In today’s era of advancing technology and high-dependence on the internet, the approach of customers in getting their issues resolved has changed. They no longer prefer to call on the toll free numbers and wait until their queries get answered telephonically by the customer representatives.
This demand from customers for instant support has led to an upsurge in the popularity of online customer portals. Recent studies have proved that in the past couple of years, 73% customers have preferred to find the solutions of their problems online. So whether you are an IT firm, a government one or a law firm, having a customer portal is a must. As an independent business owner, if you have been wondering why you need a customer portal and in what ways they would enhance the customer service, here are some insights for you:
1. Providing Better customer service
Quite obviously, the most pivotal reason behind having a customer portal is to offer better customer service. These portals ensure that the customers are able to know all about your offerings from the same place. Once they have an access to your website via portal, they will also be able to look at the information from their mobile devices. Make sure the portal has enough FAQs so that your customer’s queries are answered.
2. Encouraging customer engagement
Making an interaction with customers is quite vital in today’s times. It proves that your firm really cares about their needs and considers their opinion. A good quality customer portal makes it easy for the customers to deal with your company as and when they want.
In a scenario where a customer wants to assign your company with a project, he/she can analyze what needs to be done from their end and search for a recent similar deliverable offered by you. The existing customers can also track the current status of their project and suggest changes wherever they seem necessary.
3. Efficient document processing
Large enterprises have a lot of customer data transaction to take care of. It might not be feasible to set reminders for sending documents and files through emails on regular basis. Moreover, some projects and documents are too large to be sent via email. This is where customer portal comes to the rescue. Account information, documents, shipping status etc can be obtained directly from the portal and it saves a lot of time and efforts of both the parties.
4. Reducing the scope of errors
There are times when you send a document to your client thinking that it is the latest version; only realizing at a later stage that you sent the wrong version. In a hurry, you might also end up sending the document meant for one client to another. These mistakes can lead to embarrassment and create a wrong impression of your enterprise. During such times, having a comprehensive collaboration platform can make all the difference. Features that enable your customers to check the latest version of their documents, make edits and leave notes can prove to be of great help.
5. Boosting productivity
Haggling with customers over the telephone about the same issues over and over again can affect the productivity of your employees. Setting up a self-service support portal can provide the customers with the answers to their questions. By doing so, your agents will be able to concentrate on other tasks and help you grow your business.
If you are skeptical as to whether you should offer a self-service facility, read the book ‘The Ultimate Guide: Self-Service Support for Fast-Growing Companies.’ This will give you better insights into the importance of self-service support.
Apart from the above mentioned points, you can also save money spent on setting up call centers and paying the agents. Are you looking for a customer portal that can take your customer service to the next level? Request a demo of Biztech’s Customer Self Service Portal that can be integrated with your existing CRM (Sugar/Suite/Salesforce/Dynamics) and your CMS (WordPress, Joomla, Drupal). You can also create your customized customer portal using your preferred CRM and CMS.
