Client
Stream by Alphasense provides a high-quality, on-demand library of call transcripts between top industry experts and financial investors. They aim to help clients gain expert insights straight from former employees to make better investment decisions.
Business Objectives
Stream scouts for experts and conducts a series of compliance checks before onboarding them. These experts are then connected with Partner Analysts (PAs) who meet and interview the experts and record the transcripts. This process is initiated by either Stream or their clients’ own analysts, but midway, experts could always choose to back out. The PAs were contacted individually, but would not always decide to proceed with an expert. With all these contingencies, the process of matching up a verified expert with an interested analyst was complicated. Stream was already using Salesforce to enter and store their data, and connect with prospects through emails, calls, and messages. They also used Salesforce apps to schedule calls between experts, analysts, and clients. But many of these tasks were done manually, which made things hectic and slow.
Solutions
PA Portal
This is where SoftSquare came in. They introduced and set up a new tool into the equation, called the Partner Analyst Portal or PA Portal. This was a personalized app that the SoftSquare team built to suit the specific needs that Stream had. The PA Portal showed all the available expert bios in a system called the Universal Grab Bag, which enabled PAs to select experts whose interviews were pending at their own discretion. This improved the number of scheduled calls greatly, compared to the previous system of getting a virtual assistant to set up interviews. Partner Analysts could also browse and pick experts according to their own interests and expertise, which meant more meaningful and in-depth calls and a richer library overall.
One of the features of the PA Portal was the scheduling calls ticker that categorized and presented experts to the PAs in three different columns, according to whether they matched their general interests, specific expertise, or just as general experts. This feature also allowed PAs to filter the experts by specific industries like sports, airlines, and so on. PAs could also request for expert bios from particular companies, and the respective experts would show up exclusively for them for a short period. Once a PA reaches out and schedules an interview with an expert, they receive a link and PIN for the call, reminders, and are notified if either side cancels the meeting. In that case, the expert’s bio goes back into the Grab Bag.
Integrations
SoftSquare was able to integrate Salesforce with multiple external platforms to automate and simplify Stream’s entire set of processes. These included:
- FormAssembly to create forms sent out to experts and PAs
- GoogleCalendar for scheduling invites and meetings
- ZipDX – a meeting platform for audio calls and recording
- Bill.com to make the required payments to the experts
Result
SoftSquare successfully automated the convoluted process of matching up experts to the right Partner Analysts by creating a bespoke application that complemented Stream’s unique services perfectly. With future plans including a more comprehensive integration with Salesforce, including the transcription process, SoftSquare’s work for Stream is a superb example of how their services will put clients firmly on the path of Digital Transformation.
