# From a stalled distributor pipeline to active conversations

> A supplements brand had 67 international distributor inquiries stalled in its CRM. We built an AI vetting system around its own rules and handed the team a tool it now operates.

Source: https://tachyonshift.com/work/distributor-pipeline-recovery
Client: A fast-growing U.S. vitamins, minerals, and supplements brand

## Results

- **18 of 67** Inquiries verified and prioritized as real targets within weeks.
- **11 of 18** Verified targets now in active conversations.
- **6** At the signed-NDA stage.



## The problem

- 67 international distributor inquiries sat in the CRM, some untouched for over a year, with no consistent way to separate strong leads from noise.
- 87 more had been disqualified with no audit trail, so no one knew how many were closed correctly.
- Vetting was manual and depended on whoever happened to review the lead.

## The system we built

An AI vetting system that encodes the brand's own rules: excluded-territory and sanctions checks, a weighted scoring rubric, and category-fit logic. Every lead was independently verified against business registries, trade data, and import records, and through direct vendor interviews. We extended the same system to re-audit the archive of disqualified leads and produced leadership-ready reporting throughout.

## Where people verify

The AI does the research and the scoring. Engineers and the client's leaders verify each finding against primary sources before it reaches a decision.

## What changed

- **18 of 67** inquiries verified and prioritized as real targets within weeks.
- **11 of those 18** are in active conversations, and **6** are at the signed-NDA stage.
- The re-audit of the disqualified archive found that a majority of the leads checked were real, fundable candidates.
- The audit caught a live CRM bug: corrected, active leads still showing as disqualified in fresh exports.
- One disqualified lead turned out to be an unauthorized reseller, which the client shut down.

## What the client keeps

A reusable AI vetting tool the client's team operates directly, the encoded rules, the scoring rubric, and the full audit trail of every decision.

## Why it matters for any brand with a distributor or partner pipeline

Encode your rules once. Apply consistent AI-assisted research and scoring at scale. Package the findings for leadership. Leave your team a tool they own. The revenue and partnership opportunity is often already in your CRM.