What is a Customer Portal and how to create a Customer Portal?

Customer Portal is the best way to create an individualized, personalized experience for your customers. It is a website that provides additional services and information for your customer. You can create customized features and functionality just for them!

A customer portal allows you to create a great user interface, which will help create an engaging experience for your customers.

It also gives you the ability to provide robust, secure web-based applications with all of the latest technologies available today, such as social media integration or mobile compatibility.

It is the place where the customer can find information about his purchase or access to services (such as online tracking of orders, technical support). Your customers will be able to manage their profile according to their needs.

What is a Customer Portal?

A customer portal is a website that allows customers to view their account information and perform common transactions. Customers can use the portal instead of calling or emailing customer support, which saves time for both parties.

Customer portals are also more secure than phone conversations because you don't have to give out your personal information over the phone line in order to complete transactions.

It is important to note that the customer portal is not the same thing as a customer account. A customer account is where you put all of your customers' contact information so that you can provide them with products and services.

A Customer Portal has more advanced functionality than a simple customer account page, such as access to support history and tools for managing membership details.

CREATE A CUSTOMER PORTAL

There are two options of creating an account for Customer Portal. One option is to create a portal on your existing website, which will allow you to use all the tools that are available through your current site.

You can also use a customer portal to help with marketing initiatives. You can create an account for your customers so when they receive the product, they will be able to provide you with feedback and reviews!

This will help in increasing conversions and sales by letting you know what improvements need to be made based on their experiences.

Another option is to have a dedicated website that will be fully customized for customer access only. If this is an option for you, make sure you mention that in your marketing campaigns!

Creating a customer portal on your website is ideal if you are running multiple projects or have separate divisions.

You can create separate portals for each project or division, which will be linked to the main website, but offer unique features and functionality.

This way your customer will have an individual experience for each division or project. If you are not running multiple projects, it is still a good option to use if you just want to keep everything in one location.

Keep in mind that your customers might find this confusing since they won't be able to distinguish between the products and services offered on the main website.

If you can afford creating a dedicated website, go for it! It is the best option if you are only running one project/one product since you will be able to give your site 100% attention and focus only on your customers.

There are many different types of portals that customers can use, including:

• "Customer Billing Portal": allows you to view your account information and make payments online.
• "Client Database Portal": provides access to client contact info in a secure environment.
• "Employee Directory Portals": allow employees to access company directories and communicate with co-workers.
• "Service Portal": gives customers information about service schedules, procedures for reporting claims or problems, and FAQs
• "Public Access Portals": are available for use by the general public at no charge. These portals provide information about services offered by the organization.
• "Employee Portal": provides employees access to news, training, benefits information, and other company resources.
• "Member Portals": give access to content and resources specifically for members. This includes things like discounts, tools, FAQs, etc.
• If you are creating a Customer Portal on your website, make sure it has all the features that your customers would want! The more information you put on there, the easier it will be for them to find what they are looking for.
• Think of it as an online Help Desk that you update regularly with new FAQs and tutorials to help your customers learn more about their product or service.
• If creating a customer portal on your website is out of the question, consider using software like Customer Portal Manager.

The above are just a few examples of customer portals.

A portal can be used in different ways by different companies depending on the purpose it serves for that particular organization. Many businesses use their customer portal as another form of communication with their customers, which can be used for marketing purposes as well.

In addition to a website, customer portals also exist in an app form on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.

Mobile apps are even more convenient than websites because you do not need access to the internet or data plan (assuming that your company's portal is already installed onto your device).

Many businesses like using customer portals as an alternative to common forms of communication like phone calls and emails because it gives your customers access to your company's information 24/7. This is especially helpful during emergency situations when you need updates ASAP.

Creating a customer portal on your website or mobile app is some thing that all businesses should look into if they are considering improving their customer support.

Customer portals can also be used for marketing purposes to generate sales leads, which is an excellent way to increase your profits! Think of it as a Gold Mine for your company you have nothing to lose by creating one!

Customer portals are a great way to deliver information and services quickly, efficiently, securely, and conveniently.

