Customer Portal

The customer portal is a public-facing page where your customers interact with your business online. It gives them self-service access to view proposals, request estimates, pay invoices, leave reviews, and refer friends -- all without calling your office. The portal is branded with your company identity and accessible at a permanent URL that you share on your website, social media, business cards, and marketing materials.

Portal URL

Your portal is available at:

app.cleanestimate.pro/portal/your-slug

The slug is your unique business identifier, set during onboarding. It appears in all portal links shared with customers. For example, if your company is "Sparkle Clean Pros" and your slug is sparkle-clean, your portal URL would be:

app.cleanestimate.pro/portal/sparkle-clean

The slug cannot be changed after initial setup. Choose a short, recognizable slug that matches your business name or brand.

How Customers Access the Portal

Customers reach your portal through several channels. No account creation or password is required for most features -- customers identify themselves by entering their email address or phone number.

The low-friction access model (no login required for lookups) means customers can interact with the portal immediately without setting up credentials. This dramatically increases usage compared to systems that require account creation.

Viewing Estimates and Proposals

Customers can look up their proposals through the portal's Proposals tab.

How It Works

1. The customer navigates to your portal URL.
2. They select the Proposals tab.
3. They enter their email address or phone number.
4. The portal displays all proposals associated with that contact information.

What the Customer Sees

The proposal list shows:

• Proposal title or number for each estimate.
• Status -- Sent, Viewed, Accepted, or Expired.
• Date sent and expiration date.
• Total amount for each proposal.

Clicking a proposal opens the full proposal view, which includes:

• Detailed service descriptions with scope of work.
• Line-item pricing breakdown.
• Multi-option selections if the proposal includes tiered pricing (e.g., Basic, Standard, Premium).
• Package discount details if applicable.
• Terms and conditions.
• An Accept button with e-signature capture.
• A Download PDF option for the customer's records.

Accepting a Proposal

When the customer clicks Accept, a signature pad appears. The customer signs using their mouse, trackpad, or finger (on mobile devices). After signing:

1. The proposal status changes to "Accepted."
2. You receive a notification that the proposal was accepted.
3. The customer sees a confirmation screen.
4. A job record is created in your system automatically.

This eliminates the back-and-forth of emailing signed documents and accelerates the time from proposal to scheduled job.

Requesting an Estimate

The estimate request form turns your portal into a lead generation tool that operates around the clock.

The Request Form

Customers fill out a form with:

• Contact information -- Name, email address, and phone number.
• Property address -- With optional autocomplete for faster entry.
• Services of interest -- Checkboxes for the service types you offer (house wash, gutter cleaning, window cleaning, etc.).
• Additional notes -- A free-text field where the customer can describe their specific needs, timeline, or concerns.

What Happens After Submission

When a customer submits an estimate request:

1. A new lead is created in your pipeline automatically.
2. The lead source is tagged as "Portal" so you can track portal-generated leads separately.
3. You receive a notification (email or in-app, depending on your notification settings).
4. The customer sees a confirmation message thanking them for their request.

This means a homeowner who visits your website at 10 PM on a Saturday can submit their request immediately. Without the portal, that lead might forget to call on Monday morning.

Response Time

Portal estimate requests are warm leads -- the customer actively sought you out and took the time to fill out a form. Respond within one hour during business hours for the best conversion rates. Configure notifications to alert you immediately when a new portal request arrives.

Making Payments

Customers can pay outstanding invoices directly through the portal. Payments are processed through Stripe, so your Stripe integration must be connected before enabling this feature.

Payment Workflow

1. The customer navigates to the Pay tab on your portal.
2. They enter their email address or invoice number.
3. The portal displays their outstanding invoices with amounts and due dates.
4. The customer selects an invoice and clicks Pay Now.
5. A Stripe-hosted checkout page opens for secure card entry.
6. After successful payment, the invoice status updates to "Paid" automatically.
7. Both the customer and your team receive a payment confirmation email.

Benefits of Portal Payments

• Faster collection. Customers pay immediately without writing a check or calling to read a card number over the phone.
• Reduced friction. The fewer steps between "customer wants to pay" and "payment received," the faster your cash flow.
• Automatic reconciliation. Payments update your invoice records automatically. No manual data entry.
• Security. Stripe handles all card data. You never see or store credit card numbers.

Payment Methods

Stripe supports credit cards, debit cards, and (depending on your Stripe configuration) ACH bank transfers and digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay. The available payment methods are determined by your Stripe account settings.

Leaving Reviews

After a completed job, customers can leave feedback through the portal's Review tab.

Review Flow

1. The customer navigates to the Review tab.
2. They select a star rating from 1 to 5.
3. They write optional feedback in a text area.
4. They submit the review.

Google Review Redirect

If you have configured a Google Review URL in Settings > Account, the portal implements a smart redirect:

• High ratings (4-5 stars): After submitting through the portal, the customer is encouraged to also post their review on Google. A button links directly to your Google Business Profile review page.
• Lower ratings (1-3 stars): The customer's feedback is captured privately through the portal. They are not redirected to Google. This gives you an opportunity to address the concern before it becomes a public negative review.

This approach protects your public reputation while still giving you honest feedback from every customer.

