“Customer” is a word that conveys the most essential part of any business. Everything in the world of business is based on customers. The number of them, their loyalty, and more. Our biggest decisions are fueled by customer feedback. Unpaid invoices demand your customers’ attention, so it’s no surprise that we base so many business KPIs on our customers. Knowing this, it’s hard to believe that customer portals weren’t always the norm. It’s even more surprising to hear that not every business is using them now. According to Salesforce, 84% of customers are using customer portals, but only 64% of customer service teams use them.
If your business falls in with that 36% who aren’t using customer portals, it’s time we talked. 79% of U.S. customers use customer portals, so it’s time that you offer one also. With Biller Genie, you get an award-winning cloud-based automated accounts receivable solution that has a customer portal, reduces your outstanding balances by up to 40%, and gets you paid up to 15 days faster. By selecting a partner like Biller Genie, you’ll be able to offer your customers what they demand – a customer portal. If your desk is piling up with unpaid invoices, you could use a customer portal to boost your service offering.
Customer portals are where your customers go to manage all things billing. They allow your customers to complete most tasks in a self-service portal. Sound boring? It’s really not that dull a topic when you take into account the invaluable benefits of customer portals and once you realize how important they are to your customers in 2021.
So what’s so great about customer portals? Why are customers “flocking” to use them? It’s because customer portals aren’t just an added benefit, they’re turning into something customers expect. That’s what this post is all about—the amazing and utterly indispensable attractiveness and appeal of having a customer portal. Yes, we do get that excited. If you’re not just as amped up about customer portals as we are by the time you finish reading this, then you have no other option but to call us at 877.245.5374 and give us the chance to get you psyched about customer portals over the phone. We may just hold you to that.
Accessibility Rules the Roost
When it comes time to check email and pay bills, where are your customers? Their homes? A local eatery? Are they in front of a desktop or are they swiping away on their smartphones, knocking one bill out after the other? When you stop and realize how digitally savvy and connected your customers have become in just the last five years alone, it’s easy to understand why having a customer portal might be key to retaining your customers (in addition to being appealing for new customers). It doesn’t matter where your customers are, the power of the customer portal exists in its ability to be accessed from anywhere. There’s a frustration that comes from customers not having instant access to their own information, which is why having a customer portal is in line with ensuring a great customer experience. It isn’t just your customers who benefit from this accessibility. The business wins, too. The ability to have instant access to customer data and see when they’ve paid, in real-time thanks to automated accounts receivable software, is something we may someday wonder how we ever lived without. It’s a win-win.
Did I pay that? Your customer’s questions answered
Customer portals are like secretaries without having to provide them with benefits or payroll. They do so much more for a business than act as an added benefit to automated accounts receivables. It used to be that personalized customer service was key. You’d get a call from a customer to inquire as to whether or not he or she had paid a bill. Perhaps they didn’t see it come out of their bank account yet? Five years ago, you’d probably spend five or so minutes looking that up for them, plus chatting, maybe even answering some questions that they could have so easily found on your website. But not anymore,not only do you save an incredible amount of time otherwise spent looking up invoices and going into customer records but with customer portals, you’re also arming your customers with a tool they demand and a value they won’t forget (or want to lose). People prefer to have control over how they look up invoices, pay bills, and review payment history.
Biller Genie’s Customer Portal
Biller Genie provides a customer portal that anyone can use, without any extra setup. Your customers can access the customer portal at any time and from anywhere with an internet connection. With Biller Genie, you also have control over what your customers see. You can set defaults for your customers from within the portal, controlling the settings. Setting default settings for the customer portal (watch here) is easy. You can also set terms and conditions and change system-wide settings for your portal, such as allowing customers to edit stored credit cards or their profile information. You can also update settings for all of your customers easily with the click of a button.
Customer Portals Empower the Customer
A digital customer portal is the ultimate way for a service provider to automate accounts receivables, reinforce its relationship with its clients, and give them more access and control over the information that the two parties share (as well as the control and ability to pay unpaid invoices). Customer portals really are the new business norm, getting access to a customer portal is as empowering for the customer as it is for the businesses that use them. In a world where everything — billing included — is seemingly instantaneous, there’s absolutely no excuse for not having a simplified and automated way to invoice clients and receive payments quickly. Not only that, a customer portal can be a central resource and help your business reduce dependence on physical staff or disconnected resources. Customer portals also help keep customer payments up-to-date by giving the power to pay invoices on their time, perhaps early, back to the customer. Who doesn’t want that?
A Welcomed Welcome
There’s also power in the ability to customize. Having control over what your customers see and how they interact with your company when it comes to the portal is important. Biller Genie’s customer portal is branded with your logo — so it matches your style. We also give you a welcome email template so that you can use to invite your customers to their new portal and help them the first time they log in. The welcome email compliments your vibe. You’re free to customize the template to say anything you’d like—make it as unique as you!
Time = Money
Small- to mid-sized businesses can’t afford to have resources dedicated solely to customer service. In other words, there are no big departments set aside just for customer service. Unpaid invoices are at risk of piling up. Business owners multi-task, fill in the gaps as needed, and get what needs to be done, done (sometimes right before it’s due to be done, but that’s a different post altogether). Time is a commodity that businesses can’t afford to take for granted.
By now you’re surely fired up. So much so, that you probably can’t help but read more. That’s why we created our Knowledge Base, for moments just like this. Visit our Knowledge Base and read more about Biller Genie’s Customer Portal and why your customers will be flocking to use them to pay their unpaid invoices.