Customer portals are a software interface that allows customers to have full visibility of their interactions with your business. Through portals, they can track metrics, requests, or other pertinent information.
Portals are a great way to build a better relationship with your customers and clients. They allow for transparent and efficient communication. Here are several uses and benefits of customer portals!
Customization
Customer portals benefit you because they can be customized according to your needs. When created, you can choose what their primary function is and tailor their structure accordingly. Depending on what you need to use your customer portal for, their layout and design will change.
Some of the key uses for customer portals include:
- Creating and tracking support tickets
- Document distribution
- Managing and tracking order and delivery information
- Organization of invoices
- FAQ information
- Much more
You can use customer portals in several ways as their benefits are almost endless as they can be customized to meet various business needs. Essentially, they are meant to create an easy-to-use channel of communication between the business and the client. Here are some more details about their specific uses.
Communication With Customers
Communication is key to the success of your business. However, communicating detailed information with customers about their orders or other important information can be difficult, emails going to the spam folder, missed calls, and busy schedules can all inhibit effective communication of important details.
Furthermore, customer portals allow clients to view this important information on their own time from wherever they want. Access can be given or restricted, so any one of the client’s companies can view tickets or invoices as well as other details such as delivery times, product specs, etc. Think of it like a virtual bulletin board covered in the information pertaining to the business between you and your client.
Scheduling And Tracking
Another way customer portals benefit you is by allowing you to structure them in a way that allows for clients to schedule and track their orders. This works especially well with repeat customers that don’t have set orders. This way, they can place their order, schedule its delivery, and track its progress as needed.
Organization Of Job Details
Additionally, customer portals are the channel between company and customer to discuss work, pay, etc. This allows free communication between you and your clients to organize the details of each job. Regardless of your industry, you can organize important information in a clear and concise way.
This organization cuts down on labor costs as customers have the ability to check and modify their own order details saving time. Subsequently, this saves both companies money and keeps all processes running smoothly.
Security
For those in business, perhaps the greatest advantage of customer portals is their top-notch security systems. These help keep both you and your client’s information safe. Customer portals can utilize technologies like firewalls, end-to-end encryption, and malware/virus protection which offer peace of mind to all parties involved. With customer portals, you don’t have to choose between customization, security, and efficiency.
If you’re considering using a customer portal as a channel of communication between you and your clients, consider reaching out to a qualified expert today. There are specialists who make it their mission to create and sustain customer portals that meet the needs and desires of their clients.
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