Salesforce is buying a stake in Hearsay Systems, a social media and communications software concern serving the financial services industry, as the two companies forge a strategic partnership.
The partnership will align Hearsay Systems' digital communications, compliance and marketing capabilities for the financial services industry with Salesforce’s client relationship management system, according to an announcement from Hearsay on Tuesday.
“The first phase of digital for banks and insurers was automated engagement—mobile apps and push notifications, e-mail automation, ad targeting. Now, especially in the pandemic, financial services customers are demanding authentic engagement with their financial advisors, bankers and insurance agents,” said Clara Shih, CEO of Hearsay Systems, in comments released on Tuesday. “Customers want the speed and convenience of digital combined with the empathy and trust of their relationship manager.”
Hearsay Systems offers technology that allows for compliant advisor-client communications across difficult-to-monitor channels like text messaging and social media. It also offers insight into client and prospect online behavior as well as data security and third-party content reviewable by home offices and compliance department.
Digital communications have become more important for advisors forced to work from home or other remote locations during the Covid-19 outbreak. During this period, Hearsay has seen the use of its products so far this year triple from the same period in 2019.
With the newly announced partnership, those last-mile communications products—software that personalizes messages—will be captured in Salesforce’s CRM, offering advisors “context to inform next best actions,” according to the release. Insight from Hearsay will allow Salesforce to provide greater visibility into advisor-client communications across channels like text, mobile calls, social media and websites.
“Hearsay’s last-mile customer engagement platform is a natural addition to our Salesforce applications,” said Bill Patterson, EVP and general manager of Salesforce CRM Applications, in a released comment. “With a growing set of regulations introduced across industries, organizations need to ensure that their sales, service and marketing teams follow compliant communications with customers. With Hearsay, we are excited to deliver these enhanced capabilities to Salesforce customers.”
Hearsay for Salesforce is currently available on the Salesforce AppExchange.