Using Reviews Effectively

• Send a follow-up message with a portal review link within 24 hours of completing a job, while the experience is fresh.
• Respond to all feedback, positive or negative. Customers who leave low ratings through the portal are giving you a chance to fix the problem.
• Track your average rating over time. A declining trend signals a service quality issue.

Submitting Referrals

Referrals are one of the highest-converting lead sources for exterior cleaning businesses. The portal makes it easy for happy customers to refer friends and family.

Referral Form

The referral form on the Refer tab collects:

• Referring customer's information -- Name and email address, used for tracking referral credit.
• Referred person's name -- The friend or family member being referred.
• Referred person's contact -- Email and/or phone number.
• Optional note -- Context about the referral (e.g., "My neighbor just moved in and needs the gutters cleaned").

What Happens After Submission

1. A new lead is created in your pipeline.
2. The lead source is tagged as "Referral" with the referring customer's name recorded.
3. You receive a notification to follow up with the referred person.
4. The referring customer sees a confirmation message.

Tracking Referral Performance

Because the referring customer's name is tracked, you can:

• Identify your top referral sources (which customers refer the most).
• Calculate the lifetime value of referral leads versus other lead sources.
• Implement referral incentive programs and track redemption.

Holiday Lights Portal Tab

If your account has the Holiday Lights module enabled, the portal automatically includes an additional tab for holiday lighting.

Customers can:

• View their holiday lighting proposal with design details.
• See mockups showing how their property will look with lights installed.
• Review zone configurations and light specifications.
• Accept the holiday lighting proposal with an e-signature.

This tab appears only when the Holiday Lights module is active. It is visible to customers who have an active or pending holiday lighting proposal.

Portal Branding

The portal displays your company branding to create a professional, consistent customer experience.

Branding Elements

• Company logo -- Displayed in the portal header.
• Brand colors -- Applied to buttons, headings, links, and accent elements.
• Company name -- Shown in the page header and footer.

If you have multiple brands configured in Settings > Brands, the portal uses your default brand. The branding ensures the portal looks like an extension of your company's website, not a generic third-party tool.

Configuring Portal Features

Go to Settings > Portal to control which features are available on your portal. Each feature has an on/off toggle.

Changes save automatically when you toggle a feature. For detailed portal configuration instructions, see the Portal Settings guide.

Sharing the Portal Effectively

The portal only provides value if customers know about it. Integrate the portal URL into every customer touchpoint.

Website

Add a prominent "Customer Portal" or "Pay Online" button to your website navigation. Place it in the header, footer, or on a dedicated customer resources page.

Print Materials

Include a QR code for the portal URL on:

• Business cards
• Door hangers left after estimates or jobs
• Yard signs placed during active jobs
• Vehicle wraps and magnets
• Flyers, brochures, and direct mail pieces

Email Communications

• Add the portal URL to your team's email signatures.
• Include portal links in estimate emails, invoice emails, and follow-up messages.
• Create a post-job email template that links to the review and referral sections of the portal.

Post-Job Follow-Up

After completing a job, send a single follow-up message that includes links to:

• The Review tab for leaving feedback.
• The Pay tab if there is an outstanding invoice.
• The Refer tab for recommending friends.

This one message can drive reviews, accelerate payment collection, and generate new leads simultaneously.

Tips

• Enable only relevant features. If you do not offer online payments through Stripe yet, do not enable the Pay tab. Empty or broken features erode customer trust.
• Test the portal from a customer's perspective. Open the URL in a private browser window and walk through each feature. Make sure everything works and looks professional.
• Mention the portal to customers. Technology only helps if people use it. Train your team to mention the portal during job completion and follow-up calls.
• Use the referral feature actively. Ask satisfied customers to refer a friend through the portal right after completing their job, while their satisfaction is highest.
• Respond to portal estimate requests quickly. These are warm leads. Aim for a response within one hour during business hours.
• Keep your Google Review URL current. If you change your Google Business Profile, update the URL in settings immediately.
• Track portal metrics. Monitor how many estimate requests, payments, reviews, and referrals come through the portal each month. This data justifies the effort of promoting it.

Troubleshooting

Portal page shows a 404 or "not found" error

Verify your portal slug at Settings > Portal. The URL must match exactly, including case. If the account was recently created, the portal may take a few minutes to become active.

Customer cannot find their proposal

The proposal lookup matches by email or phone number. The customer must enter the same email or phone number that was used when the estimate was created. If they use a different email, no results appear. Check the estimate record to confirm the correct contact information was entered.

Pay Now button is not showing on invoices

Ensure your Stripe integration is connected and active at Settings > Billing. If Stripe is connected but the button still does not appear, check that the invoice status is "Sent" or "Outstanding." Draft invoices are not available for payment through the portal.

Google Review redirect is not working

Verify that the Google Review URL is configured at Settings > Account. The URL must be the direct review link for your Google Business Profile, not your general business listing URL. You can find this link in your Google Business Profile dashboard under "Get more reviews."

Referral form submissions are not creating leads

Check that the Referrals toggle is enabled at Settings > Portal. If the toggle is on but leads are not appearing in your pipeline, check the leads list with the source filter set to "Portal" or "Referral." The leads may be created but filtered out of your default view.

Portal looks unbranded or uses default styling

Verify that your company logo and brand colors are configured at Settings > Brands. The portal pulls branding from your default brand. If no brand is configured, the portal uses generic default styling.