Order Clerks
Receive and process incoming orders for goods and services from inside or outside organisations.
The sold-out pallet
You are an order clerk at a trade supplier, taking calls and web orders for landscapers and builders who need materials delivered first thing in the morning. It is 3:30pm and the yard closes at 5. Orders are stacking up in your inbox. Before long, a call from a regular customer and a message from the warehouse will pull you in two directions.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
I need twelve pallets of the grey pavers on site by seven tomorrow. Your website says plenty in stock. My crew starts at seven and I have a client who is already unhappy. Lock it in for me.
Lock it in as asked, because the system says there is stock
At six the next morning the yard finds only eight pallets on the shelf. Callum's crew stands around while he rings you, and the system looked right only because a count was out of date.
Check the shelf with the yard, then tell Callum honestly what can arrive
The yard counts eight and the rest are two days away. Callum is disappointed, but he can reorder his crew's week with proper warning. He thanks you for saying so today.
Promise twelve, and plan to find the other four from another branch overnight
You may be able to find them, but you have promised something you do not control. If the other branch cannot help, Callum finds out at the worst possible time.
I told a new customer she would get a special rate on her first order, in writing, on the quote I sent her. It is not in the system, but just put it through at that rate. I am sure the boss will agree.
Enter the order at the quoted rate, because it was a promise from your own company
The customer is happy, but the manager sees a rate nobody approved. The mistake lands on you as much as on Nadia.
Put it through at the standard rate and let the customer find out on the invoice
The customer is furious about a surprise. Nadia is angry, and the trust you were building with both of them is gone.
Hold the order and ask the manager to confirm the rate today
The manager approves a version of the rate. It costs an hour, but nobody is surprised and the order is booked correctly.
The order for Dimitri's Landscapes is already on the truck, but he has just emailed to change the quantity. Can you quickly amend the paperwork so he cannot complain later?
Change the quantity on the paperwork to match the email, then let the truck go
The paperwork now says one thing and the truck carries another. When the driver arrives, nothing matches, and the customer is billed for goods that were never delivered.
Keep the order as loaded, reply that the change cannot be made now and offer a second delivery
The truck leaves with exactly what the paperwork says. Dimitri has a short wait for the extra, and the records stay clean.
Ask Yan to unload and re-pick, even though it will delay three other trucks
The change is made, but three other customers wait while the yard redoes it. You solved one customer's problem by creating three more.
How it went
At five the desk went quiet. A delivery was moved, a quote was checked and a truck left with the right load. Order clerks make small promises and keep them, and every checked detail saves someone a bad morning. Do you like being the calm voice between customers and the warehouse?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The order that was right on paper only
A fictional case set in the order desk of a fictional trade supplier that sells garden and landscaping materials.
The situation
Sione worked the order desk at Red Gum Landscape Supplies. A landscaper rang and ordered forty bags of paving sand and a pallet of edging for a job starting at seven the next morning. It was a simple order and the system showed enough stock. As Sione typed it in, he noticed the edging code matched a thinner product than the one the landscaper had described on the phone. The customer was keen to hang up and get on with his day.
What they did
Sione read the description back to the customer and asked what the edging was for. It turned out the job was a driveway, and the thinner product would not suit it. He offered the heavier product, checked with the yard that it was on the shelf, and changed the order. He sent a written confirmation by text so the landscaper could see what was ordered before the truck loaded.
How it turned out
The right product arrived at six thirty the next morning and the job started on time. The landscaper rang back the following week with a bigger order and asked for Sione by name. The yard supervisor started asking every new clerk to read back the product description, not just the code.
What would you do?
- How would you politely stop a busy customer to check what they really need?
- What was the risk in taking the order exactly as it was said?
- Would you enjoy the mix of phone, computer and detail in this job?