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 spanning 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 — one that a field sales team spending most of its time on construction sites would actually use.

TL;DR: Nussbaum went from zero CRM to live on SAP Sales Cloud V2 in 5 months. Within 4 weeks, 40% of all CRM interactions happened on mobile. Deal cycle times dropped 15% within 6 months. The key success factors: scope discipline (pipeline first, everything else Phase 2), mobile-first testing, and hands-on data cleanup before import. Sales reps spend only 30% of their time actually selling (Salesforce, 2024) — Nussbaum’s V2 implementation aimed to flip that ratio.

Why Did Nussbaum Choose SAP Sales Cloud V2?

The global CRM market reached $73.4 billion in 2024, with cloud deployments holding 58.2% revenue share (Grand View Research, 2024). Nussbaum evaluated several options within that market. 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. With 55% of ASUG members now using SAP BTP (ASUG, 2025), the ecosystem around V2 is growing fast.

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 — for a team that lives on construction sites, desktop-only CRM is dead on arrival.

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.

How Did the 5-Month Implementation Work?

We started in January. Go-live was in May. That’s fast for an enterprise CRM — but achievable when you keep scope tight and make decisions quickly. Here’s what each month looked like:

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. This is critical: CRM delivers $3.10 for every dollar spent when implemented well, with time savings accounting for 51% of ROI (Nucleus Research, 2024). Over-customisation kills that return.

Month 3: Integration and data. S/4HANA integration for master data. Historical pipeline data migration from spreadsheets. This was messier than expected — a peer-reviewed study found 94% of business spreadsheets contain errors (Poon et al., Frontiers of Computer Science, 2024). We spent extra time on data cleaning. Worth every hour.

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 Actually 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. This alone justified the investment.

Mobile access for field reps. Reps update opportunities from their phones between site visits. Within 4 weeks, mobile usage accounted for 40% of all CRM interactions. That’s not a vanity metric — it means data stays current because entering it doesn’t require a desk.

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

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. The excuse “I’ll update the spreadsheet later” disappeared because the CRM is faster than the spreadsheet ever was.

What Made This Implementation Succeed?

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. In our experience, the companies that try to replicate 100% of their wish-list before launch are the ones that blow their timelines and budgets.

Hands-on implementation 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. It also mattered for adoption: 67% of sales reps don’t expect to meet quota, and 84% missed it the previous year (Salesforce, 2024). A CRM that reps helped shape is one they’ll actually use.

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.

What Can You Take from Nussbaum’s Project?

If you’re considering SAP Sales Cloud V2, here are the proven 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 — it will take longer than you expect.
• 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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many users did Nussbaum deploy Sales Cloud V2 for?

Nussbaum deployed V2 across their entire sales organisation, covering multiple regions in Switzerland. The implementation supported three distinct pipeline types (new installations, modernisations, service contracts) with role-based access for field reps, regional managers, and executive leadership. The 85% first-week login rate covered all user groups.

Can we achieve a similar timeline for our implementation?

Five months is realistic for a focused implementation with clear scope. The key variables are data quality (clean spreadsheets save weeks), decision speed (how fast can your team approve configurations?), and scope discipline (core pipeline first, extras in Phase 2). More complex implementations — with multiple ERPs, heavy customisation, or global rollouts — typically take 6-9 months.

Does Sales Cloud V2 work offline for field teams?

V2’s Fiori interface works on mobile browsers and provides a responsive experience for field updates. For true offline capability (e.g., in elevator shafts or basements without signal), custom BTP applications can be built — as we did for intelligentfood. Nussbaum’s field reps primarily use V2 in areas with cellular coverage, which covers most construction sites.

What ROI should we expect from a V2 implementation?

CRM returns an average of $3.10 for every dollar spent (Nucleus Research, 2024), with time savings driving 51% of that return. Nussbaum’s specific results — 15% faster deal cycles, 40% mobile adoption, real-time forecasting — are representative of what a well-scoped implementation delivers. Most of our clients see measurable ROI within 3-6 months of go-live.

What happens after go-live?

We provide active support for the first 1-2 weeks, then transition to a structured hypercare period. Phase 2 features (advanced reporting, marketing integration, additional automation) typically start 2-3 months after go-live, once the team is comfortable with the core system and has built enough data for AI features to become useful.