Financière S_entiel is one of the pioneers of independent insurance brokerage and financial services in Quebec. For over 30 years, the company has stood out for its ability to evolve and adapt to the changing needs of the industry and its advisors. Yet it has remained true to its mission of becoming the most active financial services hub in business development while being recognized for the quality of its overall services.
It is precisely this culture of adaptability that led the company to seek a solution to modernize and digitize its document management. Initially, Financière S_entiel turned to Zeendoc, a solution offered by XMA Solutions, for its electronic document management (EDM) capabilities. Their team was looking for a solution that was both efficient and highly reliable for one of their manual processes: handling mail and documents.
Here’s how our collaboration with Vincent Lavallée, Finance Director at Financière S_entiel, unfolded.
Initial Context
At XMA Solutions, many of our clients come to us to automate their accounts payable, a highly effective service that saves time and boosts efficiency, with most clients seeing a return on investment in under a year. For Financière S_entiel, however, the initial need was different. They needed to digitize a very specific process: handling incoming mail and documents.
For many years, the company received daily bags of mail from insurers, including contracts, forms, and client statements. Upon receipt, the mail team would sort each piece into folders assigned to financial advisors. Documents were then sent to advisors, by post for those working offsite or via ICS for faster internal delivery. Advisors could then review, process, or forward documents to clients or insurers, depending on the needs of each file.
Eventually, an initial digitization attempt was made using the AutoStore solution. The team would take a pile from a folder, scan the corresponding barcode, and then digitize the entire batch into a single PDF sent by email. This system represented an improvement over a fully paper-based workflow and met the standards of the time, which were less strict than today’s security requirements.
However, the process remained very manual and still required significant time and several full-time employees to scan and organize each document. Seeking to reduce these repetitive tasks, Financière S_entiel turned to XMA Solutions with the question: “Is there a solution that could communicate with our back office and automatically organize our documents intelligently?”
Challenges & Issues
In insurance brokerage and financial services, every minute counts. A delayed document can hold up a transaction, compromise an approval, or even jeopardize a client relationship. For Financière S_entiel, speed and security were not just competitive advantages, they were matters of compliance and reputation.
Under the supervision of the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), the company had to process each document within prescribed deadlines while adhering to strict confidentiality and security standards. But the manual process in place at the time slowed everything down. It involved many steps, consumed significant resources, and when errors occurred, correcting them took considerable time.
Vincent also recalls the complexity of managing absences, particularly during vacations. When an employee was unavailable, the entire chain could be blocked. He had to ensure that a full team was always available for sorting and processing mail.
The consequences were quickly felt and affected all departments. A single delay in routing a document to the back office could trigger a domino effect. For an organization focused on responsiveness and service quality, it was clear action was needed.
Meeting with XMA and Decision
It was evident that too many resources were being invested in a low-value process. Managing delays in document handling, combined with the constant challenge of staffing repetitive tasks, weighed heavily on overall efficiency. The company wanted to redirect these resources toward higher-value activities that could generate more benefit for advisors and clients.
At the time, Financière S_entiel was already using AutoStore with a barcode system, but this method still required a significant amount of manual handling. They envisioned an ideal scenario where they could simply place paper documents in the scanner, digitize them, and have everything automatically sorted and organized without manual intervention.
This was when XMA Solutions stepped in with Zeendoc. The relationship between Financière S_entiel and XMA Solutions began in a very different context—the renewal of their photocopiers! The company was working with another supplier but needed to evaluate options for their printers. During a needs analysis with XMA Solutions, Vincent emphasized the importance of having good scanners and explained their document management processes.
This initial discussion quickly led to a broader conversation about ways to optimize and automate document management. Recognizing the potential immediately, our representative presented the digitization solutions offered by XMA Solutions. Zeendoc then emerged as the ideal solution for their needs.
Results
The initial goal of reducing the number of people involved in the process was achieved—and even surpassed—while the volume of documents received tripled. Before Zeendoc, about three full-time employees were dedicated solely to receiving and organizing paper documents, supported by several others for related tasks. Today, despite a tripled workload, a single person can manage the entire process thanks to Zeendoc.
Without this solution, such growth would have required additional hires and posed serious personnel management challenges. Manual handling is now minimized, errors are rarer, and every document is easily traceable thanks to timestamps, history, and centralized information. This level of precision significantly reduces the risk of disputes and allows advisors to work with complete and up-to-date files at all times.
Encouraged by these results, Vincent even decided to take it further. Since Zeendoc also offered powerful accounts payable automation features, he extended the tool to accounting processes. Efficiency gains were quickly felt, reinforcing the platform’s strategic value for the company.
Conclusion
This collaboration demonstrates that electronic document management can profoundly transform an organization’s operations, far beyond simple time savings. For Financière S_entiel, Zeendoc not only automated processes but also redefined the way documents circulate, are organized, and are used daily.
At XMA Solutions, we know that every company faces its own document management challenges. Whether it’s processing hundreds of contracts per day, centralizing information for easier access, or securing data in a regulated environment, we provide our tools and expertise to achieve one clear objective: turning document management into a true performance lever.
When asked if he would recommend Zeendoc to other leaders in his sector, Vincent laughed: “No! Let’s not give away our secret.”
This is definitely just the beginning of a promising digital transformation, where efficiency and innovation will continue to make all the difference.