The Need For Customer Portals: Custom Software Development For Your Business

Accounting, insurance, medical, human resources, sales and more…

Many industries benefit from implementing a custom portal for either internal or customer use. Upgrading an existing portal to a more customer-centric model also boasts significant advantages. Portals elevate a business to a competitively advantageous position by ensuring a smooth experience and improving satisfaction.

Symptoms:

• Email overload
• Document chaos
• Telephone tag with customers, partners and vendors

Diagnosis:

An information or transaction portal that centralizes complex information

Custom portal software and implementation improves productivity by allowing easy access to information and leverages a single interface to collaborate and communicate. Portal functionality is performed on one of the following platforms: information, transaction / servicing, content, sales, rewards or communications.

CUSTOMER PORTALS

Simply put, a customer portal is a secure website developed from customized software that your customers access to enter information and/or see information about the products or services you are providing.

Some common examples include:

• Enter and view the status of an order
• Submit and view status of a loan application
• Submit bids for outstanding projects
• Enter and track support tickets
• View account status
• Submit and track employment applications

Customer portals also make it easier for your customers and vendors to act as an active part of your process.

PORTAL SOFTWARE

Portal software is a type of development tool used to create a portal on a company’s intranet so that employees can find a centralized starting place for access to consolidated enterprise-related functions, such as customer relationship management (CRM) tools, company information and workgroup systems. The package may be customized to varying degrees of enterprise or individual specificity. The end product features an automated, organized and interactive platform.

TO DEVELOP A PORTAL OR NOT TO DEVELOP A PORTAL

Business software development is logical when it affords an opportunity to make procedures more efficient and financial transactions more rational. Also, when it’s responsible for organizing internal cooperation and increasing the effectiveness of staff, developing a custom portal is highly favorable.

Portal Advantages

• Increasing the efficiency of the work
• Increasing the marketability of your business
• Decreasing the time spending on routine paperwork and drafting documents such as invoices and cash orders
• Organizing internal processes
• Tailoring strategies to a project
• Constant maintenance

Vertical Technologies’ IT professionals are experts at the strategy, framework development and implementation of custom information and transactional portals. Whether for internal staff use or for easier transaction processes with customers, these portals will streamline efficiency and increase profitability.

Questions? Concerns? Reach out to Vertical Technologies and learn more about how to best grow your business today.

Sources

http://ddi-dev.com/blog/programming/software-development-small-business/

http://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/portal-software

http://www.the-digital-insurer.com/digital-insurance-customer-portals/