Five Ways to Help Reduce Errors When Handling Special Orders

Ordering, processing, receiving, and delivering special orders take up a lot of time at dealers. When handled well, they can be a source of revenue. But when mishandled, they are among sources of financial loss and customer anger.  

Stefanie Couch, who grew up in a family-run lumberyard and now is a consultant and founder of Grit Blueprint, recalls when she was working inside sales at a Fortune 500 distributor and made a two-inch error in the size of decorative glass inserts she had ordered for a special door. That homeowner had wanted her door finished just in time for Thanksgiving.  

“The customer missed her deadline, leaving us with $2,700 worth of unusable glass that we couldn't return,” Couch says. “I then had to reorder the correct size. That experience has stayed with me because it showed how one small detail can spiral into wasted money, lost time, and damaged trust.” 

Here are five ways to make sure special orders get treated right. 

1. Sweat the Details 

Couch recommends you use a standardized checklist or form to capture specs every time. “Do not skip steps, even when the order seems simple,” she warns. Get someone within your company to verify what you’ve done, and then have the customer sign off on the purchase before placing it.  

When the product arrives, some dealers also require the sales rep to go into the warehouse, find the product, and “put their hand on it,” visually and verbally declaring that this is what was ordered. 

2. Tag ‘em

Regular stock gets barcoded, inventoried, and tracked. Special orders need the same treatment. Years ago, forward-thinking dealers like Hancock Lumber created a computer system that created individual tags for every special order. If 17 products were coming in as part of a single special order, Hancock would create 17 tags to be placed on each product. If a special order product didn’t show up, you’d know immediately via the unused tags.  

Today, ERP systems like ECI’s Spruce and Epicor’s BisTrack treat each special order item in ways so that they can be tracked when they’re ordered, brought into the warehouse, delivered, and invoiced. Once the product is paid for and out of inventory, it can be purged from the master inventory file, thus keeping the database clean. 

3. Track ‘em 

One of the biggest reasons special orders don’t get delivered properly is because they often don’t have a designated place to be stored. It’s not unusual to see special orders stuck into nooks and crannies throughout the warehouse as space becomes available. 

This is where warehouse management systems (WMS) can be lifesavers. Along with helping you organize your regular stock, they also make it easy for you to keep track of where you put each of your special orders—plus where you moved them a second time when new space opens up. “When customers are utilizing our WMS, special orders are tracked in the specific location and the pickers are specifically directed to those locations, which eliminates a lot of searching and time,” Epicor’s Graham Rigby says. 

If you can’t afford a WMS, then try to create ways to demarcate where the special orders are. Some dealers pick a space, while others put all their special orders on rolling racks. 

4. Take Advantage of Technology

“Today, the challenge is not just accuracy but managing the overwhelming volume of product data and options,” Couch says. “Humans are great at relationships and judgment, but no one can remember millions of configurations across doors, windows, and millwork.  

“That is why I believe the future lies in tools that can check specifications automatically and surface upsell opportunities that often get overlooked in the rush of daily quoting,” Couch adds. “Reducing errors is essential, but so is making sure customers see the additional options that add value to their project.” 

5. Color Your Work Successful

Spruce is among the ERP systems that has incorporated one old-school way to avoid special order mistakes—marking each delivered item with a seasonal color: e.g. green in spring, yellow in summer, orange in autumn, and blue in winter.  

The idea here is to give yourself a quick way to spot undelivered goods. If it’s summer and you’re still seeing green tags on the special orders, you know something went wrong. The customer probably knows too, so it’s in your interest to avoid the mistake in the first place by keeping your colors consistent. 

DISCLAIMER 

The information presented is for general promotional purposes only and does not constitute a binding offer or guarantee of performance. All product claims, benefits, and testimonials are based on typical use and may vary depending on individual circumstances.