 'Customer' for the verbiage. By what I'm understanding Consumer is BusinesstoCustomer whereas Customer is limited to BtoB(me to them?)?
I'm getting this setup to go live and I want to make sure I'm not going to run into a wall because I'm doing configurations down something that's either deprecated, or is the wrong 'branch' to be used aka Customer Service instead of Consumer.
So, what portal should I be using? CSP?
These are customers purchasing a product, then coming to our portal to ask for assistance on their current product, or to place orders for more of the product.
Thank you guys!

[Michael Jones - · Accepted solution]

The CSM portal is activated by default with Customer Service Management and is primarily used for B2B use-cases, as in, a Business that sells products to other Business. This portal supports the model that extends a relationship between accounts and contacts and products and services they are entitled to from the organization hosting ServiceNow. 

The CSP portal is activated specifically via plugin and is used primarily for B2C use-cases, as in, Business to Consumer. This support a model that extends a relationship between an individual consumer and the services or instance of a product that they are entitled to or own. This portal supports the concept of self-registration which allows users from the public to access the site initially and register for access. 

Based on your description - customers purchasing a product and then coming to your portal for assistance or further products, I believe you would want to pursue the CSP route and focus on Consumers. 

That being said, most of the underlying configuration is the same for both "branches" as far as the platform is concerned. The middle / back office setup is more or less identical. The only real difference is the end-user experience and the out of the box portals are simply guidelines with some default configuration that makes the journey a little easier. You're not "stuck" with either decision, ultimately, and can operate one branch, or both, with minimal difference. 

I hope this helps!

If this was helpful, or correct, please be kind and mark the answer appropriately.

Michael Jones - Proud member of the GlideFast Consulting Team!

[Community Alums]

Hi @Chris Roser ,

Customer Service Management (CSM) application includes the following two portals -

1. Customer Support Portal (csm) - This Portal is designed for B2B customers (Accounts and Contacts). Please take a look at the product documentation to know more about the Customer Support Portal.

2. Customer Service Portal (csp) - This Portal is designed for B2C customers (Consumers). Please take a look at the product documentation to know more about this Customer Service Portal.

Mark my answer correct & Helpful, if Applicable.

Thanks,

Sandeep