Setting Up the Customer Portal and Inviting Your Customers

Overview

The Customer Portal gives your customers a self-service view of the work you do for them. From the portal, your customers can:

• Sign proposals electronically

• Pay their invoices

• View upcoming and past visits to their properties

• View pending and past requests for their properties

• Manage the payment methods they have on file

This reduces the need for direct contact on routine tasks and gives your customers more visibility into their business with your organization. It also frees your time to focus on customer service and supporting your internal teams.

This article explains how to turn on, configure, and customize the Customer Portal, and how to invite your customers to it.

Turning on the Customer Portal in Administration

Follow these steps to turn on the Customer Portal.

1. Select your profile icon in the left navigation pane, then select Administration.

    

   

2. Go to Administration > Configuration > Customer Portal.

   

3. Turn on the Enable Customer Portal toggle.
   

4. After you turn on the Customer Portal, you can configure it to fit your needs.

Branch-level configuration checkbox

Select the Enable Branch-Level Configuration checkbox to set up separate Customer Portals for the different Branches of your company. This is useful when you manage multiple branches with properties that accept electronic payments.

When the checkbox is selected, use the Branch menu to choose the Branch you're configuring the Customer Portal for.

Branches that already have an active Customer Portal display a checkmark in the menu.

Setting up additional Customer Portals for more than one branch

When you select Enable Branch-Level Configuration, each branch gets a unique, custom URL and needs its own portal invitations, which you send. This makes invoices and other documents easier for customers to understand when they have properties in more than one of your branches.

To set up multiple Customer Portals with different logos and branding colors, follow the same configuration process for each Branch. You configure each Branch's Customer Portal individually.

For example, if Camilla Sailor has properties in both the Main Branch and the West Branch, she needs an invitation to both Customer Portals. After she accepts each invitation, she bookmarks each URL so she can reach each property's invoices, proposals, and more.

Repeat the steps in this article for as many branches as you need to configure.

Using only the system branch invitation

If you want your customers to see all of their properties in one Customer Portal, with your company's main logo and design, and without using multiple branch URLs, send the System Branch invitation only.

For example, Camilla Sailor has two properties: Meadow Ridge, serviced by the Main Branch, and Alora's Place, serviced by the West Branch. You plan to use only the System Customer Portal because the branding, logos, and messaging are the same across all of your Branches. You send Camilla her Customer Portal invitation, and she views all of her properties in the same Customer Portal. She only needs one login, which is easier for her to remember.

If you need your customers to review properties in separate portals, each with its own design and logo, set up the portals individually as described in the previous section.

Creating the Customer Portal invitation email

Before your customers can use the Customer Portal, create the email invitation they receive. Enter information in the following fields.

Customer Portal subdomain

The subdomain appears in the URL you give your customers to reach the portal. We recommend using your company name.

The following example shows a Customer Portal URL after a subdomain is added.

Customer Portal link description

The Customer Portal Link Description field controls the hyperlink text your customer sees in the invitation email body. The text you enter becomes the clickable link.

For example, entering "Click here to accept your Portal invite" displays that phrase in the body of the invitation email instead of the URL. The following example shows the link description in use.

Invitation email subject

Next, set up the Invitation Email Subject.

 

To personalize the invitation, select the magnifying glass icon to insert a token. The preceding example uses the Contact Name token, which pulls from the customer's contact record.

When the customer receives the invitation, the subject line includes the contact name from the record you sent it to. For John Smith, the subject reads: "John Smith, you've been invited to the Customer Portal".

Invitation email body

Next, set up the Email Body your customer receives.

• Write an email body your customer can understand at a glance.

• Use tokens to personalize the message.

• To link to the Resource Center for the Customer Portal, use https://guide.youraspire.com/customer-portal. This helps customers who are using the portal for the first time.

The example email below uses the Contact Name and Customer Portal Link tokens.

The design settings for the Customer Portal are on the same screen. Scroll down in the Administration window to reach the Customize section.

Designing your Customer Portal in the Customize section

The Customize section of the Customer Portal screen controls how the portal looks to your customers when they sign in. Use it to set your company or branch branding.

You can preview every setting in the Preview section in real time, for both desktop and mobile layouts.

