What does the status of an order mean? In this newsletter let’s talk about what the order status is, best practices, and work flow with your team. Please read below about the importance of using the Trigger Event button on the bottom of all Maintain Order screens.
What happens when an order is in the following status:
QUOTE – OPEN – COMPLETE – CLOSED
QUOTE
A QUOTE is just that, it is a QUOTE that has not yet been accepted; it is only a QUOTE of what an order would cost. If the person requesting the QUOTE wants to move forward with the order, simply click on the button on the bottom that says Change to Open. Quotes will remain in the system for a period of time before they are removed. To set the number of days to retain quotes, in System Setup under System Numbering tab, set the number of days you want the quotes available before they are deleted from the system. If a QUOTE is changed to OPEN, then you can begin to process the order.
OPEN
When an order is in an OPEN status, you should begin to process the order from: ordering/pulling stock, creating artwork and getting approval, getting payment or assigning the order to a customer account for direct billing, and then creating the product. Once the order line items are finished and ready to be put on the shelf, you will want to click on the Trigger Event button at the bottom of the Maintain Order screen. When you trigger the event, Order Manager will ask you where the Order is Stored so your team will know where the items are when the customer comes in to pickup the order. The location you entered will appear on the Maintain Order screen in the Pickup Location field.
If you want Order Manager to send an automated e-mail, when you trigger an event to indicate a job is finished, you need to ensure Order Manager is setup correctly. Click on the Configuration tab in the menu ribbon bar, then click on System Setup to open the General System Setup window. Click on the Internet E-Mail Setup tab to display your settings. On this tab, be sure to check mark the Send Order Complete Email When Order is Marked Complete and Send Order Shipped Email When Order is Shipped check boxes. You can select the same in the SMS Messages section for text message delivery also. This configuration will automatically send an e-mail and text message (if you have their cell phone and provider) to notify the customer that the order is ready for pick-up.
COMPLETE
After you click on the Trigger Event button, the system will put the order into either a COMPLETE or CLOSED status. The only time the order will go into a COMPLETE status is if the open order is triggered and full payment has not been received or invoiced. It is a good practice to receive payment, down payment, or setup for direct billing when you take an order.
For those who use PayJunction, you can setup your Order Acknowledgement and Order Complete e-mail templates to have a Pay Now button to help with collecting payment. If you are interested in PayJunction or setting up Pay Now links, contact our Tech Support department for more information.
CLOSED
When an OPEN order has been fully paid or invoiced, and it is triggered that the job is finished, it will go into a CLOSED status, which is the status you want all orders to be in when the product leaves your facility.
However, it does not mean you are done with the order. There is one more time you will click the Trigger Event button to finish the order cycle. When the customer comes in to pick up the order, or when you ship the order to the customer, you will trigger the event to mark the order picked up or shipped. If the order is scheduled to be picked up, when you trigger the event as being picked up, Order Manager will ask you to enter the name of the person picking up the order. If you are shipping the order, you will trigger the event to mark the order shipped, and Order Manager will ask you to enter the tracking number of the package(s).
On the final Trigger Event, if the item is shipped, Order Manager will send an automated email with the tracking number you entered to the customer. You will need to setup this option in the Configuration | General System Setup | Internet E-Mail Setup screen and check to ensure it is set to send an email/text message.
The last automated function that will happen, is if you have selected to send out a thank you email (Configuration | General System Setup | Internet E-Mail Setup screen), Order Manager will queue up an e-mail to be sent to your customer a specified number of days later that you have configured in the Send Order Followup E-Mail option.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Don’t be shy, ask for order payment! You don’t want an order sitting on the shelf for months or years without getting paid. Train your staff to be in the habit of receiving payment up front. Make sure your staff understands the different order statuses and what they mean.
If you are interested in PayJunction, CLICK HERE for more information. For those already enjoying the ease of using PayJunction with Order Manager and need help setting up PAY NOW links, send an e-mail to myhelpdesk@netsoftstudio.com