The Challenge

ABB’s customer conversations often involve technical requirements and potential projects that need to be recorded in Salesforce. Capturing that information helps reps manage their accounts and gives sales leaders a clearer view of activity in the field.

But for ABB’s field reps, the working day often continued after the last customer visit. Admin was the biggest challenge, keeping them behind their laptops when they needed to be in front of customers. Reporting also competed with preparation for the next meeting, leaving reps to catch up in the evening.

“After a full day of customer visits, I spent evenings writing call reports, updating CRM, and preparing follow-ups.” - Ruud Sormani, Account Manager Industry, ABB Netherlands

The challenge extended well beyond time spent on admin. Information could remain in paper notebooks or reach Salesforce later, making it harder for colleagues to work from a complete customer picture. Sales leaders wanted a more trustworthy data source for forecasting and opportunity management. Visit reporting was improving, but capturing opportunities consistently remained a headache. ABB wanted to reduce that burden so reps could spend more time visiting customers and turn those conversations into business.

Any change also had to work across a complex organization. Teams use Dutch, French, German and Swiss German, with different products and customer needs across countries and business units. A reporting process that worked for one team needed to fit the daily routines of others.

Adoption mattered as much as functionality. Established habits are difficult to break, even when early users see the value. ABB recognized that introducing Donna was a change process, with sustained momentum needed to help more reps adopt a new way of working.

The Solution

Donna’s introduction formed part of ABB Benelux’s internal “AI accelerators” program. The aim was to build a smarter organization by helping employees work more effectively.

Donna gives ABB reps a way to report back while on the road. After a customer visit, they call her from the car and talk through what happened. She turns the conversation into a visit report they send to Salesforce in one click.

For Ruud, this quickly became part of the journey home. He updates Donna after a visit and captures the conversation before it becomes another evening task. Donna also summarizes calls and drafts follow-up emails, reducing the work needed to act on a customer conversation.

Reps can also create new contacts on the fly through Donna, helping keep Salesforce current and giving managers better visibility into their accounts. Donna brings together learnings from across teams, including competitor mentions and the arguments that help win business. Teams can use those insights to develop talk tracks grounded in actual customer conversations.

For ABB, making reporting easier supports its wider ambition: using AI to help employees work more effectively. Donna takes work off their hands while helping the business capture more of what they learn in the field.

The Impact

For Ruud, Donna has put an end to evening admin. He now has more room to prepare for upcoming conversations and give customers the attention they need. 

“I would say I've gained at least an hour a day, maybe more.” - Ruud Sormani, Account Manager Industry, ABB Netherlands

Follow-up has changed too. Ruud now sends follow-ups on the day of the visit, and says customers notice the quality of the writing. Work that previously waited until he could sit down at his laptop moves forward sooner. 

For the wider business, easier reporting helps improve CRM data with more customer information reaching Salesforce. Managers gain visibility into field activity, while reps spend less effort recording it. 

Ruud’s experience shows what that shift means in practice. Reporting fits into the journey after a visit. Follow-ups reach customers sooner, and the evening is no longer spent catching up on the day’s admin.

Interested in learning more? Book your demo today!

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