How do I build a Customer Portal for my website?

Depending on the customer care software you employ, the process for creating a customer portal on your website differs. We'll focus on the basics of setting up a client portal using LiveAgent in this guide.

Login to your LiveAgent control panel. Go to the customer portal tab and click "create" next to the "customer portals section".

Steps to create Customer Portal using LiveAgent

• First of all, you should do the following steps to create a customer portal using LiveAgent.
• Create a new website in your account and publish it as an application or integrate your existing website with LiveAgent if needed.
• Configure webpage behavior according to the needs of your customers and enable required modules that will allow them to access specific data only through their own accounts on this page (for example CRM).
• Add agents who will be responsible for communication with clients via the chat widget within one or several subscriptions from the live chats section which is located on the side menu after clicking the "Live Support" button.
• Make sure that there are no blocking elements on these pages so can be accessed by visitors without any limitations.
• Create a form to subscribe the customers for your live chat (if you haven't created this kind of form in LiveAgent yet).
• And finally, configure automatic notifications and agents' availability which means that when an agent is available he/she will be notified about new requests automatically without any manual actions from their side.

Advantages to having a Customer Service Portal

There are several advantages to having a customer service portal.

One is that customers can get in touch with you whenever they want and talk to an actual person instead of leaving a message on your website or waiting for days until the next business day when someone will be available.

Customers today don't have time for this, so if there's no one around to respond in a timely manner, they are likely going to be unhappy and not purchase from your company.

Another advantage is that you can store customer data on the portal so that it's right there next time a customer contacts you about something related.

This saves both of you time because now someone doesn't have to grab whatever information you need from the filing cabinet or another computer.

The customer also doesn't have to repeat themselves, and this saves them time so that they can get back to their lives sooner rather than later.

One more advantage is that you don't have to hire a full-time employee just for managing your customers' questions and requests because it's all done online through the portal.

This is especially helpful if you are a small business or just starting out because it's often hard to afford as many employees as larger companies have on staff already.

1. Increase your sales leads by providing a way for visitors to submit their information on your website.

2. You can either create an environment of live chat where consumers are able to ask questions and communicate with you online through the portal or have consumers submit their information so that it's saved for later use when they contact you again about buying something.

3. You can track the number of times that consumers have visited your website, how long they've stayed there, what pages they visited on your site, which individual page or advertisements they clicked on, which products were viewed, and so on.

4. Enable you to understand consumer behavior better by providing demographic information about them as well as specifics on purchase intent and product interest.

5. Provide a way for consumers to subscribe instantly to your email list so that you can communicate with them whenever you have something new to share or a special promotion going on.

6. Contact me anytime from wherever you are, so I can provide personal one on one assistance at no additional charge.

7. Have one central location where you can take care of your customers and maintain their loyalty.

8. Be able to take care of your customers without leaving your office or home by using the live chat software within the portal which gives you 24/7 access to them directly from your computer screen.

9. No more endless waiting for a return call or an email to come through, customers can submit their requests right away by choosing "Chat Now" on your website.

10. Give them an opportunity to provide feedback about the customer service they are receiving from you so that you know what needs improvement or if you're providing a great experience.

11. Keep your eCommerce site secure and prevent hackers from gaining access to your site by using the live chat software that provides an SSL encryption and hiring CISSP certified professionals using recruiting email templates.

12. Track consumer browsing patterns and identify which products they like and don't like in order to make future product decisions and keep them happy with you as a business owner.

13. Identify what types of promotions consumers want and which ones aren't effective in order to remove the ones that aren't beneficial for your company and therefore not help you make more money.

14. Have a way to communicate with consumers while they're logged in so that you can provide them with additional information or special discounts if they want to take advantage of a promotion.

15. Be able to obtain complete contact information from consumers that you can store in your customer database then use for future contact about other products or services.

16. You don't have to pay to set up a Customer Portal account, and it's free to start using right away so that you can see which ones suit your business the best and provide real value for you and your customers before spending additional money.

