4 signs your business is ready for a Self-Service Portal

Today’s B2B buyers are shaped by the speed, ease, and 24/7 access of B2C, exposing the cracks in traditional B2B aftersales processes. With high-value sales reps stuck with low-impact tasks, large volumes of support tickets impacting response times, and manual order processes slowing everything down, companies need efficient ways to improve aftersales and services without compromising customer experience. 

Contrary to popular belief, offering self-service capabilities doesn’t mean your customers are left to their own devices. In fact, it’s about empowering them with the tools and transparency they expect while turning your aftersales experience into a true extension of your sales strategy.

If your organization is feeling the strain of outdated workflows or noticing effectual shifts in customer behavior, you’re probably closer to needing a self-service portal than you think. In this blog, we explore four clear signs that your digital commerce needs a smarter way to serve unified experiences that span the aftersales journey.

1.Your support teams are stretched thin with repeat requests 

Aftersales service is critical to customer retention. But when your support teams are overwhelmed by repeat inquiries, it becomes harder to deliver timely, high-quality experiences. Customers struggle to get quick answers to basic questions like order status, shipping updates, or invoice copies, leading to frustration and a perceived lack of priority.

Behind the scenes, support teams are encumbered by inefficient workflows and error-prone manual tasks, which inflate the overall cost of service. Even simple requests take too long to resolve as teams jump between siloed systems to find the right information.

A self-service portal helps solve these challenges by giving customers direct access to the answers they need—instantly. From documentation and service history to live order tracking and pricing, a well-designed portal reduces the volume of support inquiries, freeing your teams to focus on more complex, high-value service issues.

The result? Faster support, happier customers, and lower service costs.

2. Your sales team is disconnected from your digital commerce strategy

According to Gartner: “CSOs typically hold a narrow view of digital commerce, defining it as nothing more than a customer self-service online shopping cart. As such, CSOs overlook its potential contribution to revenue goals and rarely involve themselves in the ownership or management of digital commerce initiatives.” *

But seeing as “75% of organizations will complete their highest-revenue deals via digital channels” * by 2028, it’s time for your sales team to shift away from this traditional way of thinking. 

To fully capitalize on its potential, digital commerce must be positioned as a strategic partner to the sales organization. By clearly articulating to your team how digital commerce tools support core sales use cases—like driving value for both buyers and sellers through smarter engagement, deeper insights, and more efficient growth—you can generate higher quality leads, uncover rich buyer insights, and facilitate productive customer engagements that accelerate value realization.

Naturally, this includes aftersales. When digital experiences support the full customer lifecycle, they create more opportunities for upselling and cross-selling by surfacing relevant products and services at exactly the right time. All of this is easier to manage through a self-service portal, which unifies data across your systems, making customer insights accessible so your teams can stop chasing details—and start adding value.

*Gartner ® , Inc. Unlock Revenue Growth With Digitally Enabled Sales Strategies ; Luke Tipping, Mike Lowndes, Aditya Vasudevan; 18 March 2025. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

3. You’re losing deals because of delays or errors 

Prolonged sales cycles have a huge impact on your business. For many companies, inefficient coordination between customer service, sales, and technical support leads to major delays in purchasing decisions.

These delays don’t just affect initial sales—they show up just as often in the aftersales process, where customers expect fast, frictionless service. Whether it’s waiting for a quote on replacement parts, a delayed order update, or errors in post-purchase documentation, small missteps can derail customer confidence and slow down repeat business.

When teams rely on manual handoffs, outdated systems, or scattered information, the risk of error increases, as does the chance of losing future revenue.

A digital self-service portal helps eliminate those delays by giving customers direct access to what they need: orders, claims, and asset management, assisted buying, account-specific pricing, and service appointments. It’s a way to simplify complexity, reduce human error, and keep the momentum going—long after the initial sale is closed.

4. Your business is scaling, but your systems and processes aren’t 

Growth is a good problem to have until your systems and processes can’t keep up. As your business scales, so does the complexity of managing aftersales interactions with more customers, more product variants, more service requests, and more internal pressure on sales and support teams.

But if you’re still relying on manual processes, outdated tech, or siloed systems, scaling only adds friction. Teams get overwhelmed, response times slow, and customer satisfaction takes a hit—just when you should be building long-term loyalty.

A flexible self-service portal can help you grow smarter by giving customers direct access to the information and services they need without increasing operational overhead or overcomplicating your digital commerce set-up. Whether it’s reordering spare parts, checking delivery timelines, or downloading service documentation, customers can help themselves while your teams focus on more strategic work.

Scalable growth requires scalable infrastructure—and aftersales is no exception.

Empower B2B sales with a Self-Service Portal 

If you’re nodding along to any of these signs, you’re not alone—and you’re not behind. Many B2B leaders are in the same position: ready to modernize but not sure where to start.

Want to see what a self-service portal could look like for your business? Learn more about how companies are boosting efficiency, revenue, and customer satisfaction with seamless self-service portals.