We're back with another exploration of how Boxers use Box to get work done. This week, Jasmin Pamukcu explains how she uses Box folders to create a secure customer portal and keep all her customer content organized.
Any of this sound familiar?
"Not again. Where did I put my notes on last month's call?"
"I don't see my revisions in the contract. Is this up-to-date?"
"The attachment didn't send. Try again."
"That training video is too big to send over email. We need to find another method."
If you are in a customer facing role, dealing with all of the different documents that go back and forth between you and the customer can get overwhelming. It's also really important in keeping the customer happy and business running smoothly.
I'm a Customer Success Manager at Box, and I've found that having the right folder structure not only keeps all my customer content grouped and organized, it also ensures that each specific customer only sees the content that's intended for them.
Here's a simple, CSM-tested approach to conquering customer file chaos:
1. Create a general customer space.
To get organized, start by creating a general folder that will group all your customers together. I call mine Jasmin's Customer Folders, and I also make sure that this folder is Favorited so I can get to it easily. Believe me, you'll be using it a lot!
2. Get specific for each customer.
As a next step, create subfolders using each customer's name as the folder title. Then, invite each internal account team as collaborators into the subfolder so that they'll have access to the content. Thanks to waterfall permissions, you'll never need to provide access again, regardless of any additional subfolders created within the space. I personally like to provide my account team, and often a member of the Box Consulting or the Sales team, with editing access as well so that they can collaborate on content freely.
3. Separate between customer facing and internal workspaces.
Next, go one level deeper, and you'll create two more folders. One folder will be a workspace for your internal team to collaborate on content, and the second will be a space where you and your customer can freely share content, ask questions, provide feedback, and more.
The first folder I typically call [Your Company] for [Customer X], and this is the portal where you collaborate with your customer on content (e.g. Box for Bluth Co.). This can contain contracts, training documents, meeting decks and anything else that might be useful. Invite your customer contacts into this folder to collaborate with you, and be sure to provide them with the appropriate type of permission (you have 7 to choose from!) I usually invite my customers as "Editor" so they can easily work with the content.
The second folder, which I typically call [Customer X] - INTERNAL only, is - as you might have suspected - for your internal account team only, and not the customer (e.g. Bluth Co. - INTERNAL only). This usually contains presentations I'm still working on, strategy notes with my account team rep, and my general notes and reminders about the customer.
4. Be sure to include detailed folder names.
As you've seen from my typical process in creating folders, having detailed folder names makes your life (and your customer's) a lot easier! It's the best way to avoid confusion or ambiguity, especially when new people get involved in the process. When you're done, your folder structure will look something like the image below. As we talked about earlier, customers at BPG won't ever see content meant for Bluth Co., or any other customer names within my customer folder.
From there, if you're using Box, you can do lot with that content, such as use access stats to track what content has been viewed or downloaded - which is super helpful in figuring out how up-to-date your customer is with the information you've provided them! You can also keep a full log of version history, replace email attachments with shared links to ensure they only see the most up-to-date version of collateral, and use comments and tasks to streamline online conversations. Plus, if your business uses other applications to manage your customers, which they likely do, Box will integrate with many of the systems you use every day.
Box plays a huge role in the way that I work with customers and I am constantly discovering new ways to make it even more useful. If you're in a customer-facing role and are using Box like I am, we'd love to hear your best tips and tricks!
