How a B2B Customer Portal Drives Sales Growth (Guide)

To grow a business, striving for continuous growth in clientele is necessary. However, companies often neglect existing customer relationships in the quest for rapid client acquisition.

Result? 

• Reduced client loyalty
• Customer churn 
• Decrease in CLV and sales
• Increased acquisition cost

In today’s article, we walk you through how a customer portal specially curated for your B2B clients can skyrocket your sales. 
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Short on Time? Here Are the Key Takeaways

• Most B2B customers opt for self-service before contacting other support channels, so implementing a B2B customer portal is essential.
• They ensure increased sales by nurturing existing relationships with greater convenience, boosting upselling, cross-selling, and word-of-mouth.
• Some key features to look for in your B2B commerce customer portal include customizable product catalogs, self-service accounts and inventory management with real-time stock updates, collaborative documents, integrations with existing tools, reporting, and data compliance.
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What is a B2B Customer Portal?

A B2B customer portal is an online self-service platform that allows businesses to interact and transact with their industrial customers. While B2C customer portals are designed for individual customers, B2B portals cater to the needs of your client businesses, streamlining all communications.

The primary goal of implementing a B2B customer portal is to elevate customer relationships with seamless transactions, upgrades, and purchases through one centralized platform. It also gives your busy B2B clients access to quick customer services like live ticketing, incident management, resolution tracking, and FAQs.

Moreover, B2B customer portals facilitate direct communication between businesses and customers with built-in chat systems, notifications, and updates.
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7 Benefits of B2B Customer Portals

A customer portal is important for every growth-focused B2B venture as they: 

1. Enhance the customer experience by letting them access product and purchase information, place orders, and manage their accounts conveniently.  
2. Minimize the need for manual intervention, reduces errors and saves time. You no longer have to worry about misplacing data. 
3. Save operational costs associated with direct customer service and paperwork. You won’t have to hire an extensive in-house team; the portal will handle all your customer queries. 
4. Automate processes like order management, invoice generation, bill delivery, and support to boost efficiency. For instance, if someone just placed an order, their invoice will be generated instantly without manual intervention.
5. Ensure your operations are scalable while maintaining a consistent and on-brand experience for every customer.
6. Give your clients direct access to your B2B eCommerce catalog and pricing, reducing inquiry time and accelerating the sales cycle.
7. Boost satisfaction and loyalty with the efficiency of a unified commerce platform, letting clients pick and choose products and services they need. For example, one can purchase 50 baskets, get one-day delivery services, and pay via Paypal with a B2B commerce platform.
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Key Features of an Innovative B2B Customer Portal

Implementing a B2B customer portal offers many benefits. However, you need an innovative platform that is aligned with your unique business needs.

How? Look for the following B2B eCommerce features:

• Detailed product catalog: You must be able to set up your B2B store with detailed product listings with high-quality images, feature specifications, and price breakdowns. Offer support product suggestions to boost upselling and cross-selling. Advanced search and filtering are also necessary to simplify the user journey.
• Self-service account management: 60% of software users prefer self-service. So, ensure your clients can manage their accounts and B2B shopping carts independently with purchasing history insights, billing, real-time inventory status, shipping details, order status, notifications on stock updates, a B2B shopping cart, etc.
• Integration: You should be able to integrate it with your existing CRM, ERP, your sales automation platform, and all your current legacy systems, including workflow validation, in order to have all the data in one place and streamline your workflow.
• Collaboration tools: Features like shared document viewing, collaborative cart, and communication channels are essential to keeping your client company's stakeholders on the same page.
• Mobile accessibility: Choose a platform with a mobile version of the portal to offer all the necessary details at your client’s fingertips.
• Reporting: Ensure analytics and reporting features that monitor key metrics like order volume per quarter, order fulfillment patterns, product usage, etc.

For example, DJUST offers B2B commerce solutions with customer portals that can easily be integrated with any back-end system. You can set up personalized custom catalogs and pricing, catering to your unique client needs. Your B2B customers can control roles and permissions and track quotes and orders.
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What to Include in Your B2B Customer Portal 

Apart from the above-mentioned features, here are a few non-negotiables that a successful B2B customer portal should include:

• Order management: Allow customers to place, track, and manage orders easily. For instance, a manufacturing client should be able to log in to the portal, view their customized catalog, place a large order for various components, and then easily track the status of each item - from processing to shipping.
• Real-time delivery tracking: Provide up-to-date information on shipment status and estimated arrival times. Also, this feature should integrate with your logistics partners to offer precise location data, potential delays, and delivery confirmations.
• Incident management: Implement a system for reporting and resolving issues promptly. For example, if a pharmaceutical distributor receives a damaged shipment, they should be able to immediately log the issue in the portal, upload photos, and track the resolution process.
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Top B2B Customer Portal Platforms  

Can’t decide between the plethora of available B2B commerce platforms? 

