6 Essential Features of an Effective Customer Portal

For years now, customer portals have changed the way businesses get the best out of their data. It helps them serve their customers in a better way and also increases productivity for teams.

While there are multiple customer portals available in the market today – and those specifically for SugarCRM – still, some are much better when you break down the components and compare them to others. Have you ever thought about what makes the market king when it comes to portals? It is the features that set them apart from other competitors. So, let’s discuss some of the essential features that a great customer portal must have:

1. Single and Secure Sign In

Easy and secure sign-in options is one of the basic, must-have features for any portal. Once the user signs in, you can provide them with a customized dashboard and all their personalized effects. Provide your users with a secure sign in as a basic function, then you can take it one step further by providing them with social sign on integrations.

2. Knowledge Base

Most customers today prefer to solve their issues on their own rather than talking with the support team, which is why they use portals. With the knowledge base section in portals things go one step further. They can easily go online, search for their issues, and read related articles to solve them. This will help them to avoid unnecessary back and forth with the support team. And on the other hand, it will even help your support team to serve customers better and work more efficiently.

3. Forums

Forums are the new place for customers and businesses to connect. Now, you can provide a forum in your customer portal itself. This will let your customers connect with each other as well as with your business. You can even provide them with special discounts, notify them first on the forum platform, share discount coupons, or carry out giveaways, share how-to articles, videos, etc. Having such services available will make your portal more likely to be used.

4. Multi-language Support

Many businesses have a global presence and this means it has to have multi language support. You too might be having global presence with customers from a variety of backgrounds and not everyone’s primary language is the same. This is when portals supporting multiple languages will help you. This will also make them connect with your brand and send a message that you value them.

5. Real-time notifications

This is a very important feature – keeping your customer updated with any new things coming out. Send your customers timely notifications regarding any new features added, articles shared, videos, new service times, etc. You can also allow them to set the preferences of notifications so they are in control of how you notify them.

6. Payment Module

Digital payment has become a new normal in these changing times. Remember to add various digital payment options in your portal and provide them multiple ways to make a payment. Going one step further, you can even provide them with invoice details which makes payment easy.

Conclusion:

In this competitive market where multiple portals are available, it is best to have a customer portal designed to work with your Sugar system that is also backed by the important features listed above. Learn more about a SugarCRM WordPress customer portal and how it can seamlessly integrate with your business.