How much time does your team spend on each order?

When order volumes rise, it is tempting to assume the answer is another person in customer service. Sometimes it is. But before you hire, change a process or invest in online ordering, it helps to know how much work those orders create for the people you already have.

 An order can keep your team busy long after somebody enters it. A customer changes the delivery address. Another calls to ask where the goods are. Finance has to investigate a price on an invoice. Each request seems small, but the work is spread across the business, so its total is easy to miss.

You do not need a complex study to get a useful starting point. A rough view of the time spent entering orders, plus the two or three interruptions that happen most, can show where your team is stretched. It also gives you a more realistic basis for deciding what to improve.

Follow an order beyond entry

Consider this straightforward account order. A customer emails what they need. Customer service reads it, enters the products and quantities, and sends a confirmation.

The warehouse picks and despatches the goods. Finance invoices the customer the next morning. When the customer pays, finance reconciles the bank statement and marks the invoice paid.

Not every order runs that smoothly. Before despatch, a customer might ask to change the delivery date. Customer service then has to check whether the warehouse has started picking before promising anything.

On another order, head office might want proof of delivery before paying. If the courier holds it, somebody has to request it. Neither task is part of entering the order.

The full journey shows where the work occurs. It also shows what a change in ordering channel may leave in place: the warehouse still needs to pick the goods, and finance may still need to invoice and reconcile the payment.

A useful first estimate

Start with the number of email and phone orders your team handles manually each month. Multiply it by the approximate time it takes to read or take an ordinary order and enter it. If you do not know that time, clock a handful of typical orders.

As an illustration, allow 11 minutes per order. At 1,000 manually handled orders a month, that is 1,000 × 11 ÷ 60,  or about 183 hours of your team’s time. Here is what the same estimate gives at other volumes:

These are hours spent reading or taking and entering orders, not hours promised as a saving. The 11 minutes is an estimate, not a measured benchmark. It excludes confirmations, changes, enquiries, invoicing and fulfilment.

The work that keeps coming back

Orders often create extra work after entry. Ask customer service and finance which requests keep coming back. For example:

• Changes to products, quantities or delivery details.
• Calls asking where an order is or requesting proof of delivery.
• Invoice queries, such as a price that does not match the customer’s purchase order.

Pick only two or three that your team sees regularly. A rough count from last month and an approximate time for each will show whether they merit a closer look. If nobody knows how often they happen, tally those requests for a normal week.

Before treating that time as avoidable, ask what caused it. A wrong product could have been entered by customer service, chosen by the buyer or picked by the warehouse. All three can mean a return and replacement, but online ordering would not correct a warehouse picking error.

For a non-account customer, online payment could remove a phone call to take card details. It would not stop a late-paying account customer from needing a reminder.

This first pass will not give you a precise cost per order. It can show whether the first opportunity worth testing lies in entering orders, answering repeat questions or correcting preventable mistakes. You can investigate further where the numbers justify it.

Where might time be released?

If customers order online at the correct account prices and delivery details, and those orders flow into the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, customer service no longer has to re-enter them.

Likewise, if customers can see reliable delivery status and proof of delivery, some calls asking for that information may disappear. You can check both results by watching the number of manual entries and calls after a change.

That depends on the setup and on customers using it. If online orders still need checking or rekeying, that work remains. If courier proof of delivery is unavailable to the customer, staff may still have to chase it.

Late amendments, damaged goods and warehouse picking errors also need attention whichever channel the customer uses.

What do those hours mean for the business?

The 183 hours measure manual receipt and entry, not a promise to save 183 hours. Some orders will stay on email or phone, and online orders may still need support.

Time released gives your team capacity. It becomes a cash saving if spending falls. Avoiding a planned hire and freeing your team for other work are different outcomes. Include the cost of making and supporting the change when you weigh it up.

Start with your monthly manual order count and a few timings. Then look at the two or three extra requests your team handles most. You will have a clearer view of what is taking your team’s time, which change deserves attention first, and what result to look for if you make it.