How Nussbaum Got Full Pipeline Visibility with SAP Sales Cloud V2

Nussbaum is one of Switzerland’s leading elevator and lift manufacturers. They build, install, and maintain lifts across the country. Their sales team manages a pipeline that spans new installations, modernisations, and long-term service contracts.

The problem: nobody had a clear view of that pipeline. Sales data lived in spreadsheets, email threads, and the heads of individual reps. Management couldn’t answer basic questions — how much is in the pipeline? What’s closing this quarter? Where are the bottlenecks?

They needed a CRM. But not just any CRM. They needed one that would actually be used by a field sales team that spends most of its time on construction sites, not behind desks.

Why SAP Sales Cloud V2

Nussbaum evaluated several options. SAP Sales Cloud V2 won for three reasons:

Integration with SAP. Nussbaum runs SAP for ERP. Sales Cloud V2 connects natively to S/4HANA for master data — accounts, contacts, products. No middleware needed for the basics.

Mobile-first design. V2’s Fiori interface works on tablets and phones out of the box. Field reps can update opportunities from a job site. That was a hard requirement.

AI-powered forecasting. V2 includes built-in AI for pipeline forecasting and opportunity scoring. For a company that had zero pipeline visibility, jumping straight to AI-assisted forecasting was a major leap forward.

Five months from kickoff to go-live

We started in January. Go-live was in May. That’s fast for an enterprise CRM — but possible when you keep scope tight and make decisions quickly.

Month 1: Discovery and design. We mapped Nussbaum’s sales process end to end. Three pipeline types: new installations, modernisations, service contracts. Each with different stages, different stakeholders, different data needs. We designed the V2 data model around these three pipelines.

Month 2: Core configuration. Opportunity management, account hierarchy, territory assignment, approval workflows. Standard V2 features — configured, not customised.

Month 3: Integration and data. S/4HANA integration for master data. Historical pipeline data migration from spreadsheets. This was messier than expected — spreadsheets don’t have consistent data formats. We spent extra time on data cleaning.

Month 4: User acceptance testing. Key users from each region tested the system with real scenarios. We ran two rounds of UAT. The mobile experience got the most feedback — and the most positive reactions.

Month 5: Training and go-live. Regional training sessions, on-site support during the first two weeks. Go-live was a Monday morning. By Friday, 85% of the sales team had logged in and created or updated at least one opportunity.

What changed for Nussbaum

Real-time pipeline visibility. For the first time, management can see the entire pipeline in one view. Filtered by region, by product type, by sales stage. Updated in real time, not in a monthly Excel report.

Mobile access for field reps. Reps update opportunities from their phones between site visits. The adoption rate tells the story — within 4 weeks, mobile usage accounted for 40% of all CRM interactions.

AI-powered forecasting. V2’s built-in forecasting model analyses pipeline data and flags deals at risk. After 3 months of data, the forecasts became accurate enough for quarterly planning. Nussbaum’s sales director calls it “the single biggest improvement” — going from gut feeling to data-driven forecasting.

Faster deal cycles. With better visibility came better discipline. Stale opportunities get flagged. Follow-ups happen on time. Nussbaum measured a 15% reduction in average deal cycle time within the first 6 months.

Consistent process. All three pipeline types now follow a defined process with clear stages and required fields. No more “I’ll update the spreadsheet later.”

What made the difference

Two things stand out from this project:

Scope discipline. We said no to a lot of things. Custom reports? Phase 2. Marketing integration? Phase 2. Complex approval chains? Simplified first, refined later. By keeping the initial scope to core pipeline management, we hit the timeline.

Hands-on Spadoom approach. We had consultants on site at Nussbaum regularly. Not just for workshops — for working sessions where we configured the system together with key users. This built ownership and caught usability issues early.

V2’s architecture helped too. The clean API structure meant our integration with S/4HANA was straightforward. The Fiori UI meant less training time — it looks and feels modern.

Lessons for your V2 project

If you’re considering SAP Sales Cloud V2, Nussbaum’s project offers a few takeaways:

• Start with the pipeline. Don’t try to do everything at once. Pipeline visibility delivers the most immediate ROI.
• Mobile matters. If your sales team is in the field, mobile adoption determines project success. Test it early and often.
• Data quality is the hard part. Migrating from spreadsheets sounds simple. It isn’t. Budget time for data cleaning.
• AI needs data. V2’s AI features need a few months of clean data before they become useful. Set expectations accordingly.
• Five months is realistic. For a focused implementation with a committed client team, 5 months from kickoff to go-live is achievable.

Want pipeline visibility like Nussbaum? We’ll show you what’s realistic for your organisation and timeline. Get in touch.