An order status page customers can check themselves

Most 'any news?' messages come from a customer who just wants to know their order hasn't been forgotten. This page shows the steps, which one you're on, an expected date and your dated updates. Move it to the next step with a message, and anyone with the page open sees it change.

When to use it

• A custom table takes eight weeks and the buyer gets anxious around week three.
• A print shop, tailor or bike mechanic gets calls asking if it's ready.
• A car in the body shop has a customer without any idea what's happening.
• A job has several stages that customers don't naturally understand.

What a good one includes

• Steps in the customer's language, like 'In the workshop', and five or six at most.
• An expected date, even if it's approximate.
• Short dated updates. One line about what happened today beats a generic status.
• The order number, so it's clear which job this is.
• A way to ask a question, in the contact line.

Make one by saying what you need

Text it, type it or say it, the way you'd tell a colleague:

Status page for order 553 at Northstar Bikes: custom wheel build for Theo, received, parts ordered, building, testing, ready for pickup. It's at parts ordered, due May 20.

Questions

Do customers need an account?

No. Each order has its own link, and opening it is all they do.

Does it show updates without refreshing?

Yes. An open page changes as soon as you update it.

Is the information private?

It's open to whoever holds the link, so keep it to what you'd put on a postcard and leave out full addresses or payment details.