Here are 4 of the best B2B customer portal examples worth your consideration:

1. DJUST

First on the list is our very own headless eCommerce platform, DJUST. From easy account management to omnichannel customer experience, our platform offers everything you need to set up a B2B store with self-service features.

We let you personalize your catalogs and set up product recommendations for individual clients. Your customers can manage their everyday tasks anytime, anywhere. Moreover, you can prove the value you put in your client’s time with quick order and payment features. 

Top Features: 

• Custom catalogs and pricing: For instance, different colors of the same wall paint can have different prices. You can also place a discount on the colors that aren't selling well to clear out your stock.
• Automated processes: From order initiation, invoice generation, and order validation, you can automate everything with DJUST. Let’s assume a client of yours placed an order. They will first receive an initiation request, then they will have to validate their order, and lastly, receive an invoice. All of this would take place without any manual interventions at all. 
• Omnichannel customer experience: With DJUST, customers can start their journey in-store, continue browsing on their tablet at home, and complete their purchase on a computer - all while their data and order information remain synchronized across all platforms. 
• Live order tracking: From packaging to delivery, your clients will be able to check where their orders are, even through their phones. 
• API integrations: 100+ API integrations with your B2B PIM (Product Information Management), CRM (Customer Relationship Management), ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), and other sales and back-end tools. Personalize your platform with as many modifications as you want; DJUST will let you easily integrate them.  

Pros: 

• Streamlines the complexities of B2B transactions with end-to-end user automation.
• Facilitates incident management by letting clients autonomously report a problem with an order or an item from a dedicated space.
• Centralizes client accounts, enhancing order visibility and driving sales growth.  
• Features like live tracking and order modifications make your client’s life easier, elevating satisfaction and loyalty. 

Pricing: Get in touch with our team to book a demo and get a custom quote as per your requirements.
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2. Copilot

Next up on our list of best B2B customer portal software is Copilot. It offers advanced permission controls, bill generation, file sharing, contract and form management, etc.

Top features: 

• Built-in messaging app and billing app
• Dedicated and collaborative files and contracts sections
• Integration with Zapier and Make

Pros: 

• User-friendly interface 
• Zapier and Make automation elevate workflow efficiency
• Affordable for small B2B ventures

Cons: 

• Separate apps for each feature can get confusing 
• The features aren’t advanced enough compared to the alternatives

Pricing:

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3. Salesforce Commerce Cloud

Another impressive client management platform with a B2B customer portal is Salesforce’s Commerce Cloud. 

Suitable for small B2B businesses and enterprises alike, this customer portal tool by Salesforce lets you launch your digital storefront in just a few steps and automate sales across the entire customer lifecycle. 

Top features: 

• Out-of-the-box site design 
• Merchandising tools
• Einstein Product Recommendations
• A customizable network of 8000+ partner apps

Pros:

• The progressive web app technology fosters faster page loads and a smoother browsing experience
• The extensive API integrations lets you manage high-scale events like flash sales and Cyber Week easily.

Cons: 

• Not beginner friendly
• Enterprise level pricing

Pricing: You can contact their sales team for a custom quote
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4. Moxo

Lastly, we have Moxo, which offers a clear view of every project, contract, and order with its comprehensive B2B customer portal. 

Top features: 

• Automated onboarding 
• Content personalization 
• Template playbooks
• Integration with tools like HubSpot, Slack, and Zoom

Pros:

• Beginner friendly
• Extensive integrations facilitate collaboration

Cons: 

• Limited customization 

Pricing: Moxo offers a subscription plan for workflows and one for client portals. Contact their sales team for a custom quote.
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The Bottom Line

Your B2B clients are here for business, and self-service is their primary choice. They don’t want to jump through hoops for sales calls and emails to fulfill their needs. 

Implementing a B2B client portal solves this problem with greater flexibility, transparency, and convenience. 

Ensure your chosen client portal software is scalable and compliant with data security measures. It should have the necessary automation, integrations with important sales tools, and enough customization to fit your business needs like a glove.

Finally, chalk out the funds you can spare to set up a client portal, compare prices and features, and go for the one that checks all the boxes, like our enterprise headless commerce platform - DJUST. Request a demo and see for yourself!