Streamlines Global Sales Enablement with Seismic

The Challenge 

Standardizing Company Messaging and Client-Facing Collateral 

After more than 135 years in business, Manulife / John Hancock has established itself as a leading global financial group with multiple lines of business, operating in various regions and offering numerous services.  

As you can imagine, with excellent communication, content management, and processes, selling their products and services becomes more straightforward for reps and wholesalers. 

That’s why three Manulife leaders partnered with each other to accomplish this goal: find and implement an enablement solution that will give their global sales teams one place to go for compliant, consistent, on-brand content, plus relevant training based on their role and region. 

Those three leaders are:  

• Ben Kazan, Director of IT 
• Erika Laincy, Head of Sales Enablement, Global Retail 
• Katie McKay, Head of Global Distribution and Enablement 

Erika summarizes the challenge like this: “Consistency [in our messaging] is always something we’ve had to focus on. We needed a way to solidify our messaging across all fields.” 

Not to put the cart too far before the horse, but you’ll soon see how Erika’s focus on consistency pays off. Manulife was named Seismic’s Enablement Leader of the Year in 2023 for optimally using the Seismic Enablement Cloud™. Today, Manulife drives GTM efficiency, improves buyer experiences, streamlines operational optimization, and increases agility and speed-to-market. 

But it wasn’t just consistent messaging Manulife was after. Another challenge these three leaders sought to solve was their tech sprawl. They had lots of great tech in their stack, but the team was starting to feel like all the software at their fingertips was doing more harm than good. It made their day-to-day operations feel more convoluted and confusing than efficient and easy, mainly because content lived in one place, training in another, the CRM in another, etc.  

As the Director of IT, Ben confronted this challenge daily: “Over the years, we’ve made a lot of point-to-point investments, and some of those don’t necessarily integrate well [with our broader tech ecosystem].” Seamless integration across their sales enablement stack was not happening — until Seismic arrived on the scene. 

“We’re looking to Seismic… to create that cohesive experience and drive efficiency for our teams,” confirms Ben. 

The Solution 

Unifying Content Management Once and For All 

With a hand from Seismic Content, the Manulife team organizes its content and aligns its global client-facing teams with a powerful, on-brand, and compliant content library. They can search, find, and customize pitch sheets, PDFs, slide decks, reports, and more and tailor them in seconds to speak to their clients’ needs. 

So reps — whether in Canada, Portugal, or somewhere in between — have access to what Ben describes as “a best-in-class digital tool kit for our sales teams. As they go out to market, they have everything they need to be successful.” 

Scaling AI and Automation with Excellent Integrations 

Another non-negotiable for the Manulife team as they began searching for a solution was this: They needed an all-in-one platform that’d eliminate enablement tech sprawl and prove to be a worthwhile investment as AI and automation scale in 2024 and beyond. Plus, it had to be something sales, IT, marketing, and product all felt would add value to their organizations. 

“With AI being at the forefront of everyone’s minds, I’m looking to lean in and see where we can leverage those capabilities… I’m excited to see how we can partner with Seismic given the latest on Seismic Aura Copilot with AI-guided selling and recommended content,” shares Ben. 

Manulife knew they needed a tool that would fit in perfectly with their most frequently used tools, like Microsoft and Zoom, along with dozens of others. 

Continuing Integration with the 2024 Launch of Seismic Learning 

Erika shared that since the implementation and adoption of Seismic Content has gone so well in 2023, they’re looking to replicate their success with Seismic Learning in 2024.  

“We want a one-stop shop. Having learning lessons and content all in one ecosystem will offer the end-user experience we’re looking to achieve,” confirms Erika. 

While this is a hefty undertaking, Erika and Ben are confident they’ll see results from this initiative, especially since Seismic offers them a dedicated team and ample resources to make it happen.  

Adhering to Governance, Risk, and Compliance Protocols 

Strong governance, compliance, and risk management weren’t a nice-to-have but a must-have for Manulife. As a financial services business that manages sensitive client information, they knew their enablement solution would need top-of-the-line security and compliance protocols. 

Seismic is a tool worth trusting; it’s SOC2 Type II, ISO 27001, and ISO 27701 certified, which makes it a secure and reliable fit for Manulife’s needs.