17. You can start using it for free and upgrade later when you're ready, so that you don't have to go without any of its benefits if you're not able to afford one of the higher plans initially.

18. The interface is very easy to use and quick to set up in order for you to get started and start providing a positive and beneficial experience for all of your customers.

19. You can connect to all of the major shopping cart services such as Magento, Shopify, BigCommerce, Volusion, Sears Marketplace, eBay, Etsy, Weebly and over 100 others so that as soon as you get started with one eCommerce platform you can use it for all of them.

20. Give consumers an incentive to purchase more products by offering exclusive coupons and special discounts they can only receive when they're logged into your Customer Portal account.

21. Identify customers that are most likely to buy something right away so that you can contact them quickly with a promotion or some other type of benefit.

22. Contact consumers directly from your website without having to mess around with email or use other third party services that slow everything down and cost you additional money.

23. Ensure that everyone is being served equally by using a drop down list for non-English speaking customers so that anyone can understand how to contact you and receive support in their own language.

24. Your website's users can see if you're online so that they know when to expect a return message and don't have to wait too long for contact, making them more satisfied with your business.

25. You can set up different types of live chat software on your websites in order to allow consumers the opportunity to reach you in the way that works best for them.

Customer Portal best practices for your Business

As your business begins to grow and customers begin to increase, the amount of customer support questions will also rise.

The next step for you is to set up a customer portal that allows easy access by your existing customers as well as new ones.

There are best practices in setting up this type of system so that it can be beneficial for both parties.

One of the best practices is to make sure that your company plan does not overwhelm and confuse new users. Customers who have never used a portal before can become easily confused by all the different options available to them.

It may be helpful for you to set up specific tutorials or walk-throughs in order to help these people understand how everything works on the portal.

Another best practice is to make sure your organization has a clear understanding of what they want their customers’ experience with this system to be like and how it will benefit them in return.

This way you can decide whether or not features are needed, unnecessary, or missing from your current customer portal systems.

You should also have a clear understanding of what you expect your customers to do on the portal and how they are going to benefit from it.

As an example, setting up tutorials or walk-throughs can greatly increase your user experience because people will not have any questions about functionality if these features exist.

It is also beneficial for your business if those who use the portal can easily make purchases, register for events, or even ask questions and receive answers from your customer service representatives.

The more customers that know about the benefits of using a dedicated space to get information, support issues, or complete tasks will help them become frequent users who may even recommend it to others.

Customer portals are an excellent way for your business to have a dedicated space for existing customers and new ones.

If you are still unsure about whether or not this is the right choice, consider what features your company has already set up on their customer portal system as well as how they can benefit from these changes in the future.

This way you can be sure that everything will go smoothly when setting up your organization's customer portal and that everyone will have an excellent experience using it.

Build your Customer Portal today

Building a customer portal can be time-consuming and expensive.

However, it is well worth the effort if you are after long-term growth for your company.

Your employees will love using the system as they find it easy to navigate around as opposed to traditional email systems that have many complex rules. This encourages them to update information regularly which helps with compliance issues too.

The software has many reports available so customers know exactly what documents they have submitted, where their files sit in the process, and when all of this occurred on a daily basis via dashboards, etc.

Customer portals also have powerful collaboration tools which mean your customers can work with you on projects without being in the same place at the same time.

Businesses need to become more customer-centric and a portal is a great way to do just that.

If you are ready to invest in a product that will help you grow, then come and see us at Journyx. We are dedicated to providing customer-focus software that will help you manage all your projects, customers, and tasks in one place.

Conclusion

Customer portals have many benefits for customers, employees, and the business. They can be customized to meet your company's needs as well as work with any existing software you are already using which is important in today’s world of technology changes that happen so quickly.

Workflows can also be created from scratch or cloned from current processes within the system to make training easier.

The portal can also be branded to the company’s brand guidelines which helps with client loyalty and employee engagement for a great customer experience.

And lastly, integrations of other software are critical as well because you want your employees working on one system instead of several systems doing similar tasks so they are more efficient at work thus increasing productivity and lowering costs.

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