Digital sales: How ERP and AI optimize your sales strategy

Nowadays, sales is under more pressure than ever before. On the one hand, customers are becoming increasingly demanding and expect to be addressed individually through a wide variety of channels. On the other hand, volatile markets and high targets demand maximum efficiency.

If you want to survive in this environment, you need to act in a data-oriented manner in order to recognize opportunities in good time. This is only possible with state-of-the-art technologies. Digital sales therefore combines powerful ERP and CRM systems with artificial intelligence – and thus gives the sales strategy a new boost.

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Digital sales: How does ERP support the sales department?

Nowadays, sales employees do not simply sell a product or service. Rather, they support their customers in their decision-making processes. For this to succeed, companies need to digitize their sales. Ultimately, the sales department needs two things above all to be able to respond to customer needs individually: a solid database and powerful analysis tools.

A modern ERP solution is exactly the right tool for this purpose. As the software collects information from all areas of the company and provides it centrally, it offers data-driven sales a strong foundation for its work. It also provides helpful functions for day-to-day sales. Let’s take a closer look at three of them below.

1. CRM functions

One thing is clear: in digital sales, a tool for customer relationship management (CRM) tool is the primary aid. After all, not only is all customer information stored in this contact database, but also all transactions.

CRM functionalities are standard in most ERP systems today. In contrast to dedicated software solutions integrated CRM modules offer a major advantage: linking sales processes with data from other areas of the company results in valuable synergy effects.

Here are a few examples:

• Precise price calculation
  Very few B2B companies offer their customers standard prices these days. Instead, they calculate an individual offer based on many different factors: Material costs, raw material prices, hourly rates, promotions and much more. Thanks to ERP integration, a CRM tool can perform these calculations in detail.
• Simple quotation design
  Sales employees can automatically pull relevant information from the ERP database to create a quotation – such as customer and article numbers, manufacturer details or configuration data. The same applies to additional documents such as design drawings, blueprints or reference lists.
• Seamless internal order processing
  An ERP system is extremely valuable in sales even after the contract has been signed. Thanks to the CRM module, the sales department can transfer all order data directly to other departments. As all important information is immediately available to every area of the company, sales and service provision merge seamlessly without media disruptions.

Many ERP systems also come with additional CRM analysis functions. These enable, for example, the creation of sales forecasts or the calculation of purchase probabilities.

2. product configurator

In customer contact, the ERP-based sales department can incorporate up-to-date information from the database into consultations. This makes it possible to make relatively accurate statements about performance parameters, delivery times and the pricing of the selected configuration.

Da die Berechnungen im Hintergrund jedoch relativ komplex sind, empfiehlt sich der Einsatz eines softwarebasierten Produktkonfigurators. Ein solches Tool erlaubt es dem vertrieblichen Außendienst, mit dem Kunden vor Ort verschiedene Produktvarianten durchzuspielen. 

3. mobile ERP applications

Employees in the field need access to sales-relevant data while on the move. This is because your customers expect to receive individual support anytime and anywhere – even during face-to-face appointments. This is why the CRM modules of modern ERP solutions are generally can be used on mobile devices.

However, sales employees are not always connected to the Internet when they are on the move – for example, on factory floors or in very rural areas. The offline functionality of mobile ERP applications is therefore important. There is no need to worry about security, as the applications have additional security features. Although these allow ERP access without an Internet connection, they prevent unauthorized data access.

Price calculation, existing customer support, mobile data access in the field – sales benefit from ERP in many situations.

Vivien König, Asseco Solutions

ERP and AI in sales: the dream team for maximum success

Let’s be clear: an ERP-based sales department benefits from a whole host of useful functions that are invaluable for successful sales activities. The use of an ERP system is therefore undoubtedly a must for the sales department.

However, the classic ERP-supported digitalization of sales is now only half the battle. Only with the help of artificial intelligence can you achieve maximum efficiency and thus the all-important competitive advantage. German SMEs have already recognized this: According to the diind trend study “AI Compass for SMEs 2025”, 87% of SMEs in Germany are planning to drive forward the use of AI, particularly in sales and marketing (70%).

