Orders lost between the customer email and the ERP

Industrial customers order by email, phone and spreadsheet. Some orders wait, some get lost, some get entered twice. Here is one front door for all of them.

The problem

Inside sales handles orders from plants and contractors by email, phone notes and spreadsheets. A busy rep's inbox becomes the order queue, and when they are out, orders wait.

What was really causing it

There is no single queue. Each rep owns their own inbox, customer-specific pricing lives in their heads and a spreadsheet, and the ERP only learns about an order once someone types it.

There is no single queue.

What the research says

• 88% median perfect order performance: on time, complete, undamaged and correctly documented, all at once (APQC Open Standards Benchmarking, Perfect order performance)

Perfect order performance multiplies four rates together, so small slips compound: an order typed wrong at the start can arrive on time and undamaged and still not count. Order entry is the first place an order can stop being perfect, and the cheapest one to fix.

What we built

One shared queue for every incoming order, read and matched to the customer and their pricing, routed to a rep by your rules, and entered into the ERP after approval. Customers get a confirmation without anyone writing it.

1. Queued Every order lands in one shared queue, whatever channel it came from.
2. Matched Customer, parts and their pricing are matched from your records.
3. Routed The order goes to the right rep, with cover when someone is out.
4. Confirmed After approval it enters the ERP and the customer gets a confirmation.

What stays as it is

Your ERP, your CRM and your reps' relationships with customers.

Where AI fits, and where it does not

AI reads free-form emails and spreadsheets. Price rules, routing and the ERP connection are plain software. Exceptions always go to a person.

What it is worth

What comes next

A reorder portal for repeat customers, and quote-to-order tracking for the sales manager.

Questions people ask

What happens to orders the system cannot read?

They go to a person, with what was read highlighted. Nothing enters the ERP without approval.

Do customers have to change how they order?

No. They keep emailing, phoning and sending spreadsheets.

Which ERPs does this work with?

Most ERPs used by distributors take orders through an API, an import or EDI. We use whichever your system supports.

1. Perfect order performance, APQC Open Standards Benchmarking

Canonical URL: https://ugibo.com/case-studies/orders-lost-between-email-and-erp