A CRM for the sales team of a food manufacturer

Before, the sales team kept customers and orders in Excel, typed by hand. Here is what we built, how each part works and what we learned.

The starting point.

Customers order again and again

The business lives on repeat orders from shops, restaurants and distributors.

Reps on the road

The sales reps visit customers in person and work from their phones.

Orders arrive as photos

Many orders come in as a photo of a list or a WhatsApp screenshot.

Excel and an old system

Customers and orders were kept in Excel, typed by hand. The company's system could only export reports.

01

Every morning, a list of who to call, in the right order.

Each customer has a buying rhythm: how often they usually order. When they pass it, they move up the list, and the longer they wait, the more the call is worth.

Try it · example data

Move the days forward and watch the list change.

The list puts first the calls most likely to bring an order today.

"Worth" is the customer's usual order, counted higher the later they are (up to three times).

Prospect→Negotiating→Active · only with a sale·Lost
    Active is earned with a saleNobody can drag a customer to Active. Logging their first sale does it, so the board shows what really happened.
    Estimates are labelledWhen a customer has too few orders to know their rhythm, the CRM marks it as an estimate.
    02

    An AI assistant that looks things up, records sales and asks before anything important, like marking a customer as lost.

    The rep types, talks or sends a photo. The assistant uses the same steps as the screen, and every number it gives comes from the CRM, not from the AI.

    Sales assistant12 actions
    Example
    Rule for the assistantConfirm before marking a customer as lost or changing a target.

    It asks, the rep decides.

    Rule in the systemActive only with a sale above zero and a valid tax ID.

    The system refuses, whoever asks: the rep, the screen or the AI.

    12 actions

    Look up and record sales, visits, notes and sales stages.

    Voice, photos and PDFsThe rep can talk instead of typing, and checks the text before sending.
    Every change is read backAfter saving, the assistant says exactly what was saved, so mistakes are caught on the spot.
    One set of rulesThe screen and the assistant save through the same steps, so a rule changes in one place.
    03

    A photo of an order becomes an order to check.

    The rep attaches a photo, a WhatsApp screenshot or a PDF. The AI reads it next to the product list. What it can't read stays blank, prices are never guessed, and the rep checks before saving.

    Order · Thursday

    Product A — 12 units

    Product B — 6 units

    Prod∿∿∿ — ∿ units

    Product C — 8 units

    Deliver Monday

    Waiting for a photo
    Order to checkExample
    1. #04Product A12 units
    2. #17Product B6 units
    3. —Not readable, left blank?
    4. #09Product C8 units
    Prices come from the price list or the repCheck and save
    04

    An old system with no connection: every total is checked before saving.

    The company's system could only export reports. The CRM reads each one, adds up every line and compares the sum with the report's total. If they don't match, it stops and saves nothing.

    Step 1Exported reportFrom the old system, as it is
    Step 2The CRM reads itAdds up every line
    Step 3Lines vs report total100 = 100
    Step 4SavedAll lines

    The totals match, so everything is saved.

    Diagram with example figures: this step runs in the background and has no screen.

    The project in numbers.

    132customers in the CRM
    202contacts
    374order lines brought in from the old system's reports
    12actions the assistant can take

    Source: the project's database, 3 July 2026.

    What we learned.

    01A sales tool has to fit the routine.

    From day one we plan three things: bringing in the data, the first weeks of follow-up and an owner on the client's side.

    02Measure before building.

    In our next projects, the first week records calls per week, quiet accounts and hours of retyping, so there is a clear before and after.

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