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Automated sales operations deliver sustainable growth for SaaS provider

We partnered with a provider of SaaS accounting tools which was experiencing difficulties in managing its sales pipeline and CRM data following rapid growth.

Overview

As the company scaled, its sales team faced challenges in identifying high-value leads, managing the sales pipeline, and maintaining consistent CRM data. After working with the sales team to define opportunities, we developed a solution using AI to identify high value leads and automated workflows to seamlessly import the data into HubSpot CRM. This delivered annual revenue and savings impact of over £2m per annum, representing a year one ROI of 900%.

Challenge

Sales operations became a victim of the company’s success, facing several inefficiency issues caused by the need to scale at a rapid rate as the company grew.

  • Manual lead generation meant the sales team spent excessive time qualifying leads.

  • Without data-driven insights, the team struggled to prioritise outreach efforts productively.

  • Inconsistent CRM data led to missed follow-ups and reduced pipeline visibility.

  • With limited scalability, the manual nature of their processes made it difficult to scale operations as the business grew.

Solution

We implemented our proprietary four step process:

Phase 1. Assessment

We conducted service design workshops with the sales team, mapping current processes and highlighting inefficiencies in lead identification, scoring and manual data entry. This identified high-value opportunities:

  • AI-powered market analysis tools to identify untapped opportunities.

  • Automated lead scoring based on predictive analytics to prioritise targeting accurately.

  • Integration of Make.com workflows for seamless data entry into HubSpot CRM.

This defined key objectives: 70% reduction in lead research time, 45% increase in conversion rates and 90% reduction in CRM data errors.

Phase 2. Prototype

We orchestrated pilot projects to achieve proof of value (POV):

  • AI market analysis tool identified high-value leads.

  • Automated workflows using Make.com imported qualified leads directly into HubSpot CRM.

  • Client operatives were embedded into our team for training on the new systems.

Through learning by doing, the pilot projects delivered unequivocal POV, improving sales efficiency at a small scale, in line with project objectives. 

Phase 3. Scale

Following validation, we scaled the solution across the entire sales operation. This involved:

  • Full integration of AI-powered market analysis tool (Perplexity) with HubSpot CRM.

  • Automated lead data entry, ensuring consistent data quality across the CRM system. 

  • Dynamic segmentation of all leads based on industry, company size, and purchase likelihood.

  • Automated notifications for follow-ups based on lead activity within the CRM.

Full implementation across all regions, including staff training was completed in only 6 weeks.

Phase 4. Measure

The solution included baked-in measurement capability, here are the key metrics for the first 4 months following full implementation:

  • Lead research time reduced by 68%, freeing up sales reps for strategic activities like relationship building.

  • Accurately targeted sales outreach increased conversion rates by 45%.

  • Data errors were reduced by 95%, ensuring reliable pipeline tracking.

Overall, the project increased monthly recurring revenue increased by 30%, generating £2m in annual savings and revenue, representing a year one ROI of 900%.

Conclusion

This success story demonstrates four deep’s structured approach to delivering automation solutions side by side with our client. Together, we rapidly validated our collaborative ideas and scaled the solutions in a short period of time, to unlock significant ROI.