Your Ultimate Guide to Supplier Portal

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Your Ultimate Guide to Supplier Portal
Effective supplier management is critical for the
success of procurement organizations. But as
supply chains and suppliers increase steadily,
businesses should take proactive measures to
mitigate any disruptions within their supply
chain. It can be costly in terms of ?nance and
the companys reputation.
With supplier portal software, businesses can
take a strategic approach and manage their
suppliers effectively. This article explains all
about it. Learn what a supplier
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management portal is its advantages,
development stages, best practices, and
more. Lets get started with supplier portal softw
are and its working. What is Supplier Portal
Software? A supplier portal/vendor portal is an e-
procurement solution that lets businesses
maintain relationships with
their suppliers and vendors. It involves contract
sharing, internal collaboration,
management, document

• communication channels, status updates, and more.
  In simple words, it helps businesses connect
  with people who supply products that you choose
  to sell to your customers effectively.
• Supplier portal software automates all the
  procurement tasks and reduces the manual efforts
  of companies and suppliers. It helps auto raise
  PO, compare vendors and the products, onboard
  new members, and carry out activities smoothly.
• The supplier management portal is generally used
  for
• Vendor onboarding
• Invoice submission
• Invoice and payment history inquiry

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• Payment disputes submission and tracking
• Supply chain management
• Dynamic discounting
• Procurement features
• Heres how it works

• Source DAI
• Suppliers/vendors can log in to their dedicated
  space and manage their orders. They can view the
  pending payments, invoices, order requests, and
  track their status.

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• Suppliers can create proposals and share them
  with you. They dont have to wait for the
  proposal requests.
• They can create e-invoices and share them
  instantly.
• You, as a business owner, can
• Invite global vendors and suppliers to be a part
  of your network
• Filter the applications based on the
  auto-?ltering feature
• Compare the proposals from various vendors and
  choose the suitable one
• Generate purchase orders and invoices directly
  from the portal
• Communicate with suppliers/vendors with in-app
  messaging feature
• Share documents, view log details, track order
  delivery, etc.
• Overall, a supplier management portal streamlines
  the entire procurement. It delivers convenience
  to both parties, letting them work in their way.
• Want to build a supplier management portal?
• Contact us

