Guest blog post by Bobby Martin, CEO and co-founder of Vertical IQ
We all like convenience. Whether it’s online shopping, where your purchase arrives at your door in just two days, or meal delivery services where all of your pre-prepared ingredients are packaged up as if you had a personal shopper and sous chef, we are drawn to tools and services that make our lives easier.
The partnership between Seismic and Vertical IQ is similarly appealing to bankers and other financial professionals. With the integration of these two tools, bankers have a streamlined, turnkey place to arm themselves with the industry-specific content they need to interact with their customers in a more profound and engaging way.
Vertical IQ has incorporated five Industry Intelligence-focused PowerPoint slides — arguably some of the most important content a client would want to discuss about his or her industry — into the sales intelligence found on Seismic. This integration turns into an incredible timesaver for the banker and provides an impressively tailored experience for small to medium-sized business (SMB) clients. What’s more, the PowerPoint slides contain the bank’s name and branding as well.
The future of relationship banking
While time is money in the business world, time-saving technology also appeals to bankers’ inherent desire for convenience. The union of Seismic’s sales platform with Vertical IQ’s Industry Intelligence creates an ideal tool that achieves two goals: saving bankers’ time and improving the client experience.
There are four ways in which this convergence is creating the future of relationship banking.
1. The proliferation of combined platforms
Bank leaders no longer want their teams to have to juggle dozens of platforms with each providing a different benefit. They want fewer platforms and more streamlined capabilities from those select tools. Combining technology that offers sales and marketing resources with a platform that offers client-centric content builds efficiency within an organization, be it a bank or an accounting firm.
2. Highly relatable content
In the past, providing business owners with valuable content rarely, if ever, existed because it was too much trouble to create. It would have taken hours for a banker to cull through websites, periodicals, and other primary resources to find the sales and Industry Intelligence that is now in one place when they use Seismic with its integrated Vertical IQ content.
3. Leveraging API technology:
An application programming interface, or API, allows different technology platforms to “talk” and feed information to one another. Banks are adopting APIs at a rapid pace for a variety of purposes. The conjunction of Seismic and Vertical IQ is a natural progression of this trend.
4. Bringing value-added advice to the conversation:
With the advent of online purchasing capabilities, banks must justify the expense that comes from their sales folks spending time and energy on a small business owner. Also, bankers need to provide some kind of value to the relationship, otherwise the SMB owner will just get what they need online. Using sales and Industry Intelligence brings financial savvy and industry expertise to the relationship and helps the SMB owner plan their business’s financial future more effectively.
With Seismic and the integrated content from Vertical IQ, you have quick access to the relevant information you need in order to prepare for client conversations and presentations and the industry insights that will get you to “trusted advisor” status with clients and prospects.
Free webinar
Learn to give your clients and prospects the customization and value they expect, as well as the convenience you crave by using Seismic and Vertical IQ.
Join Seismic, Vertical IQ, and Fulton Bank for a free webinar at 2 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Aug. 19, where you’ll learn about:
- The importance of delivering insights in banker-client interactions
- How Fulton improved their bankers’ experience and empowered them to improve client/prospect engagement
- Best practice examples of how Fulton’s bankers deliver insights to clients
>> Check out the free on-demand webinar
>> Learn more about getting the most out of the integrated intelligence tools available on Seismic and Vertical IQ!
About Bobby Martin
Bobby Martin, co-founder and CEO of Vertical IQ, is a startup wiz who digs industry research and call preparation. A former banker, Bobby has built several successful businesses and is now an angel investor in other new companies. He is the author of The Hockey Stick Principles, a book about how good ideas become successful companies, and he enjoys hiking, sports of all types, and questioning authority.
