Information provision: that’s a keyword for chemical company OCI Nitrogen. A while ago, OCI asked its customers how it could better fulfill their needs. The outcome was a customer portal that would leave enough room for expansion, change, and an exploration of opportunities, as OCI wants to be able to handle its customers’ (changing) wishes in a flexible manner.

In collaboration with Triggre, the company has built a customer portal with savvy features that makes its clients’ lives a whole lot easier. In this blog, we’d like to tell you a bit more about the way in which we set up and designed the portal.

Process

After creating a proof of concept to give OCI an idea of what the portal would look like, we presented our approach to the project as well as our solutions to their most crucial obstacles. After they greenlighted it, we started with a small version that could be tested by OCI employees immediately. After their approval, a group of OCI clients provided their feedback, which we processed in consultation with OCI.

This successful process has now become ongoing: OCI clients communicate their ideas, which OCI includes in the portal where possible. Initially, customers could only email their suggestions, but the first improvement contained a functionality that allowed them to submit these through the portal as well. It’s smooth, easy, customer-friendly and quality-enhancing. And it perfectly fits our lean startup method.

Challenges

Of course, OCI and Triggre encountered a few challenges during the process. The biggest one by far was connecting the portal to their core system (SAP) where all customer information, invoicing, and core processes are handled. Although technically challenging, we made a team effort to realize it, and Triggre provided the necessary support.

Factors for success

Both OCI and Triggre are very satisfied with the outcome of the process and the ongoing collaboration. OCI clients have indicated that they are happy with the portal, which they can use to place orders from any location and from all different types of devices: from desktop to tablet to smartphone. Moreover, Triggre is always ready to support OCI employees to utilize all features of the Triggre Designer. We think along with OCI and try to empower them, which contributes to our successful collaboration. And last, but not least: OCI and its clients really like the portal’s responsive design!

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