SugarCRM acquires UK-based sales-i
SugarCRM, a prominent provider of AI-powered CRM solutions tailored for midmarket enterprises, has officially completed the acquisition of sales-i, a Solihull-based company specialising in sales enablement and revenue intelligence services.
The integration of these platforms aims to optimise account management for their collective 4,500 clients worldwide. SugarCRM and sales-i had been partnering since mid-2023 on ways to bring CRM data and ERP data together in a manner that could benefit sales. The acquisition signals that the partnership has been a success – and customers seem to agree.
“Integrating sales-i with SugarCRM has been a game-changer for our team, putting valuable sales insights right at our fingertips,” said Beth Freeman, Executive Vice President of FSIoffice, an existing customer.
“I love that we can combine soft data (such as customer interactions) with hard data (such as purchase history) to better serve our customers’ needs. We are also more efficient, targeted, and effective in our outreach since sales-i unlocks insight into buying behavior and, in turn, prompts our sales team in Sugar with specific product placement suggestions. It saves us so much time, especially as we onboard new salespeople.”
Breaking down silos
In today’s data-driven landscape, businesses possess vast reservoirs of information primed to help cross-selling and upselling. However, this data often languishes in disconnected silos, inaccessible to sales teams. CRM providers are acutely aware of this. Salesforce, for example, recently announced Unified Knowledge, a product designed to bring an end to scattered data.
With this acquisition, SugarCRM is aiming to tackle precisely that, with the two platforms combined now enabling integrations with more than 100 out-of-the-box ERPs. This brings purchase data to the forefront of sales outreach and account management.
The goal is what SugarCRM often refers to as “Intelligent Account Management“. Put simply, this means empowering sales teams to get the most out of existing customers, decreasing the pressure and cost of acquiring new ones.
For customers in verticals such as manufacturing or industrial distribution, cross-selling and ongoing account management are often the name of the game. Any solution that promises to surface timely insights that help account managers hunt down revenue is worth a look, so this acquisition is likely to reinforce SugarCRM’s appeal in certain industries.
“We are bringing together two great companies with complementary products, a shared vision for customer success, and experience and expertise at using machine learning, AI, and generative AI to unlock the value of front-office and back-office data,” said Craig Charlton, CEO of Sugar. “This combination delivers actionable, intelligent sales strategies that will improve revenue, maximise profitability, increase customer satisfaction and produce more efficient sales people.”
Paul Black, Founder and CEO of sales-i, added: “The partnership of sales-i and SugarCRM has enabled companies to gain unrivaled insights into their customer buying behavior. Together, we’ll expand our capabilities and accelerate development processes that will benefit customers and create a significant market impact.”
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Ricardo Oliveira
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