Shape Customer Portal (Point of Sale)

Learn how to use the Shape Customer Portal to securely collect information, request documents, track progress, obtain electronic signatures, and provide customers and referral partners with a modern self-service experience.

Customer Portal

The Shape Customer Portal provides your customers with a secure, branded online experience where they can submit information, upload documents, complete electronic signatures, and track the progress of their relationship with your organization.
Instead of exchanging paperwork through email or collecting information over the phone, customers can securely complete guided questionnaires, upload requested documents, and monitor their progress from any device.
In addition to customer access, Shape also includes a Referral Partner Portal, allowing referral partners to monitor the status of the customers they’ve referred without requiring access to your CRM.
The Customer Portal is designed to simplify communication, improve the customer experience, and reduce the amount of manual follow-up required by your team.

Key Features

The Customer Portal includes a variety of tools to streamline customer interactions, including:

• Secure customer login
• Guided, survey-style questionnaires
• Secure document uploads
• Electronic signatures
• Status and milestone tracking
• Progress indicators
• Customer profile management
• Mobile-friendly experience
• Referral Partner Portal
• Email and text notifications
• Downloadable documents
• Custom portal pages using Shape Custom UI

Accessing the Customer Portal

Customers can access the portal through several different methods depending on your organization’s workflow.
Organizations can provide access using:

• Login links sent by email
• Login links sent by text message
• General portal login links
• User-specific portal links
• Co-branded referral partner portal links

Customers simply log in using their username and password to securely access their portal.

Sharing the Customer Portal

Organizations can provide portal access in several ways depending on their workflow.

Company Portal

A branded company-wide portal allows new customers to register and create an account.
When a customer registers through the company portal:

• A new CRM record is created.
• Duplicate management rules are evaluated.
• Distribution rules determine ownership.
• The customer is automatically routed into your workflow.

Individual Portal Links

Each portal-enabled user receives their own personal portal link.
Many organizations place this link in:

• Email signatures
• Websites
• Marketing campaigns
• QR codes
• Business cards

Customers registering through an individual portal link are automatically assigned to that user.

Co-Branded Portal Links

Organizations can generate co-branded portal links for their Referral Partners, creating a personalized experience for referred customers.
When a customer opens a co-branded portal link, they’ll see both your organization’s branding and the assigned user’s profile information alongside the Referral Partner’s information. This helps reinforce the relationship between all parties while providing customers with confidence that they’re in the right place.
When a customer registers through a co-branded portal link:

• The customer is automatically assigned to the associated user.
• The Referral Partner is automatically linked to the record for referral tracking and reporting.
• The relationship between the customer, user, and Referral Partner is established without any manual data entry.

This allows organizations to accurately track referral sources, simplify lead assignment, and provide a seamless co-branded experience for both customers and Referral Partners.
Best Practice: Encourage Referral Partners to share their unique co-branded portal link with new referrals. This ensures customers are automatically associated with the correct Referral Partner and assigned user from the moment they register.

Referral Partner Portal

Every Customer Portal also includes access to a dedicated Referral Partner Portal.
Referral partners receive their own secure login where they can monitor the customers they’ve referred to your organization.
From the Referral Partner Portal, partners can:

• View referred customers
• Monitor milestone progress
• View basic customer information
• Leave notes
• Stay informed throughout the customer journey

This lightweight experience helps improve communication with referral partners while keeping sensitive CRM functionality secure.

Branding Your Portal

The Customer Portal can be customized to match your organization’s branding.
Administrators can configure:

• Company logo
• Company information
• Accent colors
• Sidebar colors
• Branded portal domain

Most organizations use a branded portal address similar to:
yourcompanyname.shapeportal.com
For organizations requiring additional customization, Shape also supports Custom UI, allowing you to create additional portal pages and interactive experiences tailored to your workflow.

Managing the Customer Portal

Administrators can configure nearly every aspect of the Customer Portal from the Manage Customer Portal settings page.
From this page, you can:

• Customize your portal branding
• Configure guided questionnaires
• Create document request lists
• Configure eSignature document requests
• Add custom questions
• Define required fields
• Manage customer-facing content

While the Customer Portal comes preconfigured using industry best practices, every organization can tailor the experience to fit its own workflow.

Why Use the Customer Portal?

