As Webster Bank pursued its goal of becoming a Category 4 institution, leadership recognized the need for a more consistent, measurable, and compliant way to enable sellers.

Carlos Rivera, SMD, Head of Marketing, Sales Enablement and CX, was tasked with leading that shift. Historically, Webster had never operated with a formal sales enablement function. Content existed, but it lived in internally built portals that provided access without insight.

“Webster has never been exposed to real sales enablement,” Carlos said. “We had created our own marketing portals, but they just weren’t at the level we needed to get to.”

In a highly regulated environment, any new approach had to meet strict legal, compliance, security, and data‑governance standards.  

Meanwhile, Carlos also recognized a cultural challenge. Sales operations had historically been reactive, responding to requests rather than proactively guiding sellers. As Webster prepared to scale, that model was no longer sufficient.

“We were very reactive, responding to requests” Carlos said. “Now we’re becoming proactive, providing our sales teams with timely, relevant content.”

To move forward, Webster needed a way to prove that proactive enablement could deliver value, earn trust with leadership and the field, and work within regulatory constraints. That requirement set the stage for a deliberate approach. 
 

Webster selected Seismic not simply as a technology investment, but as the foundation for a long-term enablement transformation. From the outset, the goal was to move beyond reactive sales operations and establish a proactive, compliant, and scalable enablement model that could support Webster’s Category 4 growth ambitions.

Seismic’s Strategic Enablement Services partnered closely with Carlos and Webster’s leadership to define a clear enablement roadmap anchored in customization, analytics, and compliant content. Rather than leading with features, the team focused on how enablement needed to function inside a commercial banking environment and how it could evolve as the organization scaled.

For Carlos, industry experience was essential. “I wanted to work with people who had done this for other banks,” he said. “When you speak to Evan and Bianca, that experience comes across immediately.”

Starting with a Pilot to Prove Value and Build Trust

Rather than launching broadly, Webster and Strategic Enablement Services intentionally began with a pilot designed to validate both the technology and the cultural shift Carlos was leading. The goal was not just adoption, but proof that proactive enablement could drive meaningful seller behavior within a regulated environment.

Strategic Enablement Services worked with Carlos to define pilot scope, success metrics, and priority use cases, focusing on real workflows rather than surface level engagement.

“We were very deliberate about the pilot,” Carlos said. “We wanted to see real usage, not just people logging in once.”

Demonstrating Impact Through Real Seller Workflows

One of the pilot’s most effective use cases centered on compliant, personalized one-to-many email outreach. For the first time, bankers could efficiently personalize communications at scale while remaining within regulatory guardrails and embedded Salesforce workflows.

“Immediately, the sales teams said this was a great use case,” Carlos explained. “You could send something that felt personal to a large group, and that changed how they engaged with customers.”

As sellers engaged customers through Seismic, the pilot also surfaced broader operational benefits. Salesforce data quality improved, reinforcing stronger client experience practices and demonstrating how enablement could positively influence downstream systems.

Operating in a highly regulated environment meant that every phase of the rollout required close collaboration with legal, compliance, security, and technology teams. Strategic Enablement Services brought deep financial services expertise to these conversations, guiding Webster through technical reviews, AI governance discussions, and approval processes.

“Financial services is always a step behind because of regulation,” Carlos said. “Having guidance from people who had done this with other banks made a real difference.”

With pilot success established, Strategic Enablement Services helped Webster scale in a phased and controlled manner. The initial rollout centralized approved content and embedded enablement directly into Salesforce.

“The fact that Seismic is fully integrated into Salesforce was critical,” Carlos noted. “Everything is embedded in the sales process.”

From there, the roadmap expanded to include LiveSocial, Learning, Aura, and key integrations with SharePoint and Salesforce, each introduced deliberately with clear guardrails and structured rollout plans.

Driving Adoption and Cultural Change

Beyond deployment, Strategic Enablement Services focused on helping Webster operationalize enablement as a cultural shift. The team advised rollout communications, engagement metrics, and adoption strategies designed to reinforce proactive behaviors over time.

The pilot also helped Webster identify internal champions who became trusted resources during the broader rollout, accelerating adoption through peer support and reinforcing enablement as a shared responsibility rather than a centralized function.

“As Webster continues to scale and prepare for our next phase of growth, it is critical that our teams are equipped with the right structure, insights, and discipline to operate consistently and compliantly,” said Kristi Kahn, Executive Managing Director, Chief Administration Officer, Commercial Banking. “This initiative was about more than technology. It was about modernizing how we enable our commercial banking teams to engage clients, measure impact, and grow with confidence. The work Carlos and the team have led establishes a strong foundation for where we are headed as an organization.”