Case Study

Automating Customer Outreach in the Promotional Products Industry

1. Background: The Challenge of Growth and Limited Resources

A medium-sized family-owned business in the promotional products industry, found itself at a crossroads of growth and operational limitations. The company relied on CommonSku as its primary operating system, which, while functional, lacked API integration and custom logic capabilities. Data extraction was limited to CSV exports, creating a bottleneck in data analysis and utilization.

The company's success had led to a customer base that had outgrown the capacity of its sales team. Our client's business model heavily relied on personal outreach and maintaining close relationships with customers. However, this approach, while effective, was time-intensive and resulted in some customers not being contacted for 3-6 months.

Compounding these challenges was the absence of a dedicated data analytics team. Critical data analysis tasks fell to the Director of Sales and the Financial Controller, diverting their attention from their primary responsibilities. The company needed a solution to efficiently identify high-value customers, analyze past orders, and generate personalized outreach strategies.

2. Solution: Automated Data Pipeline for Targeted Customer Outreach

To address these challenges, we developed a sophisticated data pipeline that automated much of the customer analysis and outreach preparation process:

  1. Data Ingestion: The system allowed users to upload the previous year's CSV file from CommonSku.
  2. Automated Analysis: The pipeline parsed the data and identified orders from the previous year exceeding $5,000 in value.
  3. AI-Powered Insights: For each identified customer, the system made API calls to OpenAI to suggest new items based on their previous year's orders and current industry trends.
  4. Personalized Communication: OpenAI also generated draft emails for each customer, referencing their past orders and suggesting new items.
  5. Streamlined Reporting: All gathered information was compiled into an Excel file and emailed to the client for review.
  6. CRM Integration: As a bonus feature, the pipeline created new tasks in HubSpot via API, assigning follow-ups to sales team members and storing the draft emails for easy access.

The pipeline was scheduled to run weekly on Sundays, ensuring that the sales team started each week with fresh, actionable insights and tasks.

3. Outcome: Enhanced Efficiency and Customer Engagement

The implementation of this automated data pipeline yielded significant benefits for Blue Sky Marketing Group:

  1. Time savings: The automation of data analysis, product suggestions, and email drafting saved the sales team and executives substantial time, allowing them to focus on high-value activities.
  2. Improved Customer Engagement: The system ensured that high-value customers were identified and contacted regularly, reducing the risk of overlooked opportunities.
  3. Personalized Outreach: AI-generated suggestions and email drafts provided a starting point for more personalized and relevant customer communications.
  4. Efficient Workflow: By integrating with HubSpot, the system streamlined the sales team's workflow, ensuring follow-ups were scheduled and relevant information was readily accessible.
  5. Data-Driven Decision Making: The weekly reports provided ongoing insights into customer behavior and product trends, enabling more informed business decisions.

By leveraging this automated solution, our client found a way to maintain their commitment to personalized customer relationships while scaling their operations to match their growing customer base. The success of this project demonstrated the power of combining automation, AI, and existing business systems to overcome operational challenges and drive growth. It's a testament to how technology, when applied thoughtfully, can enhance rather than replace the human touch in business relationships.

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