When introducing an ERP system, you should therefore make sure that the software is equipped with AI solutions for sales. These offer a whole range of benefits that determine the success of the sales team.

1. optimal lead generation with AI

An ERP system with AI functionality independently takes over lead generation activities in sales that employees previously had to do manually, taking a lot of time. At the same time, it achieves a higher hit rate when identifying potential customers. By evaluating data from different sources and recognizing patterns, it can derive specific recommendations for action.

In a nutshell, it works like this:

• First, the AI collects large amounts of data from the ERP/CRM tool as well as from other sources such as websites, social media and emails.
• In the next step, the technology analyzes which characteristics customers have in common – for example, industry, company size or reactions to content. This analysis results in precise target group profiles.
• The AI also recognizes certain patterns in the data and creates a predictive lead score. This evaluates the probability of a contact becoming a customer.
• Ultimately, the system derives contacts with a high probability of closing so that the sales team can approach the right customers straight away.

Thanks to artificial intelligence, it is therefore possible to filter out the leads that most closely match the ideal profile from millions of data records. This AI-based sales automation not only reduces the workload for the sales team. It is also able to focus on the best opportunities and thus significantly increase the closing rate.

2. direct integration of AI leads into the ERP/CRM system

Once the AI has identified promising leads, they are seamlessly transferred to the existing ERP/CRM system. This means they are directly integrated into the sales process so that the sales team can plan follow-up steps as usual.

Once the AI has converted raw data into usable information, the sales department can use it directly in the ERP/CRM system for targeted measures. This creates an end-to-end workflow that does not require manual data entry.

3. uniform expansion of the database

The automatic transfer of leads to the ERP system ultimately results in a continuously growing and uniformly structured database in the CRM module. This database supports the sales department in tracking, maintaining and evaluating leads on a daily basis.

At the same time, there is a continuous flow of data back into the system – for example, if a customer meeting was successful or unsuccessful. In turn, the AI learns from this information and adapts its future decisions accordingly. Over time, this creates a system that constantly optimizes itself and can make more precise predictions with every action.

4. improved identification of cross-selling and upselling potentials

An ERP system alone helps sales employees to quickly identify cross-selling and upselling potential. After all, the ERP system contains detailed information on which customers have purchased which products and services. However, the analysis of existing customers only becomes really interesting with AI.

For example, intelligent technologies automatically evaluate purchasing behavior, typical product combinations or order cycles. From this, they deduce which customers are likely to be interested in a higher-value product or complementary solutions. The corresponding recommendations end up directly in the ERP/CRM system and can be used strategically by the sales department.

5. improved ERP usability thanks to AI dashboards

Last but not least, the usability of the ERP system also determines whether the sales team can work efficiently. Employees can only reach their goal quickly if the software is as easy to use as possible.

AI dashboards, such as those found in the APplus ERP system, are suitable for providing a good overview. This allows users to easily adapt the operating elements of the solution to their needs themselves – without any programming knowledge. For example, if individual fields are superfluous for day-to-day work, they can be hidden in no time at all. The AI suggests recommended settings so that users can achieve an optimal configuration. In addition, analyses, reports and dashboards are suggested according to role and authorization. This provides sales staff with the best possible support in their day-to-day work.

Digital sales with ERP and AI: the advantages at a glance

Conclusion: ERP and AI – the perfect combination in sales

The use of an ERP system with CRM functionality has become an integral part of everyday sales. Sales employees can use the software not only to analyze customer relationships over time, but also to create tailor-made offers and efficiently organize internal processing. Nowadays, no company could afford to do without these valuable synergy effects.

However, modern digital sales with an ERP system can only achieve a real competitive advantage if it raises its sales strategy to a new level of efficiency through the use of artificial intelligence. AI-based lead generation and intelligent analyses in particular will determine whether your company comes out on top in the end.