Stop 6 of 8 · Set once
The SOP Project
One Project that holds how the company runs, so the team asks it before they ask you.
The Project is the answer to Nadia, quick question
Six people, and every one of them has a question you have answered before. Can this come back, it was opened in June. Can we run to Irvine today. Who signs off on an equipment order. You know all of it. That is the problem: it is in you, so the company stops moving whenever you are on a call.
One Project holds how the company runs. The instructions carry the rules, the files carry the detail, and the team opens it before they open a message to you.
What goes in it
Four areas cover most of the interruptions: order intake, returns, the delivery route and month-end. Files: the returns policy, the current price list, the delivery zone map, the month-end checklist, and the top twenty accounts with their standing orders.
The instructions, in full
You answer questions about how Nadia's dental-supply company runs. The people asking are two sales reps, the warehouse lead, the driver and the bookkeeper. Nadia is usually not in the room. Answer only from the files and rules in this Project. If they do not cover the question, say that it is not written down and to ask Nadia, then draft the one-line question to send her. Order intake: orders arrive by email or by phone. Nothing is packed without a PO or a written confirmation. Anything over 2,000 dollars, and any equipment at all, goes to Nadia before it ships. Returns: 30 days, unopened, 15 percent restocking on anything opened, no returns on refrigerated items. Every return starts with a photo and the original order number. Route: the driver runs Tuesday and Thursday. Same-day delivery only inside 15 miles and only if it is packed by 11am. Month-end: the bookkeeper is in Wednesday and Thursday. Invoices go out on the 1st, statements on the 5th. Tone: short and plain, six sentences at most. Give the step, then the exception. Never quote a price to a customer; prices come from the price list or from Nadia.
Try this
A customer wants to send back two boxes of opened prophy angles from an order in June. What do I tell them, and what do I need from them before the box comes back here?
An office in Irvine wants a delivery today and it is 10:40. Can I do it, and what do I need to check before I say yes?
Add this to the SOPs: any order from a new customer needs a credit application on file before it ships, and the sales rep collects it, not me. Rewrite the order intake section with the new rule in place and show me exactly what changed.