Portal Adoption Audit (Retention)

Portal Adoption Audit (Retention)

1. 01

   Pull 30-day login and file-open logs per client account before the next retainer review

   Segment accounts into active (weekly logins), dormant (one login in 30 days), and dark (zero logins). Dormant and dark accounts are the renewal risk list.

2. 02

   Compare portal activity against the volume of email and Slack threads the same client generated

   A client sending 40 emails a month while logging into the portal twice is not adopting it. That gap is the real signal, not the login count alone.

3. 03

   Interview the two lowest-engagement client contacts for 15 minutes each

   Ask what they open first when they need a deliverable and where they currently look for it. Their answer names the competing channel you have to displace.

4. 04

   Rebuild the client landing view around the three artifacts they actually open

   If approvals and invoices drive visits, put those above the file tree. Portals like Clinked and FuseBase allow per-client layout changes without a support ticket.

5. 05

   Set a named internal owner for portal hygiene on each account

   One delivery lead per client is accountable for posting status updates and clearing stale files weekly. Unowned portals decay within a quarter.

6. 06

   Route every approval request through the portal for 30 days and log exceptions

   Track each time a client replies by email instead. Exceptions reveal either a permissions gap or a workflow the portal does not yet cover.

7. 07

   Report adoption as a retention metric in the quarterly business review

   Show login trend, approval turnaround time, and email volume displaced. Clients who see the portal saving them hours defend the retainer at renewal.