The Challenge
Shifting the enablement mindset and approach
Kristin Belanger is VP of Sales Enablement at M&T Bank who manages sales and marketing enablement platforms. Following her attendance at a sales enablement conference, she recognized that the current approach to sales enablement at M&T Bank was ineffective and required adjustment.
“I had this moment where I felt it in my gut, and I went – We’re doing it wrong. We are not helping salespeople. We need to do this differently,” said Belanger. She identified that they needed better technology, tools, and coaching.
Realizing the need for a complete shift in mindset and approach posed a significant challenge, especially in a large organization with established practices and processes.“With Seismic, we got the best of both worlds. We got this world-class platform, but then we also got the customer success model that came with it and made it just a powerful relationship,” said Belanger.
Belanger introduced Seismic as a sales enablement platform in her department at the bank and then initiated a campaign to expand its use to other divisions. As time passed, they explored additional applications for Seismic, such as the LIBOR project, to enhance efficiency throughout the organization and improve the sales process.
Kristin Belanger
Vice President, Sales Enablement
The Solution
Automating Content Production for LIBOR Contract Remediation
M&T Bank had to address numerous contracts that reference the LIBOR rate with varying degrees of complexity before June 2023. They hired numerous individuals to identify which contracts required attention and determine the most appropriate course of action.
Jon Storm, Vice President, Senior Systems Analyst at M&T Bank, was approached by the technology group tasked with discovery for finding solutions for the LIBOR remediation project. “They came to us with certain business requirements to see if Seismic could support them, and that answer turned out to be yes. We were a little surprised at the flexibility and extensibility of Seismic’s platform because we hadn’t undergone any major integrations yet. At the same time, we would meet additional goals of sales enablement, not just the LIBOR project,” explained Storm.
The platform was able to meet the business requirements for the project and was flexible and extensible enough to allow for future solutions. The platform also enabled the bank to limit the involvement of the sales force to a single system and reduce client touchpoints, making it easier to execute the remediation of loans.
The Seismic platform enabled the team to create a folder hierarchy to organize loan amendment documents into individual Workspaces and group them in a larger folder structure. It also made it simple to delegate and modify the folder structure to manage employee transitions like leaves of absence, attrition, promotions, and internal movement, resulting in easier project management.
The project achieved 100% adoption from the Relationship Managers (RMs) who had customer contracts that required LIBOR mediation. “Almost overnight we went from only dozens of people using Workspace and LiveSend among the RM population to 1,500 plus and an 80 to 85% adoption rate among the whole group of these technologies after one year in production,” shared Storm.
After one year in production, M&T bank reached a point of 83% of loans remediated, with little to no pushback from RMs.
The Results
Reduce Compliance Risk
By implementing Seismic as a sales enablement platform, M&T Bank was able to improve the sales experience and provide better technology, tools, and coaching to their sales teams. “We believe that Seismic offers us the chance to improve our efficiency and create better storytelling experiences,” said Belanger.
M&T Bank reduced compliance risk by using Seismic, which helped them remediate over 83% of loans after one year in production. “Our risk partners are extremely happy. This was a very large risk item… It’s been highly successful, we are well ahead of schedule, and that’s news you like to bring to regulators,” said Storm.
Thanks to Seismic, M&T Bank improved sales results and efficiency by providing a more effective way for their sales teams to engage with clients in a meaningful and personalized way.
“Seismic has brought together content, technology, and people in a way that I never experienced before,” explained Storm.