Custom business software
Customer portal development
A secure environment where your customers see for themselves what they would otherwise have to ask for: their orders, their documents and their invoices. That saves phone calls, and it gives an answer at the moment the question arises.
A customer portal is a secure part of your own system in which each customer sees only their own orders, documents and invoices. Darvis builds it with Laravel and connects it to the source of your data, whether that is your own software or a package such as MKG or SnelStart. We start with a functional design and a quote per component, and deliver in stages, so the first piece is often in use within a few weeks.
Does this sound familiar?
A portal rarely starts with a wish. It starts with work that comes back every week and that nobody notices any more.
“Customers phone to check on progress”
Where is my order, when will it arrive? Every question takes up someone's time in the office, while the answer is already in the system.
“We keep sending the same documents”
Quotes, packing slips, certificates and invoices go out by email and get lost there. Then you look them up and send them again.
“Everyone sees everything or nothing”
There is no way to show one customer exactly their own data and nothing else. So it stays with email, with all the risks that brings.
“Our customers do not work nine to five”
Outside office hours everything stops. Anyone who wants to place an order in the evening or find an invoice has to wait until the next morning.
What it can include
What your customers can do for themselves
Not everything has to be in the first version. We start with the component that removes the most questions.
Orders and jobs
Your customer sees their own orders along with their current status, and can submit new ones. The data comes from the same system you work in, so no second set of records is created.
Documents and invoices
Quotes, packing slips, certificates, drawings and invoices are in one place and stay there. Nobody has to search through a mailbox any more.
Permissions per user
A customer only sees their own data, and within that company the buyer sees something different from the engineer. We set that up per user or per role.
Self-service submission
Let your customer enter details, files or a request themselves. That saves retyping and it saves mistakes, because the source enters it.
A customer portal is usually part of a bigger picture. For the complete overview, see custom business software, or read how we automate the process behind it. If you also want to record your contact with those customers, a custom CRM is the next step.
In practice
Where we have built this before
Two clients with very different customer needs, and the same gain in both cases: less back and forth.
CoatR
For this powder coating plant we wrote the complete business software, from order entry to invoicing. Clients follow their own jobs in it without anyone in the office having to keep an eye on things.
De Huurwoningbemiddelaar
Here, members manage their own registration and details. What used to be separate lists and emails is now one administration that the people concerned can access themselves.
All the full stories can be found among the case studies.
How it works
From first question to a running portal
You do not need to know in advance everything that should go in. That becomes clear from what your customers ask today.
Looking at what gets asked today
We list the questions your customers ask and the documents you send most often. That is the list the portal starts with.
Design and quote
You see the screens and a quote per component, so you decide what goes into the first version and what can wait.
Building and connecting
We build the portal and connect it to the source of your data, whether that is your own system or a package such as MKG or SnelStart.
Rolling out customer by customer
You open the portal to a few customers, listen to what they think and then expand. That way you know it works before everyone is on it.
Frequently asked questions about a customer portal
Can a customer really see only their own data?
Yes. Every user is tied to one customer, and data is filtered on that customer as soon as it is retrieved. Within a company you can also differentiate by role: a buyer sees invoices, an engineer only the jobs.
Does a customer portal work with our accounting or ERP package?
Usually it does. We connect the portal to the package you already use, so that remains the source and the portal only displays it. Where no integration exists, we build one.
Do our customers need to install anything?
No. The portal runs in the browser, on computer, tablet and phone. Your customer logs in with their email address and a password, optionally with an extra verification step.
What does a customer portal cost?
That depends on what needs to go in and where the data comes from. That is why we start with a functional design and a quote per component, so you can decide piece by piece. You will receive a response to your enquiry within 24 hours.
Can we extend the portal later?
Yes. We build on Laravel, so a new component means adding something rather than starting again. Many clients start with documents and orders and later expand to requests and notifications.
Who owns the customer portal?
You do. The system and the source code are yours and you get access to the repository. We do not charge licences per user, so more customers in the portal costs you nothing extra.
Want to know which packages we connect with? See the integrations we provide.
Which question do you get most often?
Tell us what your customers phone about. With no obligation, you will hear what a portal could take over, with a response within 24 hours.