Do your customers keep asking for the order form but you are not using one yet? In this article, we will answer the main question about order forms: what is it, why are other businesses using it, and what to include. In addition, in the end, you can find a simple guide on how you can create your order form. 
What is an order form?
An order form is a document buyers submit to a wholesaler, manufacturer, or retailer requesting products or services. They are mostly used in two scenarios: for large amount business purchases and for high-priced products.
Aside from selling goods, an order form may be used to sell services. It can be a good way to collect customers’ information for a business customer database and find out what customer preferences are.
Why are businesses using order forms?
As mentioned above, it can become a beneficial tool for collecting information about the client and the order. Usually, the sales team are using this information to be prepared for future conversations with clients. For example, to make sure which service they can upsell or simply to confirm before proceeding with payment. In addition, online order forms are necessary to sell your products and services online. They reduce paper waste and the amount of time it takes to collect orders.
If you are ordering food at your house, you are filling in the ordering form every time you do so. Now put yourself in the shoes of the restaurant. Why do they call you sometimes to confirm the order? To let you know that some product is out of stock or tell you about their “buy one get one free” option. The golden rule of every business is once you are benefiting a client, you are benefiting your business. An order form can become a how-to guide to the first part of this rule.
What to include?
It is one size fits all when it comes to what be included on an order form. Let divide the order form into different sections, which we will fill in with the questions.
Section 1: Client’s general information.
It’s as easy as it sounds. Just think about all the information you may need from the client to contact them back and complete the order.
- Customer’s name
- Customer contact details (phone number or email address)
The additional information in this sections can be:
- Customer’s shipping address
Section 2: Purchase Preferences
Here, you need to ensure that the client picks up one of the highly relevant options for their order. When you build in the questions for this section, just think from your business side, what information do we need to proceed? It can include one of these examples:
- Product variants (color, size, etc.)
- Quantity
- Shipping methods
- Delivery date
Section 3: Order details
This section is appropriate opposite to the previous one because it should include the information that client may potentially need. For instance:
- Your company’s name and business address
- Date of Purchase Order
- Sales Order Number
- Note to customer
Once you have created all the questions, reread them and make sure that all are necessary to include. The longer the form, the more likely the client won’t finish it because they get distracted or simply bored.
How to create an order form?
Once you have decided on questions to include, it will take minutes to create an order form. With Catalog Machine, you can set up a separate order form that you will need to print out or include on your website, depends on your business needs. All you have to do is select one of the order form layouts and customize it for your purposes.
In addition, you can always present your products to the client in the form of a catalog and start receiving orders right from there. This option works great if you don’t have a website or have a large variety of products. Go to Catalog Machine and try to build your order form now.
Summary
Creating a customer order form begins with the end in mind: your goals. What types of information do you want to capture? Are there any disclaimers you want to include? How can you make the process easier for your customers?