
Is the title a bit click-baity?
Yes, it certainly is.
But then again, so are most of the 20+ sales solicitations that my dad – a seasoned Treasury practitioner with nearly 30 years of experience – receives every day from various software vendors, banks, and consultancies.
If you’re an active treasury practitioner, I’m guessing you receive these solicitations too. In fact, you’ll probably receive one or two more by the time you’ve finished reading this article.
I will personally apologize for some of the clutter, as I’m likely responsible for at least a few of those messages. I’ve helped send hundreds—if not thousands—of them over the past decade.
Since 2015, I’ve attempted to follow in my father’s footsteps by pursuing a career in treasury. Not as a practitioner, but as a sales and marketing liaison for various treasury consultancies and fintech vendors. Ultimately, this means I create content and pitch products that I’m hoping would help convince my dad (and others like him) to invest in a new TMS, banking platform, or financial service.
Because my dad is my target customer, I take every opportunity to collect his feedback on my projects. Over the years, I’ve pitched him on dozens of sales decks and demos, asked for reviews of countless factsheets and whitepapers, and sought his insight on almost every new piece of content I develop.
Of course, due to inconvenient issues like “nepotism” and “conflicts of interest” (joking of course…), it’s not easy for my dad to justify the purchase of whatever shiny treasury solution his son spends all day trying to sell. I understand this and respect it. But because I’ve also had a front-row seat to analyze how each new vendor and bank advertises and sells to him—and what his response to each approach is—I’ve acquired a unique perspective on the process.

As we enter 2025, the following insights are those that I’ve found most relevant and impactful as I prepare for my 11th year of service in the treasury sales, marketing, and content arena.
- The Average Treasurer Receives AT LEAST 15-20 Sales Solicitations Per Day. You’re not the only vendor that will contact your treasury prospects today—in fact, you’re not even 1 of 10. You’re most likely 1 of 20—and there’s good reason to believe that NONE of those 20 solicitations will get much notice. After all, treasurers are usually laser-focused on their daily work and also very easily annoyed by extraneous emails or messages.
To make matters worse, the security filters on most modern email platforms will send a large portion of your messages straight to spam. And cold calls? You’re lucky if the receptionist answers, and even more so if they actually transfer you to the desired extension. So, while sending emails and messages is fine, just know there’s a decent chance they might not ever be read or responded to.
This shouldn’t be interpreted as a sign to just stop all sales and marketing communications entirely (although many practitioners might prefer that…). However, it should resonate that just because you have someone’s contact information or have constructed the “perfect” email does not mean it will be acknowledged, read, or responded too. Preparing yourself for this reality—and learning how to diversify your outreach as a result—is very important.
- Treasury Sales Cycles Are Often Measured in Months & Years, Not Days or Weeks. When I first entered the treasury sales arena, I would get overly excited with each new lead that entered the mix. Wow—the Assistant Treasurer at a billion-dollar firm completed our form!? AND they want to set up a demo for next week?! We should be able to close by month’s end!!
Wrong.
In all likelihood, that first demo call may be the only call (if it ever happens to begin with). Or, it’s the first of what will become 50+ calls over the course of not just days and weeks, but likely months and years. I’ve seen some sales cycles last as long as 3-5 years for large, blue-chip companies—especially when it involves a largescale migration of critical infrastructure, payment channels, and bank connections. There will likely be dozens—if not hundreds—of stakeholders involved across numerous departments. And due to the large number of participants and sheer scale of processes that are impacted, no experienced treasury team will ever rush a purchase.
In most (but not all) cases, treasury software sales take time. Which leads us to point #3.
- Effective Relationship Management Has Never Been More Important. Given the length of the sales cycles in today’s treasury software market AND the broad number of vendors that comprise it, there’s no question that effective relationship management is critical.
If you’re wondering how many touch points are required to engage a corporate treasury team and maintain their interest during a multi-year sales cycle, the answer is usually hundreds, if not thousands. I don’t just mean emails and calls, but demos, workshops, dinners, events, etc. Vendors today will try to stay top of mind through any way possible, but the ones that succeed are usually ensuring that each stakeholder has all the information necessary to identify value. This usually means providing tailored material not just to Treasury but also to Accounting, IT, AP, and perhaps the CFO or CEO directly. Some might take it a step further and customize their outreach for each rung of the treasury ladder (manager, analyst, etc.), depending on the use case.
