AI for industrial and MRO distributors
Grow industrial sales and cut the work behind each order
Proton helps reps find the next sale and buyers order more online, while reducing the manual work that raises your cost to serve.
Customer story
More selling from the team, less research for the next line
Vallen moved routine service tasks to a Center of Excellence, then used Proton to give reps daily account priorities. Sales per inside rep rose 72%; the company also attributes $27 million in revenue to Proton.
“It’s not just a reporting tool, it’s a sales growth engine.”
Dane LeBel · Director of Inside Sales, Vallen
Dakota Riggers uses Proton PIM to prepare product content for team review. Ben Kuhns estimates new-line preparation now takes hours, compared with a week or two gathering information and images.
“Beforehand, depending on the amount of SKUs, it could have taken a week, two weeks to gather all the relevant information and images.”
Ben Kuhns · VP of Sales & Marketing, Dakota Riggers
What Proton does here
Earn more from your accounts (and do less work to serve them)
Grow accounts beyond the order in front of you
Proton CRM turns purchase patterns into daily priorities: category gaps to ask about, reorders running late, and purchasing declines worth a call. Shared notes and quotes let inside and field sales pick up the same conversation, whether the account buys for production, maintenance or facilities.
Your storefront can do more of the selling, too. eCommerce AI uses connected order history, including phone, email and counter purchases, to recommend relevant products and prompt reorders. Buyers can add to an order themselves, without waiting for a rep to suggest every item.
Richards Supply reports $3,400 in incremental monthly revenue per active user in its March 2026 CRM case study.
“We presented Proton as a really good communication tool between our inside sales team and our field outside sales team.” — Eric Wessinger, President & CEO, Richards Supply
Get product lines ready to sell sooner
Missing descriptions and specs leave your team gathering information before a line can go online. Proton PIM organizes category attributes, researches manufacturer content and proposes sourced descriptions and specifications. Your team reviews the changes and publishes approved records to connected channels.
Use the same approved content across your storefront, ERP, quotes and print catalog. Product and merchandising teams can prepare a line once, reduce repeat research and give buyers better information for searching and comparing. Your specialists still confirm whether an item suits the customer’s application.
Cut-off wheel, 4-1/2 inThickness: .045 inArbor: 7/8 in
Double-coated tapeAcrylic adhesive1 in × 36 yd
Universal absorbent padsHeavy weight100/bale
Cable tiesNylon8 in · 100/bagProposed content · sources retained · team approves before use
Make price and stock decisions with a fuller view
Pricing AI + Inventory AI · Early access
Pricing AI will recommend customer-specific prices within your margin floors and rules. Inventory AI will forecast demand by product, location and season, flag low or slow stock, and suggest replenishment quantities and timing. Your team will decide prices and approve purchases.
Register interest in early access for Pricing AI, Inventory AI or both.
Planned recommendations · Early access. Your team decides on prices and approves purchase orders.
Stop retyping the work you’ve already received
A market basket with competitor numbers and partial descriptions takes time to turn into a quote. Proton proposes catalog matches and drafts quotes or orders from emails, PDFs and spreadsheets, using connected account prices and availability. Your team resolves uncertain lines, confirms purchasing units and approves the draft.
Ask Pronto for an account summary, a product answer or a draft next step. Configure agents to check supplier invoices against POs, prepare quote follow-ups and draft requests for missing ship dates. These recurring jobs run on your schedule or trigger, within your rules, with messages held for human review.
“Annual usage on the attached list. Some of these are competitor numbers.”
Team reviews quantities, purchasing units and drafts before approval
Industrial distributors on revenue and daily use
“Because the recommendations are so timely and relevant, [Proton] feels more like a partner, and we’ve seen 20x the results that we did with the last [system] we were tinkering with.”
“The ROI on the e-commerce piece alone was immediate.”
“When an inside sales rep enters call notes or quotes for the day, the account rep can see that activity and is able to show up to that customer the next day ready to follow up.”
“Proton gets info to our sellers fast and effectively, so they can talk about what’s relevant and what’s important. With Proton, our team has better discussions with customers.”
Questions from industrial distributors
Help you earn more from the accounts you serve and reduce the work behind each sale. Sales teams get priorities, your storefront gets relevant recommendations, and product and operations teams get help with content, quote entry and routine checks. Start with the bottleneck that is costing your business time or growth.
It gives them a specific reason to call. Proton brings category gaps, reorder timing and purchasing declines together with notes and quote activity, so inside and field sales can work the account with the same context. Reps use those signals to ask better questions and establish where the customer has another need.
It takes on the research your team would otherwise do by hand. Proton researches manufacturer content and proposes descriptions, specifications and category attributes, with sources attached. Your team reviews the additions, then sends approved content to connected channels. The same records can support a new product line, better online listings, quotes and printed catalogs.
It makes relevant products and familiar reorders easier to add to the cart. Recommendations draw on connected purchase history, including phone, email and counter orders. Proton connects through an API or widget, so buyers can shop on your existing storefront, with your site continuing to show its own prices and availability.
Not yet. Both are coming to the platform soon. Register interest in early access for Pricing AI, Inventory AI or both. Pricing AI will recommend prices within your rules; Inventory AI will help forecast demand and plan replenishment. Your team will make the final decisions.
It drafts work your team would otherwise assemble by hand. Quote & Order Entry Automation proposes catalog matches and drafts from incoming requests. Pronto answers questions across connected business data and drafts next steps. Agents can flag supplier invoice/PO mismatches or prepare ship-date requests on a schedule or trigger. Your team sets the rules and reviews drafts before approval.
