We all wish we had a crystal ball to tell us when the next big sale is on its way, but what if in a few easy steps we could create an easy-to-follow sales roadmap? Whether it’s identifying your best-selling products, uncovering seasonal buying patterns, or finding opportunities to upsell, the power of AI tools can bring to light insights you can act on immediately to help increase your business growth.
Step 1 — Start with a business question & KPIs
Decide what success looks like. Examples: increase AOV (average order value) by X%, reduce stockouts by Y%, lift repeat purchase rate by Z%. Keep one critical KPI per experiment.
Step 2 — Collect your order history
Export a CSV/Excel from your supplier portal or QuickBooks.
Columns you want: Customer name*, order date, product name, quantity, price.
*To protect your data privacy, change any customer names to: Customer A, Customer B, Customer C, etc. Before giving your info to any AI Language Learning Model.
(Attach or paste in a chunk of the spreadsheet — for larger files, break into smaller customer groups or use summaries.)
Step 3 — Use ChatGPT or Copilot to summarize the patterns
Prompt Examples:
“Here’s my order history. Please identify my top 5 best-selling products, any seasonal patterns (like peak months), and which products customers often buy together. Suggest how I can use this to increase sales.”
“Summarize the top 3 ways I can increase sales from this order history. Make them simple, actionable steps.”
“Which products tend to sell more during specific seasons or months? Create a simple calendar I can follow.”
“Which products are usually bought together? Suggest bundles I could offer.”
(Attach or paste in a chunk of the spreadsheet — for larger files, break into smaller customer groups or use summaries.)
Step 4 — Ask AI to segment your customers
Prompt idea:
“Based on this data, group my customers into segments: frequent buyers, one-time buyers, and high spenders. Suggest a simple way to market to each group.”
Step 5 — Use AI to generate sales actions
Examples of things AI can draft in minutes:
Upsell emails: “Generate a friendly 3-line email to a repeat buyer of branded mugs suggesting they also try tote bags.”
Seasonal forecasts: “When do customers usually order event giveaways? Remind me which months I should market most heavily.”
Step 6 — Turn insights into quick wins
If AI says “clients often buy pens + notebooks together” → create a bundle flyer or pitch email.
If AI says “March/April orders spike for conferences” → schedule a reminder email or LinkedIn post 6 weeks earlier.
If AI identifies 5 VIP customers → set a calendar reminder to call or email them personally.
*Remember our digital resources and VIP catalogs are available as well to help you create the perfect pitch.