Feature
The Naffes CRM customer portal: one shared space after the deal is won
In Naffes CRM every won deal becomes a project in a portal carrying your brand. The client follows delivery stages, approves deliverables and sees invoices, documents and meetings, and every message they send lands in your team's inbox.
The problem the portal solves after signature
Winning the deal starts a different kind of work. The client keeps asking 'where are we?' on WhatsApp, files are split between email and chat threads, and a design gets approved out loud in a meeting, only for both sides to remember it differently a month later. The portal gives the client a single link to see project status and sign off on what was delivered, and it gives your team a record on the deal of every approval, change request and file.
It fits any business that delivers a project after the sale: marketing and design agencies, system implementers, consultancies, contractors and fit-out firms. Instead of a project manager chasing the client for a sign-off or a missing file, the client finds what is waiting on them in the portal, and the team finds the answer recorded where it belongs.
Setting up the portal and sharing the link
Configure it once
In Settings, then General, then Customer portal, define the delivery stages with Arabic and English names, choose which sections clients see (invoices, documents, meetings, support requests), write the welcome line and, if you want, add your own domain.
Open the portal tab on the deal
On the deal page, open the Customer portal tab, switch on Visible to the customer, add deliverables and set the current delivery stage. You can prepare all of this before the win; the client sees the project once the deal is won.
Share the link
Click Send by email or Send on WhatsApp, or Copy link to share it your own way. Links stay valid for 30 days by default, and the tab shows when the current one expires.
Follow what the client does
Approvals and change requests are recorded on each deliverable, and the client's messages arrive in the unified inbox as portal-channel conversations that any assigned teammate can answer.
Clients never need a password. They open the portal straight from the link, or type the email or phone number you know them by and receive a one-time sign-in code by email or WhatsApp. The WhatsApp code needs an approved authentication template in your account, because free text sent outside the 24-hour window never arrives.
What the client sees, and what reaches your team
| In the portal | What the client does | What your team gets |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery stages | Knows the current stage without asking | You move the stage from the deal's portal tab |
| Deliverables | Approves a deliverable or asks for changes | The decision is recorded on the deliverable |
| Files | Uploads the files you asked for | Files arrive in the project chat in your inbox |
| Invoices, documents, meetings | Sees them in one place | You pick visible sections in settings, and shared documents on the deal's tab |
| Quotes | Accepts or declines a new quote | The decision is recorded on the quote |
| Chat | Messages the team from inside the project | A portal conversation in the unified inbox |
| Support requests | Opens a request from the project | A ticket linked to the deal for your support team |
| Rating | Rates the project | The client's verdict on the whole engagement |
The portal carries your brand and can run on your own domain, such as portal.company.com, instead of the shared Naffes address, so clients see your name in the address bar.
Example: a design agency after winning a website project
An agency in Jeddah wins a website redesign for a hospitality client. Its admin has already defined the delivery stages every project follows: Kickoff, Design, Build, Launch. Those names are the agency's choice; you write your own.
- When the deal is marked Won, Naffes shows what the sale still needs, such as the invoice status and delivery tasks. The project manager then sends the portal link by email from the Customer portal tab.
- The team adds a deliverable called Homepage design with a due date. The client asks for changes, then approves the second version, and the approval stays on the deliverable with its date.
- The client uploads the logo and hotel photos in the portal, so they all arrive in the one project chat instead of scattered threads, and sees the down-payment invoice under Invoices.
- After launch, the client sends feedback through the project chat, which appears in the team's inbox, and rates the project when it wraps up.
Before you share it: limits
- A portal link sent over WhatsApp is free text, so it only arrives inside the customer service window, which runs 24 hours from the client's last message. Outside it, send the link by email or let the client request a sign-in code.
- The custom domain applies to the portal only, not to the CRM app itself. You create a CNAME record for the domain in your DNS, then ask the Naffes team to switch on the security certificate for that domain.
- Delivery stages are one roadmap shared by every project in the workspace; you cannot define different stages per project.
- Clients settle quotes with an accept or decline button. Naffes offers no binding e-signature inside the portal.
- Support requests from the portal become tickets, and working them with SLAs and macros is part of the help desk on Pro and Enterprise.
- Brand colours apply to what clients see (portal, quotes, invoices, documents); they do not re-theme the app your team uses.
Questions
Questions 4
Do clients need an account and password?
No. They open the portal from the link you send. If they lose it or it expires, they request a one-time code by email or WhatsApp using the address or number you have on file.
Can the portal run on our own domain?
Yes. Add the domain in the Customer portal settings, create a CNAME record for it in your DNS pointing to the target the settings show, then ask the Naffes team to enable the security certificate. From then on, links go out on your domain.
Where do portal messages go?
Into the unified inbox as portal-channel conversations. You can filter by channel, and the team replies from the same place it answers WhatsApp and email.
Does the client see everything on the deal?
No. They see the project, its delivery stage, the deliverables you add, and only the sections you choose to show from invoices, documents, meetings and support requests.