Online selling
Hand off open shop orders before time away
For every open order, record its stage, what you actually promised the buyer, the next action and the person responsible. Write only confirmed promises. If no one is authorized to act on an order, say so in the handoff instead of leaving it to guesswork.
A text to start with
I am away from [start date] to [end date]. These orders are open: [order references, each with its current stage, any dates or terms I promised the buyer, and what remains to be done]. Covering person: [name and what they may decide]. Write a handoff listing each order, its stage, the confirmed promise, the next action and who owns it. Mark any promise I am unsure of as [confirm].
Example request. Change the details to fit your situation.Open order handoff
Away from: [ ] Back on: [ ] Covering person: [ ] What they may decide: [ ] What must wait for me: [ ] How to reach me, if at all: [ ] Order reference: [ ] Current stage: [ ] Promise made to the buyer: [ ] Where that promise is recorded: [ ] Next action: [ ] Responsible person: [ ] Due date: [ ] Buyer contact route: [ ] Orders with no authorized owner: [ ] Promises still to confirm: [ ]
Promises with no owner
Check every date in the handoff against the buyer's message or the order record, since a remembered date is often a day or two off. Separate promises the buyer was told from intentions you have not communicated. Look for orders where the next action needs a decision, such as a refund or a custom change, that the covering person is not authorized to make. Those need a named owner or a note to wait for you. Confirm the buyer's contact route is recorded for any order likely to prompt questions.
Ask another agent to check the result
Check each promised date in this handoff against the source it cites and flag any date with no source. Then list every open order whose next action needs a decision the named covering person is not authorized to make, and every order with no owner at all. Quote the order reference for each.
Walk through it with the covering person
Go through the handoff together and ask the covering person to state each next action back to you. Resolve every [confirm] before you leave, and name who decides on any case outside their authority. Store the handoff where the covering person can reach it. On your return, update each order's stage and close the finished ones.