[B2B sales & account operations]() / [Use cases]() / [Order status]() [How it works]() [What you get]() [Scope]() [Start a review]() [B2B sales & account operations]()[Self-service & status]() # 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. [Start with an order desk review]() [How it works]() 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. ShowTodayWith the engine Backorders Found out when the buyer calls Told when the date is known, and again if it moves Answers The ERP, a carrier site and purchasing, in turn One answer from the order, the shipment and the supplier PO Calls Seven minutes each, and 24% call again Fewer calls, and shorter ones, with the order already on screen Problems Whoever picks up improvises Late or damaged orders go to a person with the full history ## How it works. 6 steps, 4 stages. - AI**1** - Rules and automation**3** - Your team**2** - Approval 1. 1 Watch 1. 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 2. 2 Tell 1. 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 2. Your team Approval ### Call the accounts that matter Reps call key accounts about backorders on critical items themselves. 3. 3 Answer 1. 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 2. 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. 4. 4 Recover 1. 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. Notices today From the ERP and carriers 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. Needs a person Customer service - SO-838 · Pier 9 CateringTwo cases arrived damaged **2 cases**To customer service - SO-833 · Corner BakehouseLTL delivery refused at the dock **1 pallet**Rep calling What stays with people: problems a notice can’t fix. ## How you’ll know it’s working. 1. Status calls per week The calls this use case exists to remove, from 1,900 questions a month today. 2. Repeat contact within seven days Today 24% of callers call again. 3. 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. 1. 1 Design 2. 2 Build 3. 3 Run it, or hand it over [Start with a review]() [Scope this build]() ### 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 engine]() 1. [New accounts **2**]() 2. [Quotes & pricing **3**]() 3. [Orders **3**]() 4. [Self-service & status **3**]() 5. [Account growth **3**]() In self-service & status - [**Self-service reordering**Give business buyers self-service reordering, with a rep behind it]() - **Order status**You’re here - [**B2B agent orders**Let business buyers order through AI on their account terms]() Works with - [**PO changes**Handle PO changes without creating duplicate orders]() - [**PO intake**Turn emailed purchase orders into validated sales orders]() See it at work - [**In Harbor Street’s ninety days**Day 9: “When’s the last case coming?”]() - [**Also in**Customer service & support]() ## Answer before they call. Start with an order desk review. [Start with an order desk review]() [**Talk it through first**15 minutes]() We reply within one business day. --- Source: [https://www.thekeating.co/use-cases/b2b-order-status/]() [Contact Keating & Co](mailto:nelson@thekeating.co) · [Agent guidance](https://www.thekeating.co/llms.txt)