Header subtab

Start with the Header subtab to set the branding of your Customer Portal.

Background color

Set the Background Color for headers with a hex code, or select the color square to open the color selection tool.

In the following example, the hex code changes the header color from the default blue to green.

Logo

Select the image under the header to upload your company or branch logo.

Use an image saved on your desktop, or take a new picture.

• We recommend a 3:2 (300 x 200 pixels) or 3:3 (300 x 300 pixels) ratio.

• Any size works, but Aspire condenses the image to fit the header.

Select Save to finish uploading your logo.

After the image uploads, it displays in the Logo section and in the Preview section.

Page title

Set an optional Page Title, which can serve as a welcome message. It's also a good place to add your company or Branch name when the logo doesn't include it, as in the following example.

Homepage subtab

The next subtab in the Customize section is Homepage.

Four checkboxes control which sections display in your portal. Select or clear them based on what you want your customers to see.

• Show Requests — Select this checkbox to let your customers see and respond to their Issues, which display as Requests in the Customer Portal.

• Show Invoices — Select this checkbox to let your customers see and pay toward their invoices.

• Show Proposals — Select this checkbox to let your customers view and sign proposals in the Customer Portal.

• Show Visits — Select this checkbox to let your customers see upcoming and past visits for their properties.

Carousel

Use the Carousel section for optional marketing. It isn't required, but it's a simple way to display messaging, photos, and more.

You can also add up to three custom images, or mix the Default Welcome Graphic with your own images.

Add Headlines in the Carousel section to display text over each image. Use headlines for system-wide messages, greetings, new service promotions, or review requests.

You can also add an Image URL so that selecting the image redirects your customer to an external page, such as your company website.

Colors subtab

Use the Colors subtab to set the primary color for buttons and links in your Customer Portal. Enter a hex code or use the color selection tool.

In the following example, the default primary color changes to blue. After you enter the hex code, the change displays in the preview.

Settings subtab

The final subtab of the Customize section is Settings.

Service contact

The Service Contact section lets you display either the Office Number or the Mobile Number to customers in the Customer Portal, so they can reach your team.

• The Mobile Number displayed on Proposals and Invoices belongs to the Sales Rep tied to the opportunity.

• The Mobile Number displayed for Requests and Issues belongs to the Account Owner tied to the property.

Select which phone numbers are visible. By default, no numbers display.

Pricing display options

Select the Display Detailed Service Pricing checkbox to make each service's price details visible on proposals and invoices. To show lump sum or bulk pricing instead, leave the checkbox cleared.

Payment section

The Payment section controls the accepted payment types, whether customers can make partial payments, and the minimum and maximum payment amounts.

Accept Partial Payments

Turn on the Accept Partial Payments toggle to offer flexible payments on invoices. Turn it on before you set maximum amount limits.

Payment types

Depending on your company's billing preferences, you can accept ACH or Card payments. Set the accepted payment types in this section.

ACH — Select the ACH checkbox if you accept ACH payments. You can also set a minimum or maximum ACH payment amount, which is useful when Accept Partial Payments is turned on.

Card — Select the Card checkbox if you accept card payments. You can also set a minimum or maximum Card payment amount.

Understanding when content appears in the Customer Portal

After an estimate or invoice batch is marked complete, proposals and invoices become available to publish to the Customer Portal, based on their workflows.

For proposals

Printing proposals

Follow these steps to publish a proposal when you print it.

1. Go to an opportunity, select the three-dot icon to open the action menu, then select Print Proposal.
   

   

2. At the bottom of the Report Settings window, select the Publish Proposal in Customer Portal checkbox.

   

3. Select Print. The proposal becomes available in the Customer Portal.

To use an internal layout instead, or when the proposal isn't ready for customer review, leave the checkbox cleared.

Emailing proposals

Emailing proposals follows the same process.

The Email Opportunity Proposal window includes a Publish Proposal in Customer Portal checkbox.

If you republish a proposal that's already in the portal, Aspire displays a message with the timestamp of the previous publish, the layout name, and who published it.

For invoices

Invoices are published to the Customer Portal when an invoice batch is completed.

