With almost 100 registrations, a highly relevant topic and practical insights from a real customer project, SYBIT’s Expert Talk “The New Control Centre for Customer Interactions” on 23 April 2026 explored why modern customer portals are now far more than digital service interfaces.
In the live talk, Jens Hartwich, Team Lead Digital Marketing & Digital Solutions at KaVo Dental, Jahn Lossmann, Head of Competence Digital Commerce at SYBIT, and Dr Anders Landig, Team Lead Corporate Marketing at SYBIT, discussed how companies can transform fragmented touchpoints into a centralised, scalable business platform.
The strong response to the event demonstrates just how relevant the topic is. And the market clearly confirms this trend: digital customer interactions are becoming more complex, expectations are rising, and traditional digital channels are no longer sufficient in many cases.
Current studies underline this:
- 75% of B2B buyers would switch suppliers for a better digital experience. This shows that portals are no longer a “nice to have”. Source: Newsroom Fedex
- 83% of B2B buyers prefer self-service for research and recurring processes. Source: Searchlab
- 73% are willing to place orders worth more than $50,000 digitally. This highlights the need for powerful portals rather than simply a “contact form plus webshop”. Source: qualimero
- The B2B e-commerce platform market serves an industry worth $32 trillion, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18% (Grand View Research). As a result, expectations of digital customer platforms are increasing significantly. Source: qualimero
Why companies need to reorganise customer interactions now
Companies today are under increasing pressure to rethink and restructure digital customer experiences. While B2B customers expect the same simplicity they enjoy in private online shopping, many businesses are still operating with fragmented system landscapes, email-based processes and isolated service workflows.
In many organisations, individual digital solutions have evolved over the years: a webshop for orders, a service form for complaints, separate tools for product information, dealer communication or marketing materials. For customers, this often results in a confusing patchwork of multiple logins, media disruptions and a lack of transparency.
At the same time, the digital share of B2B sales is growing rapidly. This is increasing demands on digital customer journeys, self-service processes and cross-channel interactions.
What companies need today is not another isolated solution, but a central digital access point for their customers — a platform that brings together sales, service, information and interaction.
This is exactly where the modern customer portal comes in.
More than a webshop: what modern customer portals need to deliver today
One thing became clear very quickly during the talk: the term “portal” is often understood too narrowly.
Many initially associate it with a self-service offering or a login area. But modern customer portals go much further.
A traditional webshop focuses primarily on transactions: finding products, placing orders and making payments.
A modern customer portal, by contrast, centralises the entire interaction between companies and customers on one platform.
In practical terms, a customer portal can simultaneously be:
- a sales channel
- a service platform
- an information and document hub
- a communication platform
- a CRM data source
- a customer retention tool
- an efficiency lever for internal processes
In the talk, Jahn Lossmann explained that the boundaries between information portals, sales-focused portals, dealer portals and self-service portals are increasingly disappearing. Today, the category of portal matters less than the answer to two questions:
What business case does it fulfil? What tangible added value does it offer the customer?
A modern portal not only improves customer experience. It also enables deeper integration with ERP, CRM and service systems, making it both an operational and strategic control centre.
KaVo case study: from product configurator to global customer platform
One of the highlights of the Expert Talk was a direct look into KaVo Dental’s portal project.
Jens Hartwich explained how KaVo began strategically rethinking its system landscape around four to five years ago. The starting point was end-of-life systems and the search for a new solution for the product configurator. At the same time, there was a desire to consolidate existing isolated solutions and simplify interaction with different target groups.
The result was not a single tool, but a portal ecosystem.
Today, KaVo uses it to bundle:
- product configuration for complex capital goods
- order status and delivery tracking
- returns and complaint processes
- digital factory repairs
- marketing, sales and service information
A particularly tangible example discussed during the talk was the digital factory repair process.
In the past, quotation approvals were sometimes handled via email and not processed in time. Today, the entire interaction takes place digitally in the portal: from commissioning and status updates to quotation acceptance. This has significantly improved both acceptance and process speed.
Another exciting future use case discussed was the use of portal data for marketing and sales.
If a customer repeatedly uses a product configurator or shows certain interaction patterns, a lead can be automatically created in the CRM and assigned to sales. This turns the portal into not only a service and process platform, but also a data-driven growth engine.
Where the greatest business value of modern customer portals lies
Three central business cases became clear during the talk.
1. Efficiency through automated processes
Many manual activities can be digitised in a customer portal and integrated directly into ERP or CRM systems.
For example:
- return registrations
- order status enquiries
- quotation approvals
- document provision
This saves time and reduces internal effort.
2. Growth through cross-selling and upselling
Portals make additional services visible and connect products with relevant digital offerings.
In addition, usage data enables targeted lead generation and triggers for personalised customer journeys.
3. Customer retention through better customer experience
A single access point with personalised information, transparency and self-service reduces friction and strengthens loyalty.
How companies can successfully enter the portal world
One of the key learnings from the Expert Talk:
A portal project does not begin with technology.
It begins with strategy.
Jahn Lossmann emphasised that companies first need clear answers to the following questions:
- What role should the portal play in the long term?
- What USP does it offer customers?
- Which initial use cases create immediate value?
- What does the roadmap look like?
KaVo and SYBIT therefore began with a structured Phase Zero, a dedicated SYBIT approach.
In workshops involving management, business departments, IT and marketing, the vision, priorities and MVP were defined. This created buy-in at every level and a clear order of implementation.
Successfully activating customer portals: communication is key
A portal only delivers business value if it is actively used.
KaVo therefore focuses specifically on:
- communication and training
- international rollouts in phases
- KPI dashboards to measure usage
- local enablement initiatives
- steering committees with management
One important point from the talk:
Customer portals are always a marketing topic as well.
Communication, UX, incentives and clear processes determine usage — and therefore ROI.
Conclusion: customer portals are becoming the central business platform
The Expert Talk made one thing very clear:
Modern customer portals are now far more than digital service interfaces.
They connect sales, service, marketing and IT on one central platform.
They create transparency, automate processes and generate new growth opportunities.
They provide valuable data for CRM, customer journeys and lead management.
And with rising customer expectations and AI-based services, they will become even more relevant in the future.
Companies that act now will lay the foundation for scalable customer experience and sustainable growth.
