The client portal
Where the client looks, instead of ringing you
Why this one matters
Clients ring because they cannot see. Every "how is it going" call is a few minutes of your afternoon spent describing something a photograph would have answered on its own.
Give them one address with the photos, the drawings, their selections and what they owe, and the calls mostly stop — not because you have put them off, but because they already know.
What you will see
- What the client sees when they open their own job
- Progress photos from site appearing without anybody emailing them
- Variations put in front of them to approve in writing
- Claims and what is outstanding, in one place
What was said
The narration, word for word, for anyone who would rather read it than watch it — or who is on a train.
The client portal is your client's view of their job. One link, and everything they need is in one place.
Variations to sign. Progress claims. The documents you've chosen to share. Colour selections. And upgrades, if you've switched them on.
The client reads a variation and signs it online. It comes back to you approved, with the date it was signed.
They choose their colours and finishes here, and ask questions against any item.
Only the documents you tick are shown. The rest stay private.
Every decision made here is recorded, so the question of who agreed to what has a clear answer.
The home page gives the client the whole job at a glance: how many selections are made, a claim waiting for payment, what is happening on site now, and their open defects. Most of the questions they would have rung you about are answered here.
It works both ways. The client reports defects with photos, and they arrive in your Defects list marked as from the client. Their messages arrive in your Messages, kept with the job instead of in someone's inbox.
On their selections, the client can filter to what is still to choose, ask a question about any item, or tell you none of the options work for them, so you hear about it before the item is ordered.
And a variation does not have to be approved. The client can come back with questions or decline it, download the PDF for their records, and see every variation on the job in one list.
Doing it, rather than watching it
This page is the tour. When you are in SmarteBuild with a job open and need the detail — every option, every exception, the things the video had no time for — the help centre has the full article.
The client portal — the full reference
Read about it instead: Client Portal · Variations · Colour Selection
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