Customer-Specific ESG Portal: Generic Response Strategy

The invitation email links to a platform you've never heard of. It's not EcoVadis, not CDP, not Sedex. It's your customer's proprietary ESG portal—maybe built in-house, maybe through a specialized vendor, maybe a modified version of a procurement system.

You've never seen this interface before. The navigation is unfamiliar. The questions use terminology you don't recognize. And somewhere in the email it mentioned a deadline.

Custom portals are increasingly common as large companies build sustainability assessment into their procurement systems. Here's how to navigate any proprietary platform, regardless of whether you've encountered it before.

Why Custom Portals Exist

Large companies build or license proprietary ESG portals for several reasons:

Integration with procurement. A portal that connects directly to their vendor management system makes supplier ESG data actionable for purchasing decisions.

Custom question sets. Third-party platforms like EcoVadis use standardized questionnaires. Custom portals let companies ask exactly what they care about for their specific industry, risks, and reporting needs.

Control over data. Proprietary systems keep supplier data within the company's own infrastructure rather than on third-party platforms.

Cost management. Instead of paying per-supplier assessment fees to external platforms, companies build systems where ongoing costs are infrastructure rather than per-assessment.

Differentiation. Some companies use unique ESG assessments as evidence of their distinctive sustainability programs.

The result: you encounter platforms with different interfaces, different question structures, and different terminology—but fundamentally asking for similar underlying information.

The Universal Approach

Despite interface variations, custom portals ask questions that fall into predictable categories. Your strategy doesn't change based on the platform; only the format changes.

Step 1: Account setup and reconnaissance (30 minutes)

Create your account, complete any company profile sections, and explore the full questionnaire before answering anything. Note:

How many sections exist?
What topics does each cover?
Which sections are mandatory versus optional?
What format are questions? Multiple choice? Free text? Document upload?
What's the deadline?

This overview prevents surprises partway through and helps you estimate completion time.

Step 2: Map questions to your data (1 hour)

Work through the questionnaire identifying where answers will come from:

Which questions can you answer immediately from knowledge?
Which require data from your master ESG file?
Which require requesting information from colleagues?
Which don't apply to your business?
Which you genuinely can't answer?

Don't answer yet—just map. This tells you what work is needed.

Step 3: Gather any missing data (variable time)

Based on your mapping, request any information you don't have ready. Energy data from finance, headcount from HR, policy documents from wherever they're stored.

If you maintain a master ESG data file (covered in the article on managing multiple formats), most information should already be available.

Step 4: Complete the questionnaire (2-4 hours)

Work through systematically. For each question:

Select the most accurate answer
Provide supporting detail where requested
Upload documentation if required
Add clarifying notes for context
Mark "not applicable" where appropriate

Step 5: Review and submit (30 minutes)

Quick review for errors or inconsistencies. If leadership review is required, get sign-off. Submit before the deadline.

Decoding Unfamiliar Terminology

Custom portals sometimes use company-specific or jargon-heavy terminology. Common translations:

"Environmental stewardship" = environmental management, environmental policy, environmental practices

"Workforce responsibility" = labor practices, employee relations, HR policies

"Ethical business conduct" = ethics, anti-corruption, compliance, governance

"Supply chain responsibility" = how you manage your own suppliers, supplier code of conduct

"Climate action" = carbon emissions, energy efficiency, climate-related targets

"Resource efficiency" = waste management, material use, circular economy practices

"Community engagement" = local community impact, social initiatives, philanthropy

If a question uses terminology you don't understand, look for explanatory text, hover-over definitions, or help sections. If none exist and the meaning is genuinely unclear, contact your customer's sustainability team for clarification—they'd rather clarify than receive incorrect responses.

When Portals Ask for Specifics You Don't Have

Custom portals sometimes ask for very specific information you've never tracked:

Product-specific carbon intensity: "Provide the carbon footprint per unit for products supplied to us."

If you haven't calculated this, explain your situation: "We do not currently calculate product-level carbon footprints. Our organizational Scope 1 and 2 emissions total [X] tonnes CO2e. We can provide revenue-based allocation if helpful."

Third-party verification status: "Has your environmental data been independently verified?"

If not: "Our environmental data is based on internal calculations using standard emission factors. We have not engaged third-party verification at this time."

Specific certifications: "Do you hold SA8000/ISO 50001/[obscure certification]?"

If you don't: "We do not hold [certification]. We maintain [alternative certifications you do hold] which cover [relevant areas]."

Honesty is always better than creative interpretation. If you don't have something, say so clearly.

Navigating Technical Issues

Proprietary portals sometimes have interface problems. Common issues and solutions:

Can't upload documents: Check file size limits and format requirements. Compress large files. Convert to PDF if format restrictions apply.

Session timeouts: Save progress frequently. Some portals have short timeout periods. Don't complete long sections without saving.

Required fields you can't answer: Look for "not applicable" options. If none exist and the field is truly unanswerable, contact the customer—the portal design may be flawed.

Missing confirmation: After submission, take a screenshot of the confirmation page. If no confirmation appears, contact your customer to verify receipt.

Login problems: Customer-specific portals often have clunky authentication. Try password reset, different browsers, or contacting their support.

Document any technical issues and your attempts to resolve them. If problems prevent timely completion, notify your customer contact—with evidence of the issue.

Saving Your Work

Custom portal responses are harder to retrieve later than platform-based ones. Before submitting:

Export or download if possible. Many portals have export functions. Use them.

Screenshot key sections. If export isn't available, screenshot your completed responses section by section.

Save uploaded documents separately. Keep copies of everything you uploaded in your own files.

Note the submission date. Record when you submitted and any confirmation numbers.

This documentation helps if questions arise later and serves as a starting point for future versions of the same questionnaire.

Using Custom Portal Responses Elsewhere

Although custom portals are customer-specific, the underlying data serves other purposes:

Responses inform what you'd answer on other platforms
Policy documents uploaded once can be uploaded elsewhere
Data calculations done for one customer apply to others
The exercise of completing one questionnaire reveals what you need to track

The first custom portal you complete teaches you what future customers are likely to ask. The second is faster. The fifth is routine.

When Something Doesn't Work

If you've made good-faith efforts and genuinely cannot complete the portal properly:

Document what you tried and what didn't work
Contact your customer contact (not the generic portal support)
Explain specifically what's blocking completion
Propose alternatives (email the data directly, provide responses in a different format)

Customers want your data. If their portal is preventing that, they generally prefer to find a workaround rather than receive nothing.

Your professionalism throughout—prompt communication, documented attempts, proposed solutions—demonstrates that you're a reliable supplier regardless of technical difficulties.

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