SR
AI and automation

AI and business automation

We build AI tools and automations that take tasks off your staff that repeat every week. Prices are matched to the competition every morning, a quote puts itself together, and a supplier's price list goes into the catalogue without retyping. Your people decide only what needs judgement, for example a large price change.

Our work

Pricefrom €100

New website enquiry · LeedsWebsite enquiry2 heat pumps 12 kW, installed
An enquiry comes in, the quote goes outThe quote goes outReplied inReplied…
Quote no. 214, for the customer who enquiredAmount
Total incl. VATPDF quote, valid for 15 days
Example
What we do

What business automation is and where AI helps

Business automation means that tasks repeated by fixed rules are no longer done by hand by your staff. These are retyping prices, entering supplier price lists, putting together quotes and chasing enquiries nobody has answered. That leaves people time for what needs judgement, such as talking to a customer or deciding on a price.

AI (artificial intelligence) helps with tasks where the input isn't tidy, for example when every supplier names the columns in their price list differently, or when a product description has to be written from technical data. We measure the benefit in hours and mistakes, so before building we write down how long the task takes today.

For an online shop selling heating and cooling equipment, with thousands of products, we built price tracking. Every morning the tool checks supplier and competitor prices and sets the price 4% below the lowest competitor price. A change of more than 15% waits for someone from the shop to look at it and confirm.

A ceramics and bathroom shop gets price lists from many manufacturers, each in a different spreadsheet. The import now sorts them into the shop's categories and attributes on its own, and every product gets a title and description for Google. Customer quotes are built from the same catalogue with current prices, so the salesperson only checks the quote and sends it.

A customer in a toner shop usually knows only their printer model. For that shop we built a search where they type the model and get the toners that fit, and prices follow the lowest market price down to a margin floor the owner sets.

What's included

What you get from working with us

Before we build any tool, we learn how your business works today and where it loses time.

  • Business review

    where the time goes

    We talk to you and to the people who do the tasks every day. We write down what is done by hand, how long it takes and where mistakes happen, for example a price that lags behind or an enquiry nobody answered.

  • Concept

    what to automate and how

    You get a proposal for which task we automate first, where the tool takes its data from and what your people still decide. The proposal comes with a price and a deadline for each part.

  • Build and maintenance

    and after launch

    We build the tool and connect it to your site and the software you already use. After launch we monitor it and adapt it when a supplier changes their price list or a competitor changes their site.

Process

How we introduce automation

We introduce each part of the concept separately, so the first tool is running and checked before we start the second.

  1. 01/

    Rules and limits

    With the person who does the task today we write down the rules, for example which price yours is calculated from. We agree what runs on its own and what waits for your confirmation.

  2. 02/

    Trial alongside manual work

    For a while the tool runs alongside the manual process. We compare the results until they match.

  3. 03/

    Going live

    The tool runs on its own, on a schedule or as soon as new data arrives. Changes beyond the agreed limit come to you for confirmation before a customer sees them.

  4. 04/

    Comparison with before

    After the first weeks we compare how long the task takes now with what we wrote down at the start. You see the result and changes in the client portal and the monthly report.

01

Which tasks in a business are worth automating

Updated

A task is worth automating when it repeats often by the same rules and its data already exists in a spreadsheet, a program or on a site.

These are the tasks we automate, with what your people still decide afterwards:

TaskWhat runs on its ownWhat a person decides
Prices against the competitionEvery morning competitor and supplier prices are checked, and yours change by the ruleThe rule, the margin floor and changes beyond the agreed limit
Supplier price listsManufacturers' prices and data go into the catalogue, sorted by your categories and attributesItems the import can't sort on its own
Customer quotesThe quote is built from the catalogue, with current pricesDiscounts and terms for larger customers
Enquiries from the siteThe enquiry goes into the CRM, with a reminder when to get back to the customerWhat you will offer the customer
Titles and descriptions for GoogleEvery product and every category gets a title and description for searchChecking samples before publishing
Customer questionsAn AI assistant on the site answers from your prices, lead times and termsQuestions the assistant can't answer, so it passes them on
Invoices and documentsAmounts and codes from a PDF go into a spreadsheetChecking amounts before they are booked
Sales from enquiriesThe sale goes back to Google Ads as a conversion, so you see which campaign brought the customerBudget per campaign, with paid advertising

Product titles and descriptions are also part of SEO. In a shop with thousands of items, writing them by hand never reaches the end of the catalogue, so automation takes over.