1. Go to the Invoicing module.

2. On the Invoice Batches tab, complete the batch. On the Complete Batch screen, Aspire publishes invoices to the Customer Portal automatically as part of the batch completion process.

Publishing invoices to the Customer Portal lets your customers view the invoices included in their balance and submit payment using the available payment options.

To update the invoice layout after publishing, republish the invoice using a different layout. At that point, you can choose whether to publish the updated version to the Customer Portal.

Inviting your customers to your Customer Portal

Requirements

• You've set up your Customer Portal in Administration.

• The Bulk Email Contacts and Send Customer Portal Invitation permissions are turned on for the user sending the invitations.

Sending Customer Portal invitations

Send portal invitations from the Contacts module using the Bulk Actions feature. This process is the same whether you have one Customer Portal or several.

1. Select the checkboxes next to the contacts you want to invite, then select the Bulk Actions menu.

2. Select Send Customer Portal Invite.
   

   

3. Edit the template email if you need to. The default email comes from what you set up in Administration, and the sender address is the user sending the invitation.
   

   

4. Select Send.

When you have multiple portals set up, the Branch menu displays so you can set which invitation goes to the customers you selected. When you have only one Customer Portal, this defaults to System Portal.

You can send portal invitations more than once, which helps when customers lose the original invitation or never activate their accounts.

Verifying whether your customer has signed up

When a customer says they can't get into their account, first check whether they've accepted their invitation.

1. In the Contacts module, add a Display to include Customer Portal Verified, then select Save.

   

2. Review the new column. It shows the name of the Branch a Customer Portal account was created for.

When Branch setup isn't used, verified customers display System in this column. When a customer is verified for multiple Branch Customer Portals, the column lists each Branch name.

Troubleshooting

Customers sometimes report challenges while using the Customer Portal. Use the following scenarios to identify and resolve the most common issues.

For additional problems, contact AspireCare for further troubleshooting steps and resources.

Cannot view payment methods

When a customer has no saved payment methods, no payment methods display in the portal. Tell your customer to add one of the following ways:

1. Go to the User Profile, select Manage Payments, then select Add a Payment Method.

2. While viewing a due invoice, select Pay Invoice, then select Add a Payment Method on the Invoice Payment screen.

For both options, your customer enters a valid card number, expiration month and year, and CVV.

If the problem continues, an Aspire user can save a payment method to the customer's Contact in Aspire. To do this, request support from AspireCare.

Unable to view expected content in the portal

Content that doesn't appear in the portal usually points to incorrect associations in Aspire. To troubleshoot:

1. Verify the customer's Contact is associated with the related property as either the Primary or Billing Contact. Without this association, the customer can't reach the property's content. Primary and Billing Contacts can view and manage Proposals, Invoices, and Requests.

2. Confirm the content was published to the Customer Portal:

   • Proposals and Invoices must be printed or emailed to display in the portal.

   • Issues must have the Include Client checkbox selected, and comments must be marked Public.

Haven't received the email invitation

Customers must be invited to the Customer Portal to interact with proposals, view and pay invoices, and more. If your customer hasn't received an invitation:

1. Verify whether the customer is Customer Portal Verified. Go to Contact Advanced Search and add the Customer Portal Verified display field. Verified customers who already created a Customer Portal account can't receive another invitation. In that case, give the customer the email address on their contact record and have them follow the portal's password reset steps.

2. Confirm the invitation email and the sender's email are configured correctly in Aspire. For more information, visit Syncing Your Email and Calendar to Aspire.

3. Have the customer check their spam or junk folder. Email providers sometimes filter these invitations when they don't recognize the sender address.

Can't reset their password

When customers have trouble resetting their password:

1. Verify the customer entered the correct email address in the Forgot Password field. If they're unsure which address was used, check their Contact. The email tied to the Customer Portal profile is always the address on the contact record, even if it changed after the portal profile was created.

2. Have the customer check their spam or junk folder. Customers can add noreply@youraspire.com to their approved sender list to reduce the chance of the reset email being rejected or filtered.

Next steps

Now that you've set up the Customer Portal, visit You've Set It Up, Now What? Your Customer Portal Explained to learn how the portal works from your customer's perspective.