Seismic Boosts Sales Efficiency, Saves 19% with Navan Expense

In the high-stakes world of sales, every minute counts. Perhaps no company understands this better than Seismic, a global leader in sales enablement.

The company, which has 1,400 employees in 11 offices across North America, Europe, and Australia, provides software that helps go-to-market teams increase productivity and provide exceptional client experiences. Yet internally, the legacy expense management system they were using created inefficiencies for Seismic employees — until Seismic replaced that solution with Navan Expense.

Before Navan

Pre-Navan expense management was cumbersome.

“Our salespeople were spending 20 minutes on each expense report, individually uploading receipts and navigating through a cumbersome interface. We recognized the opportunity to enhance efficiency and streamline their workflow,” said Hayden Stafford, Seismic’s President and Chief Revenue Officer.

A single error in an expense entry could lead to the outright rejection of the entire report, triggering a cascade of wasted time and frustration for both front- and back-office employees.

And after expense reports were submitted, reimbursements were completed after 30 days on average, while Seismic’s payroll manager dedicated 6+ hours per week to manually process them.

It was time for a new way of doing things.

Why Navan

Seismic’s goal was simple: Simplify and automate expense management for in-policy spend to free up employee time and turn data chaos into actionable insights.

The company was looking for a solution that offered them:

• An intuitive employee experience
• Robust integrations (Netsuite ERP, FinancialForce PSA, and ADP)
• Quick time to launch and minimal administration post-launch
• Real-time insight into spend

Seismic began using Navan for travel management in 2019 and travel payments in 2021. The company was impressed with how the technology could:

• Drive cost savings
• Enforce policy at the point of sale
• Improve front- and back-office efficiency

Recognizing that these benefits translated to expense management, too, Seismic added Navan Expense to its tech stack in 2022.

“

Our salespeople were spending 20 minutes on each expense report, individually uploading receipts and navigating through a cumbersome interface. We recognized the opportunity to enhance efficiency and streamline their workflow.

Hayden Stafford

President and Chief Revenue Officer

More Impactful Work, Less Paperwork

With Navan Expense, Seismic’s salespeople went from spending 20 minutes on expense reports to virtually no time at all.

That’s because Navan automatically checks expenses against company policy at the point of sale. The software then assigns the proper accounting coding based on the employee and expense type.

Reimbursements for approved out-of-pocket spend happens automatically, with turnaround times reduced from 30 days to 24 hours.

“

Expenses that are allowed in policy just happen — and my team has more time to review the ones that may be out of policy.

Evan Goldstein

Chief Financial Officer

In-Policy Expenses Flow Through

“Expenses that are allowed in policy just happen — and my team has more time to review the ones that may be out of policy,” said CFO Evan Goldstein.

Before Navan, Seismic had to review every expense on every expense report to ensure compliance with company policy. Now, with Navan, Seismic can focus its time and attention on the one in five transactions that merit their review as an exception to policy.

And they can see everything happening companywide in real-time dashboards.

“It’s invaluable to have one source of truth for all our financial data. You can make quicker decisions and better forecasts,” Goldstein added.

“Navan has generated significant cost savings for us over the past three years. Beyond the financial benefits, we have gained confidence in our spending practices, ensuring we avoid any overspending errors.”

“

The bottom line is that efficiency drives success. Our front office employees now allocate fewer hours to paperwork, enabling them to focus more on winning customers and delivering world-class service.

Hayden Stafford

President and Chief Revenue Officer

A Solution Employees Love

For their part, Seismic employees are thrilled.

They awarded Navan an “excellent” 86 customer satisfaction score (CSAT) for support — well above the software industry average of 78. And the company now boasts a mobile app adoption rate of 93%.

“Our sales reps love the Navan product — it’s made traveling and expensing far easier than before. It has freed up uncountable hours and completely automated tedious expense reporting,” said CRO Stafford.

“The bottom line is that efficiency drives success. Our front-office employees now allocate fewer hours to paperwork, enabling them to focus more on winning customers and delivering world-class service,” he continued.

“And our back-office employees are more efficient and have the data they need to see the big picture. It’s a win-win.”