For a long time, the self-service portal has been a powerful but largely underutilised feature of Sage CRM. However, driven by businesses that want to provide online services, improve their customer service or reduce administration overheads, we are implementing more and more web portals to extend the scope of new and existing Sage CRM applications.

With Sage CRM Self Service, customers can log into a portal via the existing corporate website. This allows them to perform functions such as viewing account information, reporting problems, or requesting product information. This is a standard feature of Sage CRM that many companies pay web developers substantial additional fees to create.

As users of Sage CRM ourselves we have a well-developed portal which allows our support clients to log new cases directly onto our system. This places any new issue directly into a workflow which ensures that it is picked up quickly and that the client receives update emails as the case is progressed.

The self-service feature can however be applied to many applications. Recent Sage CRM portals that we have implemented include:

  • An online work request logging system for a commercial cleaning and maintenance firm. Key features of this allow users to upload pictures and documents, as well as displaying progress data on a large monitor.
  • Membership management and subscription renewals for a major UK non-profit organisation. This system provides users with access to download content based on their membership status and integrates with a paperless direct debit system.
  • Public facing portal for postal services business, which allows users to sign up for services and amend preferences online.
  • Clinical case management with controlled levels of data access by job role. Provides an online appointment booking facility for patients and clinical staff based on need and location.

In addition to providing a valuable service around the clock, self-service portals significantly reduce administration costs by giving customers access to data which they otherwise would have had to get via a phone call or email. Having a self-service portal also creates a tie-in service not easily replicated by competitors.

The initial setting up of a portal takes some work, particularly if it has to be styled to integrate with the design of a corporate website. However, once implemented, a portal can be managed by an administrator from within Sage CRM.

For more information, please see our main web portal page.

We would be pleased to discuss any requirements you might have for providing your clients with remote access. Please get in touch.