There has been a strong trend lately in B2B services where customers are gravitating towards embracing their own customized and preferred experience.
Businesses are increasingly realizing that they must create a customized and preferred experience for their customers to grow. This realization is forcing businesses to rethink their business models, customer journeys, and even their entire organization to meet the needs of today’s consumers.
The key is knowing what customers want and then meeting it head on with a personalized experience. And this is what we will discuss here: How self-service will help you take your business to the next level.
Let’s dive into it.
What is a Self-Service Portal?
A self-service portal allows customers to make purchases without the need for a salesperson. It is typically used by small businesses and startups to reduce the cost of customer service, increase sales, and improve customer satisfaction.
The main idea behind a self-service portal is to provide small businesses an interface that makes it easy for customers to find what they want, purchase it, and pay for it.
Customers have now embraced customizable experiences like the quickness of Amazon and the shopping experiences and self-checkout on websites like eBay. Another example of self-service is when customers shop and then check out themselves by scanning products, bagging groceries, and submitting payment. Needless to say, there has been an overwhelming push for self-service just in the last decade.
Several B2B owners are now attuned to the idea that developers can give them the opportunity to design their own experience. The challenge is how to prevent these types of experiences from being too highly personalized and thus becoming commoditized.
Which components can be turned into Self-Service events?
The main value that comes with self-service and the value of portals is that it allows the customers to be controlling their outcomes and investments. This puts control and power back in the hands of the consumer and gives them a say in the outcome, making them feel powerful and as if they made a valuable contribution rather than just portraying typical and expected actions. Here are a few events that can well be self-serving:
Paying invoices online
If you run a business, you must set up a self-serving online payment option for your customers. This will streamline the flow of money for your company and minimize potential errors. By setting up a self-serving online payments system, you can sell more because customers can pay easily and securely without going to a teller or mailing a check.
Checking stock inventory
Self-serving events are critical to gauge the success a company has in terms of how much inventory they have. It will also be beneficial for the store owner to make sure that their stock is fresh. To determine how much product is available in a given location, sales can be monitored, and replenishment patterns can be established. This will help to ensure that stores are always fully stocked and ready to go when they open each day.
Checking order status
Checking the order status of your orders is important for getting accurate delivery estimates and tracking your packages. Your customers would likely be inclined to have this feature on their site.
Requesting samples
The event will be a way for potential clients to get a better understanding of your company and the services you provide. It will also give members of your team an opportunity to show off what they can do.
As B2B e-Commerce becomes more popular, it’s imperative that businesses understand the best ways to provide information to their customers. Giving your customers the ability to handle tasks of this nature will, eventually, reduce the amount of money you need to spend to take care of them.
Unlock your e-commerce with UnlockCommerce
Many manufacturers and distributors are reluctant to adopt e-commerce because their success has been based on personal relationships. They fear that e-commerce will jeopardize this. E-commerce can help strengthen relationships by allowing businesses to be there when customers actually need them.
Self-service is increasingly digital-first. Because they have additional information, e-commerce sales staff aren’t a separate offline channel. They require tools and commercial experience to provide excellent customer service.
Self-service options don’t mean you lose sight of your customers; rather, you gain a different kind of insight. As a result of e-commerce, your sales staff is freed from the burden of keeping records. Additionally, B2B-specific e-commerce solutions can provide you with data on your customers regardless of whether their purchases were made through your website. B2B will never be fully self-serve, even though self-service can have a significant impact on your bottom line and customer satisfaction.
The key is to put money into a product designed with the complexities of business-to-business trade in mind, one that can handle omnichannel sales effectively.
Using a unique “extend-and-surround” approach, UnlockCommerce builds all types of experiences and capabilities over your existing NetSuite account (portals with basic reporting, self -service, user management, search and much more.)
UnlockCommerce’s NetSuite Self-Service portals are a true plug-and-play solution for your business, offering a host of capabilities for your customers.
Fast and easy to use
These portals are easy to set up, integrate with your existing NetSuite account, and use – so you can start delivering value quickly. And when you require support, our dedicated staff is on hand 24/7.
True plug-and-play solutions that meet your needs
With the right amount of customization and control, these portals can fit into any business model and scale with ease.
NetSuite-powered
With a powerful platform like NetSuite, we can build anything from simple customer self-service to more complex content management systems. Our portal experts are here to help you with your portal needs, and they can be reached at any time during business hours.
All-in-One solution
Connect and engage your customers with your NetSuite portal. Our self-service portal is a one-of-a-kind solution that can be used by anyone. The self-service portal is perfect for any company of any size. It allows you to quickly develop portals that meet your needs without the need for dedicated staff, limiting costs and complexity.
At UnlockCommerce we are proud to offer a unique approach to expose NetSuite Backend Data into a front end experience in real-time.
Learn more about UnlockCommerce Self-Service Portals, or head here if you would like to talk to us.
