TL;DR
Munich-based digital agency schoene neue kinder automated their pre-sales process with AI: Inquiries are analyzed, qualified, and transferred to systems with one click. Jira tickets, Slack channels, folder structures — everything is created automatically. Result: 70% faster from intake to proposal, up to 90% time savings on individual steps. Experts focus on what matters — customer conversations and solution design.
Who is schoene neue kinder?
schoene neue kinder (SNK) is a B2B digital agency based in Munich. Over 100 specialists work at the intersection of strategy, design, technology, and marketing — for clients like GE Healthcare, SAP, Celonis, and other B2B enterprises.
The service portfolio: UX/UI Design, Web Development, Brand Development, Digital Marketing, and AI Solutions. Winner of the TYPO3 Award 2024 in the Enterprise category.
For complex projects, the sales process is demanding: Every inquiry must be understood, qualified, and properly documented — before a proposal is even created.
What was the problem?
A four-person new business team handles incoming project inquiries. Quality varies extremely: Sometimes a three-line email for an exciting major project, sometimes seven documents with NDA and formal RFP.
What had to happen with every inquiry:
- Read and understand
- Qualify (does it fit SNK?)
- Create in CRM
- Create Jira ticket
- Set up Slack channel for internal coordination
- Create folder structure in Google Drive
- Draft qualified initial response
The real problem:
Each step takes minutes. Between steps, hours or days pass. Experts spend time on administration instead of what they’re paid for: designing solutions and talking to clients.
What was the solution?
An AI analyzes incoming inquiries and prepares everything. The human decides — one click does the rest.
Step 1: Inquiry arrives
An email lands in the inbox. The AI reads it, extracts the key facts, and posts a summary to Slack.
Step 2: Qualification in seconds
The team sees in Slack:
- Company and industry
- Project description (summarized)
- Assessment of fit
- Recommended next steps
Four buttons: Accept | Request Info | Spam | Reject
Step 3: One click starts everything
When “Accept” is clicked, automatically:
- Jira ticket is created
- Slack channel is set up
- Folder structure in Google Drive is generated
- CRM entry is updated
- Draft response email is generated
Step 4: Capture requirements in structured form
In conversation with the AI, requirements are captured. The AI asks follow-up questions when information is missing. It checks for plausibility and adds implicit requirements.
Step 5: Develop solution
The AI suggests solution approaches — based on requirements and SNK’s experience with similar projects. The expert evaluates, supplements, decides.
Step 6: Create proposal
From structured requirements and solution concept, the AI generates a proposal draft. Formatted, worded, ready for review.
What has changed?
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| Read, understand, summarize inquiry | AI delivers summary in Slack |
| Manually create in 5 systems | One click, everything happens automatically |
| Draft response email | Draft is ready |
| Extract requirements from documents | AI structures, expert validates |
| Write proposal from scratch | AI draft, expert refines |
The numbers:
- 70% faster from intake to finished proposal
- Up to 90% time savings on administrative individual steps
- Higher quality through standardized processes and AI plausibility checking
The real gain:
The “annoying work” — where no expert knowledge is needed — is handled by the AI. Experts can focus on what only they can do: Assess, Advise, Decide.
Why is this transferable?
The process is industry-agnostic. Anyone who handles complex inquiries has the same problem.
The pattern:
- Inquiry comes in (email, form, phone call)
- Someone needs to understand what it’s about
- Internal systems need to be updated
- A qualified response needs to go out
- Eventually a proposal or contract is created
Where it works:
- IT service providers and agencies
- Engineering firms and planning offices
- Consulting companies
- Machine builders with project business
- Any B2B sales with complex products
FAQ
Do I need these exact tools?
No. The logic works with any systems. Instead of Slack you can use Teams, instead of Jira you can use Asana, instead of Google Drive you can use SharePoint.
How long does implementation take?
The core — inquiry analysis and asset creation — is ready in a few weeks. Refinement is a continuous process.
What about data protection?
All data stays in the protected system. No inquiries are sent to public AI services. Confidentiality is the basic requirement.
Does this work for smaller teams?
Especially there. With a team of two or three people, the relative time savings are even greater.
What does such a solution cost?
Significantly less than an additional employee — and it scales without additional costs.
Conclusion
schoene neue kinder demonstrated on their own process what’s possible: AI handles the administration, people do the work that needs people.
The result: Faster response times, better proposals, happier experts.
The approach is transferable. Any company with complex B2B sales can benefit. What matters is that the company’s rules are properly documented — so the agent acts in the company’s interest.
This case study is based on a conversation between Manuel Zorzi and Michael Kirchberger about AI automation in the pre-sales process. Watch the full podcast episode on YouTube →