An order for sixty sandwiches, somewhere in the inbox
Local businesses like buying from your social enterprise because it helps their community commitments and your food is good. An office manager emails on Monday asking for a buffet lunch for sixty on Thursday. A law firm wants forty Christmas hampers for clients. A housing association orders printed leaflets. A school wants eco cleaning products every month.
Each order arrives differently. The buffet email does not say about dietary needs, delivery time or where to deliver. The hamper order is agreed over the phone with the manager, who is then off for two days. The school's monthly order is a standing arrangement nobody wrote down. On Thursday the buffet goes out without the three vegan and two gluten-free options, because the email asking was never answered. The invoice goes out a week later without the PO number, and is sent back.
Why business orders slip
- Orders arrive by email, phone, LinkedIn message and in person at networking events.
- Key details, such as numbers, dietary needs, delivery time and address, access and PO number, are asked for one at a time.
- The order lives in the inbox of whoever took it.
- Production and delivery are planned on a whiteboard in the kitchen or workshop.
- Invoicing happens later, from memory.
Social enterprises often rely on business customers who buy partly because of your mission. They are forgiving once, but they still expect the order to be right.
What missed details cost
Repeat business is at stake. A corporate customer whose order went wrong has plenty of other caterers and suppliers to choose from.
Waste and rework follow from unclear orders: a second trip to deliver forgotten items, food made for the wrong numbers. Late or rejected invoices slow the cash your trading arm depends on.
And trainees are affected. Production work is often part of their training, and a scramble caused by a missing detail is the opposite of the calm environment they need.
An order process built for business customers
What we build takes the order from first contact to paid invoice.
- A business order form on your website, per product type, asks for everything up front: date and time, delivery address and access notes, numbers, dietary requirements, contact on the day, PO number and invoice details.
- Orders taken by phone or email are entered into the same form by whoever takes them, so everything is in one list.
- Repeat and standing orders are set up once and appear automatically each period.
- The production schedule shows what is due each day, with quantities and special requirements, on a screen or printout in the kitchen or workshop, set out so trainees can follow it.
- Delivery runs are listed with addresses and times, with a confirmation text to the customer when the order is on its way.
- When an order is delivered, the invoice is created in Xero or QuickBooks with the PO number and the customer's details, and sent.
| Detail | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Dietary requirements | Asked by email, maybe | Required field on the form |
| Delivery time and access | Phone call on the day | On the order and delivery list |
| PO number | Chased after invoicing | Captured at order |
| Standing orders | Remembered | Generated each period |
| Invoice | Days later, from memory | Created on delivery |
Next Thursday's buffet
The office manager orders through the form on Monday: sixty people, three vegan, two gluten-free, delivery to the fourth floor by twelve, PO number included. The kitchen schedule shows it on Thursday with the dietary notes highlighted. The driver has the address and access notes. The customer gets a text at half eleven. The invoice goes out that afternoon and is paid on the customer's normal terms.
The school's monthly cleaning products order appears on the schedule on the first of the month without anyone having to remember it.
Do your business orders look like this?
- Orders arrive in several inboxes and phones.
- Details like dietary needs or delivery times are chased one by one.
- Standing orders rely on memory.
- Production is planned on a whiteboard.
- Invoices are late or rejected for missing PO numbers.