What are decisions and track records?

A decision is a short record of what your business settled and why, kept on the purchase order, supplier or wholesale record it affects. An outcome is a result you commit to on a purchase order, such as its fill rate, which Tideswell measures when the date arrives.

Both come together under Brain › Decisions, on two tabs: the Decision log lists every decision, and the Track record shows how often the commitments were met.

Why would you record a decision?

Because in six months nobody remembers why, and the reasoning is worth more than the choice.

Fairgreen Golf Co. moved a fabric from Portside Mills to Kaimen Knitwear last spring. Everyone involved knew why at the time: a lead-time problem, and a price that had moved twice.

A year later, with two of those people gone, the order history showed a supplier change and nothing else. The next buyer had to rediscover the reasoning from scratch, and nearly moved it back. A decision recorded at the time takes a minute; reconstructing it later takes a week.

When would you record one?

When you would be annoyed to find the reasoning missing in a year. Three typical moments:

• Changing supplier or agreeing new terms, recorded on the supplier.
• Placing an unusually large order, or holding one back, recorded on the purchase order.
• Giving a wholesale account terms you would not normally give, recorded on the account.

A good decision says what you chose, the facts behind it, and the option you turned down. That last part is what stops the same debate happening every year.

What does a decision hold?

Four things: What was decided, Why, What we didn't do and When this was decided.

You record it on a purchase order, a supplier, a wholesale account or a wholesale order, where it stays as a card for the next person to read. From a chat message, the iPhone app or the Agent you can also record one against a campaign or a task. See How to record a decision.

What is an outcome?

A result you commit to on a purchase order before it happens: its Fill rate, On-time delivery, Days late or Units sold, with an optional target and a window of dates. Tideswell measures it the day after the window closes and records a verdict, such as Target met or Target missed.

The person who recorded a decision on that order can attach the outcome to it. The decision and its verdict then sit side by side, on the order and in the log. See How to commit to an outcome and have it measured.

What does the track record show?

Every purchase order commitment whose window has closed, grouped by Supplier, Person or Team, with how many were met, missed or could not be measured, and a hit rate.

It answers a question most brands cannot: whose orders keep turning out the way you expected. See How to read the decision log and check a track record.

What will it never claim?

That the decision caused the outcome.

Tideswell reports what was decided and what was measured side by side, and leaves the judgement to you. A drop that sold through in a warm October is not proof the buyer was right.

When should you use something else?

Use a task instead when somebody still has to do something, such as chasing a late order. Use a comment on the record when the team is still discussing and nothing is settled yet.

A decision is for the moment the discussion ends. Often both apply: a decision about an order and a task to place it are two different records. See What are tasks?.

Who can use it?

Each part has its own row on Settings › Permissions, and all of them start at lead. See How to set who can do what.

• View decisions lets you read the decisions on a record and open Brain › Decisions. The menu row appears while the Decisions module is on in Settings › Modules.
• Record decisions lets you record one, on any record you can open.
• View purchase orders and the buying calendar lets you read the Track record tab.
• Edit purchase orders and the buying calendar, together with Change stock, receiving and store settings, lets you commit to an outcome or cancel one.

Read this section in order

How to record a decision is the habit worth forming. How to commit to an outcome and have it measured makes it measurable, and How to read the decision log and check a track record is where you read it all back.