The sales process doesn’t end when you get an order. You still need to fulfill it, and a lot can go wrong until then. TeamGram can help you manage orders until they are fulfilled. Having order information in your CRM also provides valuable data for future sales.
This feature is available in Plus subscription plans and above.
A customer order is a document that lists the items a customer has requested to buy from you, and the terms and conditions they have agreed to. They are the customer’s response to a quote.
Processing an order can take time. You may need to plan production, installation and delivery. Mishaps in fulfilling a customer order can cause the loss of a won deal, and endanger future deals with the same customer. Sales teams usually want to stay involved in the process until orders are fulfilled successfully.
Getting an order is not synonymous with closing a deal. Although most orders are related to a deal, you will want to manage your orders separately from your deals. Here are some reasons to do so:
- A single deal may include multiple orders. Receiving a small order and successfully fulfilling it may not justify marking a large deal as won.
- In some cases, you may not need to receive any orders to win a deal. The deal may be won at the time an agreement is made, but the orders may come much later.
- You may continue to get orders from deals that were closed long ago, as part of a successful long-term relationship.
Three Different Ways to Create a Customer Order
Converting a Quote into an Order
If your customer has accepted your quote without too many changes, this is the quickest way. Simply open the quote and update its status as accepted. Then, click on the Convert to order button. This will create a new order with all relevant information copied from the quote into the order. You will still be able to make last-minute changes before saving it.
Copying an Existing Order
This is a useful method when you need to create a long order with content similar to an earlier order. Simply go to the orders tab on the left navigation bar, find the order you want to copy from, open it, and click on the copy button at the top.
The customer, primary contact and deal information will be blank, and you will need to enter new information there. The pricing table will be copied from the existing order, so you will not need to reenter that information again, unless you want to make some changes before saving.
Creating a Customer Order from Scratch
Even if you don’t have a quote to start with, or another order to copy from, creating an order from scratch is easy. The best place to start an order from scratch is the related deal page, as that will automatically populate some of the key fields. Otherwise, you can go to the customer orders section from the left navigation bar, and press the new customer order button.
Editing The Customer Order Form
Template
Your administrator can define customer order templates which determine the layout and visual elements like letterhead and footer images. If templates are available, select the one you want to use for this order.
Customer, Primary Contact and Deal Name
Fill out these fields to connect your order to the right CRM entities. Every order must have a customer.
Order Date
Enter the date this order was received from the customer.
Description
Order a short description or the customer’s reference number here.
Opening Text
Opening texts are rarely used in orders. If you need to display a specific text before line items, enter it here.
Line Items
This section is similar to the pricing table in quotes. Use it to list all items ordered by the customer.
Closing Text
Unlike opening text, this section is important and almost always contains important information regarding the order. You may want to enter delivery times, shipping methods and payment terms here.
Status
The status of an order must be one of the following:
- Open: An order is newly created and is being processed.
- Fulfilled: The order has already been shipped, delivered or otherwise completed in accordance with the customer’s request. No further action is needed.
- Cancelled: This order will not be fulfilled. No further action is needed.
Stage
The stage field is only relevant while the order is open. Order stages can be customized by administrators. Use the stage field to track progress on the processing of your orders.
Address Info
Select from available addresses of the customer, or enter new addresses from scratch.
Printing a Customer Order
To print an order, save it and click on the printer icon at the top of its page.
Downloading a Customer Order as a PDF File
To download an order as a PDF file, open the order and click on the PDF icon at the top of the page.
Emailing a Customer Order
You may want to email customer orders to your contacts for confirmation. To send your order to a contact for confirmation, open the order and click on the email button. Add any message you want to add to your email. A PDF file containing your order will be automatically attached while sending.
Listing Customer Orders
The customer orders tab on the left navigation bar lists your orders. You can apply filters and save your selection criteria for future use. To view only orders by a specific customer, go to that customer’s page and click on the orders tab under it.
Saving an Invoice for an Order in Your Accounting System
If your TeamGram account is connected to your accounting system, you can automatically save invoices for your fulfilled orders.
- Open a customer order.
- Make sure your customer order’s status is set to fulfilled.
- Click on the Save invoice button.
Check out the Integrations Guide to see if your accounting system is supported. Your system administrator must authorize you for invoicing, before you can use this feature.