CRM brings sanity to a hectic bank: Sovereign Bank improved its operations with consistent...

Growth through acquisition is one of the most painful types of expansion. Not only is the pressure to produce a return on investment high, but the melding of companies can sunder chemistry and process. Sovereign Bank faced that problem in the early part of the decade, as rapid growth from the divested assets of competitors left the company without a coordinated sales process. "We had no culture and no background ... one third of our folks were from Bank of Boston, one third were from Fleet, and [the rest] from our new company," says Bill Patten, director of sales management at Sov