Ben Henderson
Do you have Wow Factor?
ReposeCreative is a WordPress design company based in Cambridgeshire, UK. Check out Ben's website - you can see "Client Login" on his main menu. This is Client Portal! He's allowing clients to gain access right through his website. You can do this too!
Q & A with Ben
Q: Ben, what made you look for a solution like Client Portal?
A: A combination of two main problems; that thing where you land a client, start working your socks off on the project and they don't hear anything from you for several weeks. It makes it seem like you're taking the deposit money and running straight off to the next client. I was looking for an easy to access way for the client to see different bits of information develop with the project without me having to pester them or go to the extra admin overhead of keeping them up to date.
The client portal allows me to link the client to the different systems I use (like task boards etc.) so they can see progress happening. I even put the link to our development environment so that if they want to, they can watch us develop their site in full view.
Q: How do your clients like having all of their assets in one place?
A: My invoicing software notifies me when a client views the invoice, and so far I've had several old invoices viewed without anyone asking me for the link - so that's already several emails that the portal has saved me!
Q: How are you using Client Portal?
A: The client gets access to their Dropbox project folder, questionnaire forms, invoices and contracts, and a direct link to the Asana project. I also develop in full view, so have links to the staging environment of the project which allows clients to see things taking shape as I build. That's sometimes a nerve-wracking concept but certainly helps a client see that you're working on their project, even if there's been no direct communication for a week.
Design in full view
You heard it right - Ben is designing in full view of his clients! WOW! You can see this in the image above in Phase 2. The Staging URL is where his clients can watch the site build.
This is a brilliant use of Client Portal. Ben keeps all of his client information at fingertip reach for both him and his clients. His clients can see actual progress without interfering with Ben's creative process.
Ben Henderson