A Client Portal is a commonly used term that often doesn’t fully capture its essence. It’s more than just a simple application it’s the control tower of your logistics operation, where you can plan, monitor, and manage everything in an organized manner. From this central hub, you can see everything at a glance, ensuring more structure, less chaos, and smoother processes. While many TMS and WMS providers offer portals, these solutions often lack critical functionalities since it’s not their core business. Additionally, they are often outdated and unable to seamlessly integrate with sources like fleet management, storage, and warehouse activities. 

In this blog, you’ll discover:

• How a Client Portal not only provides visibility but also helps companies transition from reactive to proactive operations;
• How the Client Portal functions as an order management platform and control tower for internal teams;
• How Simply Deliver successfully addresses these challenges.

What a Client Portal should do

An effective Client Portal should offer much more than just visibility. It should serve as a central place where you have full control over your logistics processes. With just one dashboard, it should be possible to manage all aspects of your supply chain visibility, from real-time tracking of goods flows to streamlining order entry. This prevents you from wasting time and energy on cumbersome manual processes. Additionally, a well-designed portal saves significant time by enabling internal teams to work faster and more efficiently. As we all know: time is money. The beauty is that this ultimately results in cost savings.

In short, a modern Client Portal is indispensable. Below, you’ll discover what Simply Deliver believes a good portal should offer:

• Proactive information provision

Customers can not only view the status of orders but also access information about inventory, CO2 reports, service levels, and KPIs. This not only helps to quickly answer customer inquiries but also enables customers to take action based on real-time data. This increases customer satisfaction while simultaneously reducing the workload on internal departments like customer service. Proactive notifications ensure customers are informed before they even need to ask.

• Flexibility

Customer needs can vary greatly depending on their specific activities. A portal must be versatile enough to handle everything from ADR transports with strict safety standards to consumer-focused shipments requiring fast delivery times. This means the portal must not only be scalable but also support configurations tailored to the unique requirements of each customer. This flexibility ensures the portal remains relevant for diverse customer segments.

• Self-service

With an intuitive interface, customers gain direct access to crucial data, enabling them to make decisions faster. They can check statuses, download documents, or make changes without relying on customer service. This not only increases self-sufficiency but also speeds up processes and improves efficiency. Additionally, users can easily adjust settings, such as configuring alerts and determining which data is relevant to them. Customers can even manage user groups and personalize the portal for their clients. This ensures everyone has the exact information they need for smooth operations.

• AI chatbot: access to instant information

Simply Deliver has integrated an AI-driven chatbot into the portal, giving users effortless access to critical information without navigating complex menus. With this chatbot, customers can easily ask questions about topics like track and trace, truck details, inventory insights, reference numbers, bookings, rates, and license plates. The intuitive chat environment similar to ChatGPT provides customers with quick and accurate information. This makes the process more efficient and reduces time investment, resulting in an improved customer experience.

• Custom notifications

Our portal enables companies to set up alerts tailored to their customers’ needs. Customers receive only the information relevant to them, such as updates on delayed deliveries, arrival times, or inventory discrepancies. This self-sufficiency reduces the need for manual follow-up and strengthens customer trust.

• Control tower functionality

The portal serves as a central hub where various data streams converge in one dashboard. This allows companies to not only monitor all logistics processes in one place but also take immediate action. Whether it’s rescheduling a delivery or resolving an incident, the portal provides the tools to stay proactive.

• Step-by-step innovation

Simply Deliver believes in an iterative approach where companies don’t need to implement major changes all at once. Our portal can be introduced step by step, ensuring a smooth transition and minimizing risks. This allows companies to see quick results without jeopardizing operational continuity.