Workflow automation for a wholesaler
A wholesaler in technical parts retyped every enquiry three times: from email to CRM, from CRM to quote, from quote to invoice. We automated the entire chain — from enquiry to invoice, without copy-paste work.
Sector
Wholesale in technical parts
Services
Workflow automation, AI, system integrations
Year
2026
The challenge
Enquiries came in via email, phone and a contact form. The inside sales team read them, retyped them into the CRM, manually assembled a quote in Word, emailed it off and — after approval — created an order confirmation and later an invoice in the accounting package all over again. Four systems, the same data every time.
Sending out a quote took two days on average. Too long, as conversations with customers showed: whoever sends a decent quote first often gets the job. And along the way, errors crept into prices and quantities — leading to discussions afterwards.
Our approach
We automated the complete flow and let email, CRM and the accounting package talk to each other directly:
- Enquiries are read automatically. An AI step reads every incoming enquiry, recognises items, quantities and customer details and records them directly in the CRM. Phone enquiries are entered in the same screen by the inside sales team.
- Draft quote in one click. Based on current price lists and discount agreements, the system assembles a quote in the corporate style. The employee only checks it and presses send.
- Approval? The rest follows automatically. Once the customer signs digitally, the order confirmation and eventually the invoice go to the accounting package automatically.
- Follow-up never stalls. No response to a quote? The system automatically schedules a reminder and a task for the inside sales team.
The employee always remains the final check: the system proposes, the human decides. That kept the threshold low for the team and the quality high.
Quote within two hours instead of two days
The inside sales team now spends its time on customers instead of retyping — and that shows in the order book.
2 hours
until a quote is sent — that used to be 2×24 on average
15 hours
saved per week in the inside sales team
−80%
fewer input errors in quotes and invoices, because nothing is retyped anymore
The side effect is at least as valuable: every enquiry is now complete in the CRM, including lost quotes and the reasons why. For the first time, management can steer on numbers instead of gut feeling.
What is under the hood
Our inside sales team mostly did retyping work. Now they check drafts instead of building them — and the quote is often with the customer within two hours. We see that directly in the number of orders we win.
Operations manager, wholesaler in technical parts
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