02

When you need AI, and when plain automation will do

You need AI when a task requires understanding text, or a spreadsheet that looks different every time. For a task with clear rules, plain automation is enough, and it is cheaper and always gives the same result.

Price tracking is a task with clear rules. The tool finds the lowest price for the same product, sets yours 4% below it and checks that it stays above the margin floor, and that doesn't need AI.

AI makes sense where the input is messy or where text has to be written:

  • supplier price lists where the same attribute has different names, ‘colour’ for one and ‘shade’ for another
  • product descriptions and translations into other languages, written from technical data
  • customer enquiries that need sorting by type and urgency
  • invoices and documents from which amounts and codes have to be extracted
  • answers to customer questions from your prices and terms

AI makes different mistakes from rule-based automation, because it writes even a wrong answer convincingly. That is why we put it where a person can quickly check the result before it reaches the customer, for example a product description before it is published.

03

Where to start with automation

Start with a task that repeats often and where a mistake costs money, for example a price that lags behind your purchase cost or a quote that waits for days.

Before you order automation from anyone, answer these questions for every task that comes to mind:

  • how many times a week the task repeats and how long it takes each time
  • whether the person who does it can write the rules down in a few sentences
  • whether the data is already in a spreadsheet, a program or on a site, or arrives on paper
  • what happens when the task is late or goes wrong

A task someone does once a month in a few minutes won't pay back either the build cost or the maintenance, so we don't propose such a task even when it is technically easy.

In a shop we would start with prices or importing price lists, since there a wrong price immediately costs money, or a customer who saw a lower price in another shop. In a business that sells services, enquiries and quotes usually come first, because a customer who waits long for a reply calls someone else.

04

What the price of automation depends on

The price is set mostly by how many programs and data sources need connecting and what state that data is in, more than by the number of products.

An API is the way two programs exchange data without a person between them. One shop we work with gets new prices through an API every morning. When a program has no API, data goes through a spreadsheet export, which needs more checks.

When we put together a quote, we look at these items:

  • how many programs we connect and whether they have an API or only a spreadsheet export
  • how many sources there are, for example suppliers or shops whose prices you track
  • whether product codes match between you and the supplier or need pairing
  • whether the task needs AI, which is paid for by the number of runs
  • whether you need a screen where a person approves changes beyond the limit

After the build comes maintenance. A supplier changes the layout of their price list, or a shop you track changes its site, so the tool has to be adapted to the new shape of the data.

05

How automation stays under your control

Every automation we build has a limit up to which it works on its own, and everything beyond it waits for confirmation from someone in your business.

In price tracking the limit is a percentage change, so a large difference is always seen by a person before a customer. Such a difference often means two different products have been compared.

Say another shop sells the same material by the roll, and you sell it by the metre. A tool that only compares numbers would then drop your price far below cost, so the heating equipment shop we work with also has a per-metre price for goods sold by the metre.

Whoever builds your automation, check that it has this:

  • a limit beyond which a change waits for a person to confirm it
  • a preview before import, so you see what will change before it changes
  • a log of every change, with the time and the source

Without a change log you can't find out why a product's price was different yesterday, and that is the first question when a customer complains.

Price

The amount depends on how many programs we connect, how many data sources there are and what state they are in, and whether the task needs AI. You get the exact price for the build and maintenance with the concept, after the first call.

Pricefrom €100

Show us the task that takes up most of your time

Book a call and describe one task you do by hand today, for example quotes, prices or importing price lists. We will tell you whether it is worth automating, what would run on its own and what would wait for your confirmation.

Three questions, half a minute
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

We're happy to help. If your question isn't here, write to hello@digitl.me.

  • It takes over retyping and checking, and decisions stay with people. A salesperson who no longer retypes price lists has more time for customers, and a large price change or a quote for an important customer is still approved by someone in the business.

One system

Other services

The full marketing function, handled as one system, not a menu of disconnected services.

No obligation

Let's build a brand that stands out.

Fill out the form or reach out directly. We usually respond within one business day.

Email ushello@digitl.meCall(+386) 41 962 522
Follow us
What you're interested in

We answer in person. Sending this commits you to nothing.