Most calls to a company are about one question: how is it doing?
A customer portal is a protected part of your website where customers can see their own information after logging in: the status of an order, invoices, documents and contact moments. It replaces back-and-forth emails and status questions by telephone, because the customer can check for himself when it suits him.
IN COMMON LANGUAGE
What belongs in a portal
The answer varies per company, but one thing always comes back: the status of the work. Where is my assignment, who is working on it, when will it be ready. That's the question that would otherwise make the phone ring.
In addition, what the customer now requests by email: invoices, quotes, delivery documents, photos. In one place, always available, even if the email from two years ago cannot be found.
What doesn't belong is everything you could show. A portal that does too much will not be used. Start with the three questions you receive most often.
WHY IT MATTERS
When a portal pays for itself
Count for a week how many phone calls and emails are purely about status. This is a shock for most service providers. Each of those touchpoints costs an interruption, and interruptions cost more than the minutes themselves.
A portal is also a selling point. Customers who can watch the process trust the process more: especially for orders that run for weeks.
- Lots of status questions — the most common and most solvable burden.
- Lost documents — in mailboxes on both sides.
- Assignments that run for weeks — the longer it takes, the greater the need to watch.
- Returning customers — the investment pays off over multiple assignments.
- Data that is already in a system — a portal shows them; it doesn't recreate them.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
More about a customer portal
Do customers need to create an account?
You decide that. It often works better if you create accounts at the start of an assignment: the customer receives an invitation and only chooses a password. Registering yourself is appropriate for a portal that is open to everyone, and that is rarely desirable when it comes to providing services.
Can the portal be linked to my existing systems?
Usually yes, and that is the intention. A portal that retrieves its data from your existing planning or accounting will automatically remain up to date. Without a connection, it becomes a second place to update things, and then usage quickly drops.
What if a customer prefers to call?
Then he calls. A portal removes the easy questions, leaving time for the conversations that really matter. Forcing customers to a portal does not work and is not necessary.
CONTINUE READING
Of course, continue reading about this subject.
Less status questions?
Tell us which questions you receive most often. We show how a portal takes them over and what it costs.