How Order Entry Software Can Help You Cut Costs and Mistakes In Your Business

Mistakes. Everyone makes them, right? Unfortunately, when you're running a business, a few innocent little mistakes can quickly add up to a serious expense. The wrong order gets shipped and you have to pay to replace it. Or an order gets delayed and arrives late and you have to cut the customer a break to keep them happy. These things happen.

If you're like most business owners, you understand that your employees, your reps, and even your customers are going to make mistakes, but you'd also like to find a way to reduce these costly errors.

Order entry software is an online application that can be used by your customers and sales reps to enter orders. Ideally, it's linked with your QuickBooks software, so the system always reflects your most up-to-date product  pricing and inventory levels.

The order entry software is also updated with information about the customer, such as their shipping information, any special pricing they may receive, and even a history of their old orders. This level of access to information helps ensure order accuracy and timeliness. This translates to less expense for you.

Here are some specific ways in which order entry software can help reduce costly mistakes:

Retyping errors. Does your order entry process look something like this? An order comes in from a sales rep, usually through fax, email, or over the phone. Someone in your office either prints off the order or hand writes it on a piece of paper. That document is then typed into QuickBooks, which initiates the order fulfillment and the invoice.

All of this copying, writing, and retyping cost you money. First, it takes time. More importantly, though, it creates opportunity for error. All it takes is for one person to key in a wrong digit for an order to be messed up. An error by a rep or at order entry will carry through to shipping and invoicing.

Online order entry software solves that problem because the order information goes straight from the software into QuickBooks. Your customer or sales rep can simply enter in the information and you have it. No retyping necessary.

Incorrect purchases. Do you offer a wide variety of products? Maybe your products come in different sizes, types, or colors? Is it easy for a customer or sales rep to order the wrong product?

When the wrong product is ordered, you’re probably on the hook to replace it. That costs you money in terms of product, but also in terms of the time you and your team spend getting it right.

With order entry software, your customers and sales reps can see your catalog online, so it’s easy for them to select the right product. They can also access their old orders to help them make sure they get the order right. That saves you time and money.

Time spent returning calls. Your customer has a question about their order, so they call your sales rep. The sales rep calls your office. Someone in your office has to call or walk back to the shipping area. Once the status of the order is tracked down, the office staff member calls the sales rep, who then calls the customer. This whole process is a time consuming and unproductive.

What if your customers and reps could simply look online and find the status of their order? With online order entry software, they can. As soon as they place the order, the status is visible and available for them to check at any time.

What other ways have you been successful in making your process more efficient? We'd love to hear about it in our comments section. If this article has sparked your interest, then request a demo below from Now Commerce. Let us show you how our system can improve your business efficiency today!

Photocredit: Seo via flickr