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How to Create a Logistics Customer Portal
Submitted by anonymous » Wed 03-Mar-2021, 01:58Subject Area: Software Engineeering | 1 member rating |
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What can help you create software aligned with your business?
To build a customer portal, some companies mistakenly follow the strategy of creating customer applications identical to the apps of their rivals. Unfortunately, this strategy has a high risk of failure, since it doesn’t take into consideration the specificity of a company’s business processes and customers’ needs.
To build an application that meets the needs of your customers and is perfectly aligned with your business processes, you should conduct thorough analysis of your business processes and existing software solutions. Here are some questions you should ask yourself to define the requirements for your customer portal:
1. What are the most common questions customers ask your logistics agents?
Survey your employees on the most common questions and problems your customers bring to the support team. This will help you define the top priorities for your customer portal. Do employees have problems accessing invoices or bills of lading? Then creating a convenient document database should be a high priority.
2. Is it convenient for your employees to use your existing software?
Interview your employees about the convenience of using existing software. What functionality do existing solutions cover and what tasks should your logistics managers do manually?
Create a list of problems your employees encounter when using the software. Analyze the potential causes of mistakes and data losses. Also, define what processes could be automated.
3. How is information stored and processed?
Before your customers can access the information they need in the customer portal, ensure that information is effectively stored and processed on your TMS or ERP software. How do agents collect and change information about shipments? What software do they use for these purposes? Are there any risks of a data breach? How do your employees gather information for reports and exchange data between operating units? Answer these questions to find possible room for improvements for storing and exchanging data.
4. How can customers access shipment information?
Do your agents send shipment information manually via email or is it sent automatically? How do they notify your customers about delays or arrivals? Define the most favorable communication channels and the format in which information will be sent to users. Also, pay close attention to integration with your existing software so information is immediately changed and sent to the customer portal via a safe communication channel.
As you can see, building a successful customer portal is impossible without internal software (like a TMS, WMS, or ERP) that works like a clock. If you want to create a custom client portal that integrates with third-party solutions or create both a TMS and customer portal, you can rely on us. Yalantis has solid experience creating logistics software even under tight deadlines as well as integrating custom software with existing solutions.
You can learn more about what we can do for logistics companies or contact us directly to discuss a solution tailored to your particular needs.
Visit our full guide to master your logistics software development skills
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