The Customer Portal provides a faster, more secure alternative to collecting information through email, paper forms, or phone calls.
Benefits include:

• Securely collect customer information.
• Reduce manual data entry.
• Allow customers to upload documents from any device.
• Track customer progress through your workflow.
• Obtain electronic signatures electronically.
• Improve transparency with real-time milestone updates.
• Provide referral partners with visibility into their referrals.
• Deliver a modern, self-service customer experience.

Completing Guided Questionnaires

The Shape Customer Portal replaces long, static forms with an intuitive, survey-style experience that guides customers through the information your organization needs to collect.
Rather than overwhelming customers with dozens of fields on a single page, the portal presents information in a step-by-step format that’s easier to complete on both desktop and mobile devices.
As customers progress through the questionnaire, their responses are securely saved and immediately available within Shape for your team to review.

Intelligent Question Flow
The Customer Portal supports dynamic questionnaires that adjust based on a customer’s responses.
Instead of asking every customer the same questions, the portal can display only the information relevant to their situation.
For example, if a customer indicates they’ve lived at their current address for less than two years, the portal can automatically request their previous address before allowing them to continue.
This creates a shorter, more personalized experience while ensuring your organization collects all required information.
Required Questions
Administrators can designate specific questions as required, preventing customers from progressing until the required information has been completed.
Required questions help ensure your organization receives the information needed before moving customers through the next stage of your process.
Custom Questions
Organizations can extend the standard portal questionnaire by adding custom questions tailored to their workflow.
Responses to custom questions are securely stored within the customer’s Portal information, allowing organizations to collect information beyond the standard portal experience.

Updating Customer Information

Customers can securely review and update their information directly within the portal without needing to call or email your team.
Depending on your organization’s workflow, customers may be asked to provide or update information such as:

• Personal information
• Contact information
• Addresses
• Employment details
• Household information
• Business information
• Industry-specific details
• Additional custom questions

Questions can be customized to match your organization’s onboarding process, allowing you to collect only the information that’s relevant to your business.

Real-Time Synchronization

As customers complete their portal questionnaire, their information is automatically synchronized with Shape.
Each time a customer advances through the portal, newly submitted information becomes immediately available within the CRM, allowing your team to review progress without waiting for the customer to finish the entire application.
This gives users real-time visibility into completed and outstanding information.

A Better Customer Experience

Breaking questions into smaller, manageable steps helps improve completion rates while creating a more user-friendly experience.
Instead of navigating lengthy forms, customers simply answer one section at a time until their information is complete.
This approach helps:

• Reduce data entry errors
• Improve completion rates
• Simplify mobile data entry
• Create a more guided onboarding experience
• Reduce the need for manual follow-up

Saving Progress

Customers can return to the portal as needed to continue providing information or upload additional documents throughout their relationship with your organization.
As information is submitted, your team can immediately review updates within Shape and continue moving the customer through your workflow.

Customizing Your Portal Experience

Every organization collects different information, which is why the Customer Portal is designed to be highly configurable.
Using Shape’s portal configuration tools and Custom UI, organizations can create additional pages, custom questions, and interactive experiences tailored to their specific workflow.
This flexibility allows the portal to adapt to a variety of industries while maintaining a consistent and secure customer experience.

Secure Document Uploads

The Customer Portal allows customers to securely upload documents directly to their record without relying on email attachments or paper documents.
Customers can upload requested documents from their computer, tablet, or mobile device, allowing your team to review information more quickly while keeping sensitive information organized within Shape.

Uploading Documents

When documents are requested, customers simply select the requested document category and upload their files.
The portal supports:

• Drag-and-drop uploads
• Click-to-upload file selection
• Multiple file uploads
• Mobile uploads from a device’s photo library
• A wide variety of commonly used file types

Uploaded documents are automatically converted into PDF format, creating a consistent viewing experience for your team while preserving the original information submitted by the customer.

Requested Documents

Organizations can create lists of requested documents that customers complete directly within the portal.
As documents are submitted, customers can easily see which requests have been completed and which documents are still outstanding.
This provides a simple checklist-like experience without requiring customers to track requests through email.
Examples may include:

• Identification
• Financial documents
• Business documents
• Insurance documentation
• Industry-specific paperwork

The specific document requests shown in the portal are determined by your organization’s workflow.
Custom Document Requests
Need a document that wasn’t originally requested?
Users can create one-off document requests directly from the customer’s Portal tab by selecting Add Custom Document.
The customer immediately sees the new request the next time they log into the portal.
This is useful when additional documentation becomes necessary later in the process.

