What it means
A portal replaces the emails a client would otherwise send: where is the project, has the invoice been paid, what happened to my ticket. The client signs in, sees what belongs to their own account and acts on it themselves, paying, approving or raising a request, without waiting for someone on your team to reply.
It is different from a shared folder or a help centre. A folder holds files with no status, and a help centre answers questions in general. A portal is about one client’s own work with you, and it changes as that work does.
Why it matters when you choose software
A portal is only as current as the data behind it. If it reads from a copy, clients see last night’s status and phone to check. If it reads from the records your team works on, the portal and the team cannot disagree.
It also changes the cost of serving clients. A portal priced per user turns every new client into a line on your bill. One that is included lets you give it to all of them.
Questions to ask a vendor
- Does the portal read the records our team works on, or a synced copy?
- Can an internal note ever reach the client’s view?
- Are portal users charged for, and is there a limit on them?
- Can it carry our name and logo rather than the vendor’s?
- Can clients pay and sign there, or only look?
- What can a client send us through it?
How Cyril approaches it
Cyril’s client portal is live in the product. Clients see their projects, tickets, invoices, proposals and shared documents, pay invoices by card through Stripe or Revolut, sign proposals and raise tickets. A ticket in the portal is the same ticket your team works on, shown without internal notes, and a client only ever sees their own account. The portal carries your logo and colour, and portal users are free and unlimited on every plan.