Obtaining and Recording the Customers’ Orders
The sales process begins in the sales department with the receipt of a customer order
indicating the type and quantity of merchandise being requested. At this point, the customer
order is not in a standard format and may not be a physical document. Orders
may arrive by mail, by telephone, or from a field representative who visited the customer’s
place of business. When the customer is also a business entity, the order is usually
a copy of the customer’s purchase order.