The Challenge
Simplifying complex internal systems and creating a better sales enablement function
In early 2020, Preqin was intensifying its efforts to achieve digital transformation across its entire business. One important component was to provide better access to applications and platforms to improve operational efficiency.
At the time, the team used a self-built, internal system to share, distribute and upload content, which made it difficult to track changes, lacked rigid processes and did not have a defined governance structure in place. In short, a dedicated sales enablement function did not exist. Furthermore, their system did not have built-in data and analytical capabilities, or an intelligent search function, which meant that teams were spending a lot of time searching through various folders. Preqin needed a holistic solution that would meet the operational needs of the maturing business.
Following a rigorous selection process, Seismic became the vendor of choice, based on the support received and the relationships built throughout the sales process, as well as the ease of use of the platform. “We were looking for a knowledgeable partner that could help us set up and develop the platform, rather than just sell us a piece of technology. With Seismic, it’s a continuous partnership where both sides keep evolving together.”
Tom Gwynne-Harris
Head of Marketing Automation
The Solution
Driving go-to-market (GTM) efficiency by automating manual tasks
By implementing Seismic, Preqin focused on better enabling its Sales team to find the right content, at the right time, thereby improving operational efficiency and productivity. Launching initially as a pilot project for around 70 users, the Seismic platform was then rolled out to the entire sales and marketing organisations. During this period, the Seismic team was able to help Preqin better organise their content, leverage data and analytics to improve content creation, as well as establish Sales Enablement as its own function. “We were keen to improve our sales enablement efforts in two ways: Helping our Marketing team to create a seamless process to share relevant material, while better supporting our Sales team with digesting and using those assets.”
Since then, the Marketing organisation has been responsible for the curation, creation, and upload of the content, while the Sales organisation consumes and utilises the content. What this ensures is that all relevant collateral is organised effectively and can be sourced easily. Tasks that previously were manual, time-consuming, or perhaps did not exist at all are now streamlined and automated, giving the Sales team members back valuable time that they can spend closing deals or building relationships with customers.
Tom Gwynne-Harris
Head of Marketing Automation
Creating a global single source of truth
Shortly after Seismic had been rolled out to the Sales and Marketing teams, Preqin’s Research department was introduced as a third stakeholder. Whereas the Sales and Marketing teams focussed on creating buyer journeys and personalising content with the purpose of selling, the Research team’s work entailed reaching out to contacts to encourage them to contribute their data to Preqin’s database, Preqin Pro.
Today, Preqin has also seen uptake in its Product division, as well making Seismic their go-to global tool across its Sales, Product, Research, and Marketing teams. In addition, the business has made use of the Seismic integrations into Salesforce, Outreach and Outlook, ensuring that content and insights are utilised throughout every step of the selling journey and that their technology stack is consolidated as much as possible. “The impact since working with Seismic has been immense. Although not always quantifiable, we see it across all the different business units that have adopted the platform so far. Giving us full control over our content, integrating with other tools in our marketing technology stack and the support we receive from the team regularly are all extremely valuable to us.”
The Results
Number of users increased by over 4x within 2 years, impacting 78% of the GTM team
Preqin identified sales enablement as business-critical back in 2020 and Seismic as a valuable partner a year onwards from that. The achievements since then speak for themselves. By making constant improvements and working closely with the service teams at Seismic, Preqin has been able to continuously improve their adoption rate, bringing it above average to 78%. Through proving value early on and working on a phased implementation, the number of Seismic users has increased more than fourfold since the initial roll-out of the platform – creating a single source of truth that is used across the entire organisation and not just by an isolated team.
Moving forward, Preqin’s focus will be geared towards suggestive and predictive content, making use of the Seismic AI offering to help automate and personalise sales processes even further. In addition, and this is something that is currently being worked on, the business would like to integrate LiveSends deeper into their buyer journey, utilising relevant insights and analytics to drive higher engagement.
Tom Gwynne-Harris
Head of Marketing Automation