How much does a customer portal cost?
A portal is as expensive as the number of questions it has to answer. Start with the three you get most often.
A customer portal starts around €2,950 for a simple environment in which customers log in and see their status and documents. With links to your planning or accounting, multiple roles and notifications, it is usually between €8,000 and €20,000. The links determine the price more than the number of screens.
PRICE RANGE
What you get in which class
Indicative and excluding VAT. We will only tell you what your situation costs after a conversation - then it is also a fixed price.
| SITUATION | INDICATION | WHAT YOU GET |
|---|---|---|
| Basic portal | from €2,950 | Log in, view the status of the assignment and documents. Manually updated. |
| Portal with one link | €5,000: €8,000 | Status comes automatically from your planning or accounting, plus notifications. |
| Portal with multiple links | €8,000: €20,000 | Multiple sources, invoices, payment status, multiple users per customer. |
| Self-service portal | from €20,000 | Customers implement requests, changes and approvals themselves. |
WHAT DETERMINES THE PRICE
What determines the price
The number of screens is almost never the problem. The price lies in where the data comes from: a portal that gets its status from your planning is a link project with an interface on it.
A portal without a connection is cheaper to build and more expensive to use: someone has to update it. In practice, this usage drops within a month. So count the connection as part of the solution, not as an option.
- Link with your source system — the biggest cost item and the difference between used and abandoned.
- Number of user roles — one contact person per customer or an entire team?
- Documents and invoices — retrieve from an existing system or manage separately.
- Notifications — status change email is cheap and very effective.
- Self-service — customers who change themselves require approval steps.
- Access management — who can create and revoke an account.
WHAT YOU SHOULD PAY ATTENTION TO
Where things usually go wrong
The most common mistake is trying to show too much. A portal that can do everything goes unused because no one knows where to look. Start with the three questions you receive most often by telephone.
The second is not making a link. A portal that needs to be manually updated is work added rather than work done: which is exactly the opposite of the intention.
- Start with three questions — not with everything that is possible.
- Without a connection, usage drops — no one can handle manual updating.
- Inviting customers works better than having them register — you maintain control over access.
- Hosting and maintenance — from €19 and €49 per month respectively.
- Measure the effect — count the status questions before and after.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
More about the costs of a customer portal
Does a portal pay for itself?
Count for a week how many phone calls and emails are purely about status, and multiply that by the number of weeks per year. For most service providers, this outcome is higher than expected. If it is less than ten contact moments per week, a portal is probably not the first investment.
Can the portal be linked to my accounting package?
In almost all cases, this is the case with common Dutch packages. We find out in advance whether the API offers what is needed, so that you do not pay for research that comes up with a no.
What if customers don't use it?
Then the reason is usually that the portal does not answer the question for which they otherwise called, or that the data is not up to date. Both are design flaws and can be fixed: that's why we'll start with the questions you're already getting.
Can I start small?
Yes, and we usually recommend that. One link and three correct screens yield more than a complete portal that is half filled.
CONTINUE READING
Of course, continue reading about this subject.
Less status questions?
Tell us which questions you receive most often. We charge what a portal yields and what it costs.