When news of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act arose in late March 2020, Cadence Bank approached EMS Consulting about designing and building a solution within their existing Salesforce instance. The CARES Act provided billions in financial aid for small businesses suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic through a significant provision known as the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). As soon as the CARES Act was signed, the EMS and Cadence teams set out to expand their work together and create a streamlined solution to support businesses in need.

The Challenge: Build a Paycheck Protection Program Loan Application As Fast As Possible

Like every other bank and credit union in the United States, Cadence Bank was suddenly faced with the urgent need to build a contactless solution for PPP loan applications with the signing of the CARES Act in late March 2020. This solution would need to accommodate a large volume of loan applications from commercial banking applicants while also enabling Cadence loan officers to reasonably manage the loan process.

Partnering with EMS Consulting made it possible for Cadence to lead the lead the way in the race against the big banks in launching their PPP loan application within 12 days.

The Solutions: New Salesforce Lightning Application, Workflows, Integrations, Reports & Dashboards

With the help of key players and experts on the Cadence Bank team, EMS Consulting went to work on:

• The PPP loan application itself, built in Salesforce Lightning with over 200 fields;
• Custom workflows and stages for Cadence loan officers to process each PPP loan application according to their own business processes;
• Integrations with digital signature platforms Conga and DocuSign to enable fast (and secure) digital signatures from applicants;
• Salesforce reports and dashboards that let Cadence Bank leadership track, measure, and act on all of their PPP data.

The Results: Over 4,000 Business Owners Came to Cadence Bank for PPP Assistance

Here are some of the results achieved by this incredible initiative:

• Cadence Bank was early to market with a functional PPP loan application, thanks to their decision to build the application in Salesforce’;
• By iterating throughout the design and build phase, Cadence Bank and EMS Consulting were able to design on the fly and incorporate essential loan officer customizations;
• The app rollout was agile and seamless, as the Cadence Bank team already had a working knowledge and understanding of basic Salesforce interface;
• Cadence was able to assist over 4,000 business owners with their PPP applications during the eligibility period;

By leading the way toward a PPP solution, Cadence Bank demonstrated its commitment to local business owners, the bank’s employees, and the communities it serves.

A Partnership Built to Last with EMS Consulting

EMS Consulting and Cadence Bank were able to move swiftly through this initiative in part because of having previously partnered together for Cadence’s Salesforce implementation. If you’re looking to build a relationship with a Salesforce implementation partner that will strengthen over time, talk to the experts at EMS Consulting today.