PO Status and Delivery Questions Answered on WhatsApp
This recipe answers “when is my PO shipping?” and “where is my delivery?” on WhatsApp and email. It checks the buyer is on the account, finds the order in your ERP or online store and gives the status and delivery date. Late orders are flagged to your team before the buyer has to chase twice. Part of the B2B supplier workflows.
What happens today
“Hi, has PO 4471 been delivered yet? The site is waiting.” Your customer service person asks the warehouse, the warehouse asks the driver, and the answer comes back in an hour. Meanwhile the buyer has messaged their sales rep and called the office. Three people spend time on one question, and the buyer still does not know when to tell the site to expect it.
The flow that works
- The buyer asks about an order by PO number, invoice number or date. AeroChat matches them to the customer record.
- It finds the order in your system or your store and reads the status: received, picking, dispatched or delivered.
- It gives the delivery date and, for dispatched orders, the tracking details where you have them.
- If the order is past its promised date, it apologises, tells the buyer it has flagged it, and notifies your team with the account and PO.
- Questions about missing or damaged items go to a person.
Order details are shared only with contacts on the account. A PO number alone is not enough.
The recipe
Copy this into AeroChat
When a buyer asks about the status or delivery of an order, follow these steps.
- Check their phone number or email against the contacts on our customer records. If it is not there, do not share any order details. Ask for their company name and hand over to customer service.
- Ask for the PO number, invoice number or order date if they have not given it.
- Find the sales order in our system and only share orders that belong to their account.
- Tell them the status in plain words: received, being picked, dispatched or delivered, with the date. For dispatched orders, give the delivery date and the tracking number from the shipment record. If our courier’s tracking is connected, check it and give the latest status.
- If the order is past the delivery date we promised, apologise, tell them we are checking it now, and notify customer service with the account, PO number and promised date.
- If they say items are missing, wrong or damaged, ask which lines and for a photo, and hand over to customer service.
Never promise a new delivery date that our team has not confirmed. Reply in the buyer’s language.
Change the status names to the ones your team uses before you paste it.
What to connect
- Your ERP or order system. Oracle NetSuite connects through its API, and AeroChat reads sales order status, fulfilment and tracking numbers from there: your administrator creates an access token for AeroChat and pastes it in when AeroChat asks. Xero and QuickBooks Online also connect through their APIs if your orders and invoices live there: approve AeroChat’s access when AeroChat asks.
- Your online store. If orders are on Shopify or WordPress, both are built in, and AeroChat reads status and tracking from there.
- Your courier or warehouse system. If it has a public API, AeroChat can read tracking from it directly.
- Your customer records, so order details only go to the right contacts.
Using a different system? If it has a public API, it connects to AeroChat the same way: describe what you want, paste in its key, and it runs.
Can’t find your tool? Message us in the chat on this page and we’ll tell you how it connects.
What you still decide
- Your status names and what each one means for the buyer.
- Who keeps order status and tracking up to date in your system.
- Who handles late orders and delivery claims.
- Whether to tell buyers about delays before they ask, through a WhatsApp broadcast on the Growth plan and above.
The result to expect
“Where is my PO” is answered in seconds, from one source, without three people chasing. Late orders reach your team as soon as a buyer asks, with the details needed to act. Delivery claims arrive with the lines and photos already collected.
Measure it with your own numbers: status questions answered without a handover, and time to resolve late orders, for a month before and after you start.
Next: account and invoice questions and sales rep handover.
Answer your first PO question
Connect your ERP or store, paste the recipe and ask your own number about an open PO.
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On Shopify? Install AeroChat from the Shopify App Store.