Reviewing Uploaded Documents

Once documents have been uploaded, users can review each submission directly from the Portal tab inside the CRM.
Available actions include:

• Preview document
• Download document
• Approve document
• Decline document
• Delete document

If a document is declined, customers immediately see:

• Which document was rejected
• The reason it was rejected
• A request to upload a replacement

This creates a clear, collaborative document review process while reducing unnecessary back-and-forth communication.

Mobile Upload Experience

The Customer Portal is fully responsive and designed to work seamlessly across desktop and mobile devices.
Customers can upload documents from:

• Desktop computers
• Laptops
• Tablets
• Smartphones
• Their device’s photo library

This makes it easy to submit requested information from virtually anywhere without requiring access to a desktop computer.

Best Practices

• Organize document requests into clear, easy-to-understand categories.
• Request only the documents necessary for the customer’s current stage in your workflow.
• Review uploaded documents promptly to keep your process moving.
• Include clear rejection notes when requesting replacement documents.
• Encourage customers to upload clear, readable images or scans to reduce delays.

Electronic Signatures

The Customer Portal allows customers to securely review and electronically sign documents without printing, scanning, or emailing paperwork.
When a document requires a signature, customers are guided through the signing process directly within the portal, making it easy to complete required documents from any device.
Electronic signatures help reduce turnaround times while simplifying the customer experience.

Signing Documents

When documents are assigned for signature, customers can review the document and complete the required signature directly within the portal.
This allows organizations to securely collect signed documents while keeping all paperwork organized within the customer’s record.
Depending on your workflow, customers may receive email or text notifications when new documents are available for signature.

Benefits of Electronic Signatures

Using electronic signatures helps organizations:

• Reduce paperwork
• Eliminate printing and scanning
• Speed up document collection
• Improve completion rates
• Keep signed documents securely organized
• Allow customers to sign from virtually any device

For customers, the experience is faster and more convenient than traditional paper-based processes.

Progress Tracking

The Customer Portal provides customers with visibility into where they are within your organization’s process.
Instead of wondering what happens next, customers can log into the portal at any time to review their current progress and outstanding items.
This improves transparency while reducing unnecessary status update requests.

Milestone Tracking

Organizations can configure milestones that help customers understand where they are in the process.
As work progresses, milestones are automatically updated to reflect the customer’s current stage.
Depending on your workflow, milestones may represent onboarding stages, document review, approvals, project phases, or other business-specific processes.

Progress Indicators

Customers can easily see:

• Their current stage
• Completed milestones
• Upcoming milestones
• Outstanding document requests
• Pending electronic signatures

This gives customers confidence that their information has been received while clearly showing what still needs to be completed.

Notifications

Customers can receive notifications when important updates occur within the portal.
Notifications may be sent through:

• Email
• Text Message (SMS)

Organizations commonly notify customers when:

• New documents are requested
• Documents are rejected and require replacement
• Electronic signatures are needed
• Milestones are updated
• Additional information is requested

These notifications help keep customers engaged without requiring them to constantly log into the portal to check for updates.

Branded Portal Experience

The Customer Portal can be customized to reflect your organization’s branding while providing a streamlined experience for your customers.
Administrators can configure various elements of the portal to create a consistent experience that aligns with their company identity and workflow.
Available customization options include:

• Company logo
• Company information
• Accent colors
• Required fields
• Documents and document sets
• Sidebar colors
• Branded portal domain
• Additional portal pages using Custom UI

These customization options help create a professional, branded experience while keeping the portal easy for customers to navigate.

Custom Portal Pages

Organizations with more advanced workflows can extend the Customer Portal using Shape Custom UI.
Custom UI allows administrators to add additional pages and interactive experiences beyond the standard portal functionality.
Examples include:

• Additional information collection pages
• Industry-specific workflows
• Custom onboarding experiences
• Educational content
• Interactive customer resources
• Embedded third-party tools that support iframe embedding

This flexibility allows organizations to tailor the portal to their specific business processes without changing the overall customer experience.
Learn More: See the Shape Custom UI guide for additional information about creating custom portal pages and interactive experiences..

Frequently Asked Questions