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The future of customer support is all about innovation. Outdated service platforms and generic templates simply don’t cut it anymore. According to Salesforce, falling behind in adapting to customers’ evolving needs can cost you, as 65% of customers now expect companies to respond to their changing demands almost instantly.
That’s why investing in customer portal software is the most logical step. It serves as a powerful tool to strengthen customer relationships, increase loyalty, and gain actionable insights that drive business growth.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through how customer portal software can transform your team’s performance, the must-have features to look for, and a curated list of our favorite tools to help you take your customer support to the next level.
Let’s jump right in!
Customer portals are the heartbeat of your business. The central data hub can empower your customers and enhance brand perception by offering a seamless, personalized experience.
It enables your end users to access information and support resources, helping them to independently resolve their issues, manage their accounts, and submit support requests.
Client portal software can provide a secure online platform by integrating smoothly with your organization's existing systems, such as CRM and support ticketing tools.
The truth is that the transactional approach to customer service can often feel outdated to today's customers. Customer support portals are no longer just a one-way route to troubleshooting but a central hub to help your clients thrive and achieve their goals.
Here are three compelling reasons why your business needs to build an outstanding support portal today:
Research shows that 88% of customers prefer to resolve their basic issues by themselves, avoiding endless calls or frustrating email exchanges. Customer portal software can be a one-stop shop for frequently asked questions and account inquiries.
Utilizing a central knowledge base frees up your teams to focus on complex issues and high-importance clients, making a difference where it really matters.
Furthermore, your customer portal can help to reflect your brand values and create a truly outstanding client experience. With 71% of consumers expecting companies to provide personalized interaction, embedding a range of smart features, such as order tracking or tailored recommendations can help level up your platform.
You can further enhance engagement by creating community forums for your clients to connect, share experiences, and find solutions without having to engage with agents. A well-maintained forum can foster a sense of community and encourage user-generated content, allowing customers to help each other and build advocacy.
Tasking a couple of your team members to moderate these forums and share a sense of appreciation can help facilitate any potential issues while allowing your customer base to interact freely.
Customer portal software can also give you access to valuable data insights, capturing crucial information about client interactions. Categorizing and tagging support tickets can identify pain points and recurring problems, while ticket resolution times can give you insights into your customer support efficiency.
So, what features should you look for when choosing the most suitable solution for your business? That’s the focus of the next section.
While customer portals can make a real difference in your customer success strategy, a clunky, confusing customer tool can cause more harm than good.
Getting lost in the maze of complex matrixes, difficult-to-understand acronyms, or choppy functionality will bring frustration and negativity to your customers.
We picked five features that you should prioritize to select software that truly fits your needs:
1. Intuitive search: Generative AI tools like ChatGPT have raised customer expectations for quick, seamless solutions. Your portal’s search function should be fast, accurate, and easy to use. Test it thoroughly to ensure customers can find answers without hassle. Complex searches belong in spy movies—not your support platform.
2. Personalized experience: Choose software that adapts to individual customer needs. Features, like saved searches and intelligent suggestions for relevant articles, make customers feel understood while simplifying their experience.
3. Knowledge base and self-service options: A robust knowledge base is non-negotiable. Include clear and organized articles, FAQs, video tutorials, and other resources. For more engagement, consider adding webinars or interactive forums. Use categories and tags to help customers navigate topics efficiently.
4. Intelligent ticketing tools: A strong ticketing system keeps customers in the loop by providing fast access to support, tracking progress, and updating them in real-time. Tools that identify and address potential issues proactively add even more value.
5. Security and compliance: Data protection is critical. Look for software with strong encryption, granular access controls, and compliance with regulations like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and GDPR. Security shouldn’t be an afterthought—it’s a must-have.
By focusing on these key features, you’ll ensure your customer portal is an asset that drives satisfaction and loyalty, rather than a source of frustration.
To save you some precious time from browsing, we’ve selected a few high-rated customer portals for you to choose from:
1. Thena
Thena’s customer engagement platform is designed to service B2B customer relationships by integrating straight into popular messaging platforms such as Slack and Microsoft Teams. By targeting customers in their native environment, Thena empowers businesses to easily build on their customer success strategy.Centralizing all functionalities into one handy platform, Thena limits the need for context switching and enables intuitive conversational ticketing to maximize customer engagement.
2. Clinked
Seamlessly integrating with Zapier, Clinked provides organizations with a cloud-based customizable template option. Its intuitive platform also doubles as a project management tool on the go, syncing with a built-in mobile app. Its capabilities are lengthy—from document editing and access control to shared calendars and Kanban boards—Clinked will do its best to cover all your needs.Although its internal group chat platform will imitate well-known software such as MS Teams or Slack, unfortunately, third-party integration into their more famous pairs is limited or not possible. Clinked might also have a relatively steep learning curve for the novice, as it is less intuitive than perhaps some of its other competitors.
3. Zoho Desk
Zoho is a streamlined drag-and-drop platform that allows businesses to build custom customer service portals tailored to their needs. Solutions can range from simple document-based portals to more extensive knowledge-based platforms with ticket trackers.Zoho’s no-coding platform can stretch further than just customer portals. It can help create template websites and mobile apps. However, the client service platform has certain limitations. With Zoho, third-party integrations are clunky and limited to mostly their own products.
4. HubSpot Service Hub
HubSpot’s Service Hub can provide a more robust option for larger businesses. Designed to create a truly comprehensive experience, HubSpot efficiently embeds ticketing solutions, knowledge base management, and customer feedback collection.HubSpot’s AI-powered customer hub, though on the pricier side, integrates seamlessly with its CRM system, boosting efficiency within its suite. However, the extensive features and configuration requirements can make the initial setup overwhelming.Ready to ditch outdated customer portals?Creating an outstanding customer portal is an investment in customer success. By providing a seamless and efficient support experience, you can build loyalty, increase customer satisfaction, and drive business growth.Take the first step in your journey and contact us here at Thena for a free consultation.
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