Why Treasury Growth Has More to Do with Process Than Products

Banks have invested heavily in treasury products, sales training, and technology. Yet many still struggle to grow treasury revenue.

The challenge isn’t a lack of products.

It’s creating a repeatable process for understanding client needs, delivering advice, and uncovering opportunities consistently across the portfolio.

In a recent episode of the Treasury Whisperers Talkcast Podcast, 9Lenses CEO Tom Hessen joined host Seth Marlowe to discuss why many treasury teams struggle to consistently uncover opportunities and what leading banks are doing differently.

Treasury Doesn’t Have a Product Problem

Most banks already have strong treasury solutions.

The challenge is helping clients understand which solutions matter to their business and creating a repeatable process for uncovering those opportunities.

Too often, Treasury Management is brought into client conversations with the expectation of uncovering opportunities, but without a structured understanding of the client’s business.

As a result, TMOs spend valuable time gathering information, asking broad discovery questions, and trying to piece together the client’s priorities before they can provide meaningful recommendations.

That approach creates inconsistent client experiences, extends sales cycles, and makes opportunity identification heavily dependent on the skills of the individual TMO.

As Tom explained during the podcast, treasury growth isn’t limited by products. It’s limited by the ability to consistently understand client needs and translate those needs into meaningful recommendations.

The Shift from Discovery to Consultation

Many banking conversations begin with broad questions such as, “How’s business?”

While well-intentioned, those conversations rarely uncover enough information to drive meaningful action.

Leading banks are shifting toward structured consultations focused on areas such as:

Cash flow management
Payments modernization
Fraud prevention
Working capital optimization

These consultations help clients better understand their business while giving Treasury Management a more structured way to identify needs and provide recommendations.

The conversation changes from gathering information to delivering advice.

Getting Treasury Involved Earlier

One of the biggest challenges in Business Banking is getting Treasury involved early enough in the client relationship.

Many relationship managers understand the value Treasury can provide but are not treasury experts themselves. As a result, Treasury discussions often depend on the banker recognizing a specific treasury need.

A structured consultation changes that dynamic.

Instead of introducing Treasury for a product discussion, bankers can offer clients a valuable consultation focused on understanding their business operations, cash flow processes, payments, and fraud risks.

This creates a more natural way to engage Treasury while delivering value to the client from the start.

Scaling Advisory Across the Treasury Team

The most successful treasury programs don’t depend on a handful of top performers.

They create a repeatable process that allows every TMO to deliver a consistent advisory experience.

Structured consultations help:

Shorten sales cycles
Increase opportunity identification
Accelerate onboarding for new TMOs
Improve consistency across teams
Create a more measurable growth process

Rather than relying on individual selling styles, banks create a framework that can be managed, coached, and scaled.

How AI Supports Better Treasury Conversations

The most effective use of AI in Treasury Management isn’t replacing bankers.

It’s helping them prepare.

AI can help TMOs understand a client’s priorities, identify likely opportunities, recommend discovery questions, and prepare for consultations before the meeting ever begins.

The result is a more prepared banker and a more valuable client conversation.