Customer Portal Basics: Solving the Essential Challenges

When you start focusing on the big things it means you are running an enterprise company. You think about the number of customers you have, the revenue you generate, and the number of employees you have, among other things. Your actual, real-time revenue is not affected if you lose some customers sometimes. It may so happen that you actually gain a few over time.

Having said that, we must modify the way we think about the power customers hold, as this has seen a change in the last few years. Companies that are indifferent to the grievances expressed by their customers, won’t change their thinking. But we are all aware that these companies are only a few social media complaints away from losing loyal customers.

When you face an issue with a flight, be it unclear information or luggage issues, or a host of other problems, you tweet at the airline’s account. When other people see this tweet, they would consider booking with another airline.

For the past couple of years, it has become imperative that complaints made on social media be addressed. You can use that particular social media platform itself to guide them to the support portal and assist them in helping themselves. If the matter in question is not something they can solve themselves, then you can direct them to raise a ticket in the customer portal.

Don't forget to check out: Build an Experience with Salesforce Community Cloud: 4 Steps

There may be plenty of reasons why people raise issues on social media platforms:

• Because they wish everyone else to be aware of the erroneous company in question
• Because there are times when it may be difficult to raise a ticket on that company’s website. If they do find out how to raise a ticket, then there may be no other option for their particular issue. Either way, it can be quite vague.

This is where your exemplary CRM customer portal comes into play. It makes for a great space for your customers to reach in, in addition to making it easier on your support staff. It’s a win-win.

Let’s explore the benefits:

Financial Benefits

An enterprise company is always spending a lot. But do you have to drop a small fortune on this? Short answer: no. There are a ton of tasks that your support staff can do, but this portal can do those tasks better because it is available every hour of every day, all year round! The portal does have a filter for the cases it deems might require actual human interaction.

If the task is something as simple as product exchange, then two buttons are way better than a 10-minute conversation with someone from support. This frees up your employees to make better use of their time. 

Avoiding Repetition

Imagine you have an e-commerce store that sells DIY furniture. There could be a number of questions your support staff has to fill about each item, and the difference in each permutation and the reasoning behind it is massive. But when you have this portal, you have access to a knowledge base that explains each permutation, the reasons, and has a guide for each product. This leads to more informed decision making, without having to interact with the staff. Although you were just a passive participant in the whole affair, your customer is taken care of. 

No Hold Tune

There are scenes in many movies and shows where they show the characters being put on hold while dealing with variations of customer service/support. Because it’s for comedic relief, they are sitting there with the phone pressed to their ears for hours. But if your customer has to go through that in real life, you can be sure that they are chucking your product. There are competitors everywhere, and if they aren't making the people wait on their phones, then they will take up all the paying customers. 

Check out another amazing blog by CRMJetty here: Customer Success With Salesforce Customer Portal | The Ultimate Guide

Data Management

Large enterprises tend to store a ton of dirty data. Dirty data just means duplicate and old data. There’s no way for you, the company, to know that a customer has changed their address, or their last name has changed. A Salesforce portal allows them to manipulate their own details. They can update addresses, preferences, and contact details. These changes will be reflected in the CRM and you will have a clean, organized system, without you having to do most of the work!

What are your options as an enterprise to get your hands on such a portal? You will have access to a large customer base, and you need to have good security. You need to have a sturdy solution that feels sleek to use. You can go for a Salesforce customer portal.

We know that all businesses have unique requirements, and for that reason, we offer customization on our portal solutions.