Client portal software can help you gain a competitive advantage in your market and improve your clients’ overall experience in working with your company.
To get the most out of this tool, you and your employees must be well-versed in the functionality of your specific portal software and the ends to which you can use it to increase productivity and service quality.
Below we cover some tips to help you more effectively use client portal software as part of your everyday operations.
Select the right client portal software for your needs
A quick web search will yield countless results for cloud-based client portal software, so it’s important to begin your search with a clear idea of how you intend to use that software so you can easily narrow your options.
Consider the features that are most important to your business, including resource libraries, collaborative tools, live chat, task management and more. Do your research into the reputation of the company that develops the portal software and make sure the software itself is well-reviewed by actual business clients.
Your client portal software will be a key component of your ability to deliver high-quality service, so it’s important to carefully consider your options before you choose one.
Capitalize on opportunities for customization
As part of your search for the right client portal software, you should prioritize portals that are highly customizable with features and with branding and design.
Take advantage of those customization options. This can help you create personalized spaces for your clients as you change logos, color schemes and some language. You can also customize access to certain features, or roles for users on the portal.
In addition to customizing portals yourself, make sure to provide your clients with resources on how they can further customize their portals to their liking. This provides them with more opportunities for personalization and can improve their own satisfaction with the portal itself. For MSPs, having customers who can take ownership of their portals through customization and experience that greater level of satisfaction is important. These types of customers are more likely to stay customers longer and share their positive experiences with other prospective clients.
Streamline your project collaboration
Client portal software allows you to improve communication and collaboration for projects. Rather than having to send out and respond to numerous emails, you can offer real-time chat functionality to your clients for more efficient communication when small issues arise.
Both your employees and your clients can also use the portal open and communicate on tickets, collect information, add comments, or upload and review files.
Make your client portal software mobile-friendly
Prioritize mobile friendliness as part of your search for the ideal customer portal software, and then make sure you actually use those mobile features.
Mobility features allow your employees and your clients to collaborate and communicate from anywhere, even if they’re on the go. Even if most work still gets done on desktop or laptop computers, the ability to access the portal and its features from mobile devices is still important so users can check in as needed and send or respond to questions and messages.
Fully leveraging mobile capabilities for your client portal is just one more way to enhance the client experience, as it gives another method for those clients to connect with your team.
Improve your service orchestration, starting with client onboarding
Client portal software makes it easier for you to get new clients and their employees onboarded, thanks to the automation functionality high-quality portals come with.
Automizing client onboarding in a way that is personalized for each of your clients helps you save time for your techs, while also allowing clients to get their employees all set up and ready to go with minimal loss of productivity or down time.
Onboarding isn’t the only business process that can be automated and streamlined with the use of a client portal; other services like new hardware or software rollout, or after hours calls also become much more standardized and easier to complete efficiently.
Establish a resource library or knowledge base
Businesses can provide clients and employees alike with helpful information directly within the client portal in the form of a resource library or knowledge base.
This knowledge base can contain information such as frequently asked questions, “how to” instructions for using certain portal features, notes from past meetings or collaborations, or any other information that may help clients or your employees in their everyday work.
Having such a knowledge base within the portal can significantly cut down on the amount of time users spend looking for information or answers to their questions. It also prevents your techs or customer service teams from having to answer the same questions over and over again.
Having client portal software in place is a good first step, but you must also understand how to use it most effectively to enhance the customer experience and make life easier for your team.
DeskDirector offers a highly customizable client portal software that allows you to achieve the above uses and deliver a high-quality customer experience. Begin your free trial today to see how it can transform your business operations. 
