Answer status and lead-time questions before buyers call.
Buyers hear about shipments and backorders before they ask, and when they do ask, the answer comes from the ERP and the carrier.
When’s the last case coming?
Four of your five cases are delivered. The fifth is due at our dock Thursday and ships the same day. If that date moves, we’ll tell you.
From order SO-812 in Prophet 21 and the carrier’s tracking
What a buyer gets when they ask, in the portal, by email or from the rep.
Sound familiar?
- 1,900 status and lead-time questions a month, most of them by phone.
- One answer needs the ERP, a carrier portal and sometimes purchasing.
- Buyers learn about a backorder when they call, often on the day it was due.
A quarter of callers call again within a week, and a restaurant that hears about a backorder on delivery day has already planned its week around it.
What changes.
- Backorders
- Found out when the buyer callsTold when the date is known, and again if it moves
- Answers
- The ERP, a carrier site and purchasing, in turnOne answer from the order, the shipment and the supplier PO
- Calls
- Seven minutes each, and 24% call againFewer calls, and shorter ones, with the order already on screen
- Problems
- Whoever picks up improvisesLate or damaged orders go to a person with the full history
How it works. 6 steps, 4 stages.
- AI1
- Rules and automation3
- Your team2
- Approval
1Watch
Rules and automation
Watch every open order
Shipments, backorders and supplier PO dates are read from the ERP and carrier tracking each day.
- Prophet 21
2Tell
Rules and automation
Send what’s known, once
Ship confirmations with tracking, and backorder notices with a revised date, only once purchasing has confirmed it.
- Outlook
Your teamApproval
Call the accounts that matter
Reps call key accounts about backorders on critical items themselves.
3Answer
AI
Answer the question that’s asked
In the portal, by email or on the rep’s screen: where it is, what’s late and when the next case arrives.
- HubSpot
Rules and automation
Never promise a date it doesn’t have
If the supplier hasn’t confirmed, the answer says so, and says when we’ll know.
4Recover
Your team
Handle the problems
Damage, refusals and missed deliveries go to a person with the order and shipment history.
Repeat questions show which notices to add
What you get. Real work, every week.
| Order | Notice | Sent to | State |
|---|---|---|---|
| SO-840 | Shipped, tracking attached | Corner Bakehouse | Sent |
| SO-812 | Last case due Thursday | Harbor Street Cafés | Sent |
| SO-846 | Backorder, date not yet confirmed | Lakeside Deli Group | Waiting on purchasing |
| SO-851 | Backorder on a critical item | Pier 9 Catering | Rep to call |
The daily notice run. Dates go out only once purchasing has confirmed them.
- SO-838 · Pier 9 CateringTwo cases arrived damaged2 casesTo customer service
- SO-833 · Corner BakehouseLTL delivery refused at the dock1 palletRep calling
What stays with people: problems a notice can’t fix.
How you’ll know it’s working.
Status calls per week
The calls this use case exists to remove, from 1,900 questions a month today.
Repeat contact within seven days
Today 24% of callers call again.
Backorders told before the buyer asks
About 120 a month go untold today.
Baselines agreed before we build.
Works with what you have.
ERP, CRM & inbox
- Prophet 21
- Outlook
- HubSpot
Order & quote automation
- Esker
Commerce
- Shopify
- We configure first
- Your ERP’s ship notifications and the carriers’ tracking emails cover part of this. We turn those on first, then add backorder dates from purchasing.
- We build when
- Answers need the ERP, carrier tracking and supplier dates together, and some carriers have no tracking API.
What a first build includes.
Built in your accounts, around your team. Scope, fee and baseline agreed before we start.
- 1Design
- 2Build
- 3Run it, or hand it over
We build
- Daily ship and backorder notices from the ERP and carrier tracking
- Revised dates that go out only once purchasing confirms them
- A status answer for the portal, email and the rep’s screen
- A route to a person for damage, refusals and missed deliveries
We start from
- Orders, shipments, backorders and supplier PO dates from the ERP
- Carrier tracking access, by API or portal
- Call logs and a sample of status emails
From your team
- Owner
- Customer service supervisor
- Involves
- Customer service
- Purchasing
- Order desk
Questions teams ask.
Can an AI voice agent take these calls?
We wouldn’t start there. Notices remove the routine calls without a phone menu. The calls that remain are where reorders and add-on sales happen, and where a restaurant needs a person when a delivery fails.
What if the supplier’s date is wrong?
Then the answer says the date isn’t confirmed. Notices go out only once purchasing has confirmed a date, and again if it moves.
Who owns it once it’s running?
You do. It’s built in your accounts, documented, with training for the people who run it. Ownership usually sits with your customer service supervisor. We can keep running it with you, or step back.
How do we start?
Usually with an order desk review: two to four weeks, a fixed fee credited to the build, and a plan that’s yours. If the job is already clear, we can scope the build directly.
Part of your order engine. One of 14 use cases, in 5 parts.
See the whole order engineIn self-service & status
Works with
Answer before they call. Start with an order desk review.
We reply within one business day.