Unfortunately, this multifaceted approach to sales is not easy for all reps to stay on top of, especially when it is extrapolated out across dozens or even hundreds of companies. Of course, there’s Salesforce and other tools to help with that problem, but just like in treasury, it’s never really that simple. The hard truth is that many treasury sales teams try to fill their pipeline with as many prospects as possible but ultimately fail to properly establish and maintain a good relationship with each one. Today more than ever, that’s an easy way to lose the opportunity.
- Vendors that Have Both Product AND Industry Expertise Will Quickly Distinguish Themselves. One learning that holds extra weight in the wake of the AI boom is that treasury practitioners are more wary of the bull****, and will gravitate towards vendors and reps that have a keen understanding of their unique experiences and challenges—and that can be relied upon as both industry and solution experts.
Whenever I attend the annual AFP or EuroFinance conferences, I like to walk the floor with my dad and listen to how various booths and vendors approach him. While many do a fantastic job, a fair number also struggle to demonstrate true product or market expertise, and those conversations rarely last long. Even for those who’ve memorized the pitch for their own product, a few follow-up questions from a seasoned practitioner can easily determine who understands the market and who has simply rehearsed a script.
The same goes for those who use AI to generate highly authentic emails and digital messages but then struggle with in-person communication and dialogue. These are both major red flags, and in the end, it’s almost impossible to convince a treasurer that your product is a good fit for them if you clearly don’t understand the market or industry.
As a final point here, it’s worth noting that out of the 20+ treasury sales reps emailing a random treasurer on any given day, at least SOME of them will be experts. Many may even be former practitioners who have “jumped the desk” to now operate in sales roles—which means they already know the industry quite well. Given this reality, any rep who fails to properly educate themselves on the market accordingly will likely be unable to convince prospects—especially seasoned veterans—of their product’s viability.
- A Good Relationship Doesn’t Guarantee Success, but it Keeps You Top-of-Mind. As a parting note, it’s worth highlighting that even the closest relationships with practitioners don’t guarantee sales. After all, the close relationship I hold with my father has never yielded a sale. Sometimes, the product alignment genuinely doesn’t fit, or there are issues with budget, or employee turnover, or the company simply decides to go another direction.
While it can be incredibly frustrating to spend months and years cultivating relationships with practitioners just to see sales fall by the wayside, there is simply no other alternative. While sales teams can grow more selective and targeted with who they approach in order to strengthen their odds, at the end of the day, a relationship will still need to be initiated, nurtured, and fostered. Sometimes those relationships yield results, and sometimes they don’t.
However, my experience is that even if a sale doesn’t occur, the relationship created with a practitioner can pay dividends years down the road – say, if they switch companies or have a poor experience with another vendor. Or, through a reference to another practitioner who needs the service. I’ve seen dozens of examples where treasurers who previously turned down a software purchase contacted their rep (normally one whom they had a great relationship with) months or years later in order to tackle a new or related project.
In these cases, even if the original outreach and prospecting do not yield a sale, taking the time to create the relationship will be appreciated, and it will keep you top-of-mind the next time another opportunity presents itself.
Final Thoughts & Application
To conclude… it’s not easy selling treasury software. The industry is comprised of a niche group of hyper-intelligent, risk-averse, and cost-conscious individuals. You’re not selling $10 t-shirts to a group of middle-schoolers—you’re selling what are often six-figure or even seven-figure software subscriptions to some of the most educated, financially savvy practitioners on the planet.
It takes time.
Those that I’ve seen succeed most often are those that go the extra mile to understand each prospect’s unique composition, requirements, team structure, and budget. Then, they spend time fostering relationships with each stakeholder and systematically ensure that the entire team is provided with all the information required to make a decision, with regular touchpoints throughout to maintain momentum and engagement.
It’s a unique blend of product, industry, and market expertise, coupled with a heightened sense of social and emotional intelligence.
Of course, every sales rep will have their own unique style, but as 2025 gets underway, I believe it would be a grave mistake to ignore the points outlined above.
Regardless of whether you’re a treasury practitioner or one of my peers in the sales and marketing arena, I hope you find this article insightful. And, apologies in advance if you end up receiving an email solicitation from me this year – after all, it’s just part of the job!
Best wishes to all in 2025.
Isaac Zaubi
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