The world of international trade can be incredibly complex – especially for businesses that want to scale up. Yet the desire to break into new markets has never been stronger. According to Santander’s Spring 2023 Trade Barometer, 38% of UK businesses cite growth in both new and existing international markers as a key driver of recovery from current challenges. And Santander wants to be the bank that helps make recovery a reality.

Santander UK’s Corporate and Commercial Banking division offers financial services products to businesses with a turnover up to £500 million. “Competition in our industry is getting tougher with price often seen as the only differentiator,” said Carroll. “We don’t want to be locked in a race to the bottom; we want our competitive advantage to be founded on customer-centricity.”

The Corporate and Commercial Banking team had already laid the foundations it needed to drive not only greater customer-centricity but also greater efficiency. By using  Einstein 1 to capture every servicing request, complaint, and opportunity in a central record, Santander has transformed how it manages relationships.  This is reflected in the Savanta market research data where Santander achieved first place for NPS.

Einstein 1, which forms part of the division’s new digital ecosystem along with nCino and DocuSign, also provides the foundations needed to develop and launch innovative customer-facing solutions at speed. Santander Navigator went from idea to launch in less than a year.

Santander UK already had a well-established ecosystem of international trade experts to support businesses on their journey to export success. But manual processes limited the bank’s potential to expand its reach.

The Corporate and Commercial Banking team worked with Salesforce and Accenture to explore the art of the possible. “We didn’t want to just digitalise our existing proposition, we wanted to enrich it by empowering businesses with even sharper insights, richer experiences, and stronger connections,” explained William John, Head of International Proposition Delivery, International and Transactional Banking for Santander’s UK Corporate and Commercial team.

Santander Navigator does all this – and more. As well as helping businesses identify growth opportunities and explore potential markets, the platform makes understanding regulations, accessing expertise, and optimising logistics easier.

For example, an integration between Santander Navigator and the Freightos marketplace means businesses can now generate shipping quotes in minutes, enabling greater transparency and faster decision-making. “Sourcing quotes manually can take up to two days, which can impact order fulfilment and go-to-market timelines,” said Carroll. “By harnessing the power of digital, we can help businesses achieve export success cost-effectively, time-efficiently, and profitably.”  

Santander has always placed a strong emphasis on building and maintaining relationships. The digital platform helps the Corporate and Commercial Banking team take customer relationships to a new level. Registration and interaction data is used to tailor the entire Santander Navigator experience - from growth strategies and partner connections to market insights and event invitations.

The data is captured on Salesforce in a central CRM record, which provides relationship managers with valuable insights into a company’s challenges and opportunities. For example, if a bike manufacturer shows an interest in trading in a new territory, a relationship manager can talk to them about how to reduce foreign exchange risk using the bank’s online trading portal.

“We can now offer personalised advice on complex trading factors, such as product labels and export licences, based on a users’ journey,” said Gemma Cassin, Head of Commercial Delivery, International and Transactional Banking, Santander UK Corporate and Commercial Banking. “We can also develop connections with stakeholders in different business departments not just finance.”

Broader relationships and richer insights have contributed to a 4X increase in conversations with businesses per day within Corporate and Commercial Banking with Santander Navigator subscribers.

Customer insights also help the bank to host more relevant events for Santander Navigator subscribers. Event invites and communications are distributed using Marketing Cloud’s Account Engagement. Since the launch of the platform, more than 2,100 businesses have attended 250+ events all hosted and run on Santander Navigator.

With UK businesses citing international markets as the single biggest opportunity for economic recovery, the Corporate and Commercial Banking team knew Santander Navigator would need to scale – and they were right. Around 70% of Santander Navigator subscribers have not previously engaged with the bank.

As the volume of subscribers and interactions increases, Santander needs an easy way to share customer and market intelligence. “With CRM Analytics, we can use AI to visualise international trade trends and user insights in real time,” said Phil Bennett, Senior Project and Process Simplification Manager for Santander UK’s Corporate and Commercial Banking division. For example, the bank has developed dashboards that track the most popular Santander Navigator articles and international markets.

AI will also help the bank scale the platform by automatically generating personalised recommendations based on customer data, which relationship directors can share quickly and easily with their contacts.

Santander Navigator is not just a pioneering initiative for the bank but for the entire financial services industry. “We have built a platform that can be scaled and enhanced quickly and easily. We have big ambitions in the UK and across the Santander Group and Trade Club Alliance,” said Carroll.

The Santander Navigator team already have numerous enhancements in the pipeline. For example, the team plans to use Commerce Cloud to offer even more personalised recommendations based on a subscriber’s browsing history and ‘lookalike’ businesses. Santander also wants to establish an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) rating system on the platform, which will provide scores for specific processes, such as packaging, and personalised ESG action plans.

Santander Navigator already enables businesses to select different shipping options based on their carbon footprint. “Boosting sustainability is key to succeeding internationally, but businesses often lack sufficient resources,” said Carroll. “Santander Navigator is a fantastic example of how we’re harnessing digital technologies to make businesses’ lives easier.”

If you're in one of the eligible sectors, you can access Santander Navigator for free today. Santander Navigator is a personalised platform that helps you navigate international growth. Whether you're an experienced exporter or taking the first step, Santander Navigator will help you simplify it. Sign up today at www.SantanderNavigator.co.uk.