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Lets have an in-depth look at why supplier
portal software is essential for business
success. Advantages of Supplier Portal Software
Increases Visibility and Minimizes Supplier
Risk Only 15 of the CPOs (chief procurement
of?cer) have visibility beyond their Tier 1
suppliers. A supplier management portal offers a
systematic way of ?ltering quali?ed suppliers
and ranking them based on their offers. It
collects all the necessary information from
internal and
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external stakeholders and allows organizations to
detect potential risks and monitor supplier
compliance. Reduces Expenditure and Improves
Accountability Procurement expenditure can
skyrocket if left unattended. A supplier portal
helps cut down prices by implementing ?xed price
modules and comparing the proposals in the
initial stage. Additionally, it reduces
fraudulent claims and third-party involvements.
The in-house purchase order and invoice
generation feature eliminates security threats
and streamlines the process. Ensures Accurate
Supplier Data More than half of the employers out
there dont trust their suppliers master data.
On top of that, having stale information can
cause delays and add additional risks. With
automated solutions, you can ensure that you have
accurate and up-to-date supplier data. You can
even organize the suppliers into different
categories and assign access based on
it. Suppliers, on the contrary, can keep their
pro?les up-to-date. It will alert them if new
information becomes
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available or pending information that may impact
their quali?cations and pro?le. Strengthens
Supplier Relationships Connecting and managing
good relations with suppliers is the true
de?nition of supplier management. However, when
you have several suppliers to partner with, it
can be hard to have the same level of
relationships with each one. A supplier portal
breaks down communication barriers, and improves
collaboration, which in turn increases supplier
loyalty. A supplier management solution provides
users with a workspace that has complete
visibility of the transactions, multiple
communication channels, and an electronic
invoicing feature. It also allows them to access
agreements, purchase orders, shipment
noti?cations, invoices, and negotiations to
address speci?c needs for an organization. Speeds
Up Onboarding It can be time-consuming to
onboard new suppliers. But with supplier portal
software, you can streamline supplier onboarding
with a self-registration process. Suppliers can
register for the portal and manage and maintain
their information such as addresses, contacts,
payments, and businesses speci?c compliance
and reporting at one place.
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Overall, a supplier portal streamlines the
increases information accuracy, organizes
work?ow, submitted
documents, handles payment disputes, protects the
brands goodwill, and improves two-way
communication. It bridges the gap between two
parties, eliminating all the communication and
operational hindrances. Lets see how you can
implement supplier portal software. Steps to
Develop Supplier Portal
Step 1 Decide wholl build in-premise experts
or outsourcing partners
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Decide whether youll build the solution with
your in-house teams expertise or outsource it
to a supplier portal development company. Its
better for a startup to outsource the portal
development as it will save time and reduce
maintenance costs. Outsourcing will enable your
in-house team to focus on the critical
aspects. Step 2 List down the features There
are various off-the-shelf solutions available in
the market. However, to choose one thats
suitable for your business, list down the
features. Take your team and suppliers input.
Know their problems, compare the features of
different solutions and select the preferable
option. Step 3 Aim for security Ensuring
security is the critical aspect of supplier
portal development. Check for security
methodologies, compliances, protocols, and
vulnerabilities with rigorous testing before
launch. Implement two-factor authentication and
role-based access to ensure post-launch
security. Step 4 Decide how to build it There
are two ways to build a supplier portal. One is
to custom develop it. As it involves development
from scratch, it may require more time, effort,
and resources. However,
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the advantage is you will have complete control
over the functionality and the solution. Another
way is to bring in a readily available portal
solution. There are several companies from where
you can buy ready solutions, integrate with your
CRM, and start using it. You can customize the
features as per your requirements, but that
depends on the solution and the solution
provider. If youre looking for next-generation
supplier portal software, we can help you
develop a solution with all the features you
need. We believe that every business is unique,
and so are their requirements. Hence, we
encourage custom
CRMJetty, you portal solutions
will also ?nd with customization
development. At ready-to-integrate capabilities.
Lets connect Best Practices to Implement
Supplier Portal Software
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While a supplier portal has various bene?ts, here
are the key practices to get the most of
supplier management software Encourage
Self-Service Be it as customers or suppliers,
people like to solve their problems themselves.
They hate calling the support team to ask for
minute details such as order/payment status.
Hence, implement self-service. Encourage your
suppliers to access and ?nd relevant information
on their own. Provide a knowledge base with a
wide range of articles, guides, manuals, videos,
etc. Instead of answering every supplier with
the same question individually, add FAQs. Let them
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manage their pro?les themselves. It will reduce
your internal teams efforts. Self-service
empowers suppliers and vendors. It gives them a
sense of control. To bene?t from it, keep the
knowledge base up-to-date. Proper
Training Transitioning suppliers from traditional
manual invoice generation to automated portal
features requires proactive communication. They
may not be accustomed to the capabilities of
self-service solutions, where most of the
actions are formulaic and automated. In the
traditional approach, when invoices came in,
suppliers entered that data into the accounting
system. And on due dates, they sent out payment
invoices. If there was a payment dispute, they
clari?ed it with the associated person. With
supplier portals, they can generate invoices,
manage payments, and track statuses at their
convenience. As suppliers have to add all the
data themselves, its crucial that they provide
the correct information to get paid. An
introductory video to explain the features of the
portal is enough to get the suppliers going. You
can also send out brief emails with basic
interactions to use the portal.
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Manuals, guides in the knowledge base will also
bene?t suppliers and relieve the burden of
providing manual data entries and invoice
information. Offer Localized Language
Options You cant expect your team to know all
the languages. Nor should you force suppliers to
share proposals or interact in a speci?c
language. What if the Spanish-speaking supplier
from Madrid has a better proposal for
you? Instead, you should implement
multiple-language options and allow all
suppliers to share proposals and communicate in
their preferred language. A supplier portal
software should not only bridge the professional
gap but also cultural differences. It should
strengthen supplier relationships. Enable
Supplier Choice Payment options available in your
portal may not be suitable for a few suppliers.
And investing extra funds in the wire transfer
for a small amount may not be a better option for
you. So, how will you know what payment method
is suitable for the supplier from Uruk?
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The answer is give suppliers multiple choices
or guide them to provide relevant information
such as bank and personal details for secure
money transfers. Provide Payment Work?ow
Status Did you receive the invoice? When can
I expect the payment? These are the frequent
questions suppliers ask your ?nance departments.
These questions affect the ef?ciency of your
team. They have to look for the invoice, approve
the request, proceed with the transaction, and
communicate back to the supplier. This ?ow takes
up their time, disrupting the work they have
been doing. A self-service portal should provide
suppliers with their payment status, remittance,
etc. It should notify them about their invoice
submission and the issues with the payments.
This will increase supplier engagement, provided
that the data is accurate and upto the
mark. Implement Traceability They say trust is
earned. And as a business person, you can earn
your suppliers trust by providing visibility,
i.e., watching all the tracks. For example, if
you make any changes to the purchase order or
some updates to the
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proposal, you and the supplier both should be
able to trace it. It eliminates the chances of
fraud and miscommunication, ensuring everyone is
on the same page. Consult Experts to Implement
Supplier Portal If youre researching on your
own, you may end up with a standalone solution
that may not be suitable for your business.
Consult an expert and take their advice on the
portal implementation. With their
industry-speci?c knowledge and experience, they
can help you ?nd the right solution or partner
with a development team. If a private consultant
is not an option for you, talk to the
development companies you have shortlisted. Share
your thoughts and requirements and ask for their
advice. Their development experience, along with
industry and market knowledge, will be bene?cial
to you and your business. If you need any
guidance in the supplier portal development, you
can talk to our experts. They will guide you in
the right way choose the portal solution or
make a better choice. Get expert advice
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Source https/ www.crmjetty.com/blog/supplier-por
tal-software /
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