A support portal is an effective tool to help you provide your customers with the top quality support they expect from you. When used as an additional channel to existing ways of delivering support, there are great benefits for both your customers and your organization.
1. You give customers 24/7 access to real-time information
A support portal is not bound by business hours. Customers can log in to the portal 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to access information or ask new support questions. Convenient for customers who are working outside your company's regular business hours, such as in the evening or on weekends. Or when your customers operate in different continents and time zones. Thereby, the information in the support portal is real-time. No dated e-mails or reports, but always correct and up-to-date information.
2. You have complete control over who sees what information
You have complete control over who has access to the support portal and what information they can see, edit and add. Only your customers and your own employees can log in to the support portal. So it's a secure and well-protected environment that you can tailor perfectly to visitors by placing information and documentation here that meets the needs of your customers.
"With a support portal, communicating both internally and externally becomes much easier."
3. Communication improves both internally and with customers
A key factor in successful support delivery is communication. And with a support portal, communicating both internally and externally becomes much easier. No more paper files, emails back and forth or searching for missing documents. The support portal is the central location where all relevant information about a support issue is brought together. Colleagues are informed in no time about a case they are involved in or take over. And customers are also always fully informed about the status of their problem or question.
4. You get more satisfied customers through a better customer experience
Above all, the support portal should not be seen as a replacement for other methods of support. You should still be accessible by phone and e-mail and use the support portal as a complementary channel. When customers realize that they can find the answers to their questions themselves via the support portal, have better insight into the status and follow-up of their questions, and are helped faster and better, this will quickly become the medium they use for support. They experience the support portal as pleasant and are therefore more satisfied with your service.
5. It saves your employees a lot of time
Your support staff will work more efficiently thanks to a support portal. No more time needs to be spent on questions like "Has anyone seen my support ticket yet?". Customers can also find the answers to their questions faster, for example in documentation or FAQs. As stated earlier, colleagues are quickly informed of the progress of a support case, which means that less time needs to be spent on consultation and transfer. And with a support site, all support tickets are centrally available which makes it possible to search by terms and topics. A question may have been answered before, saving you a lot of time.
Conclusion: Make your employees' and your customers' lives easier and more pleasant with the proper use of a support portal.
Wilbert Schreurs is a Support Consultant at Dysel and helps customers successfully use Dysel's software solutions.
