Global Sanctions Screening is often a point of contention among business administrators when implemented inefficiently.

Sure, it’s necessary for mitigating the risk of incurring legal penalties and a key step to avoid working with sanctioned or denied third parties. However, if the sanctions screening process is not optimized, it can be expensive to run, use a lot of manual labor, and cut into the productivity of the sales team. 

Either way, almost everyone can agree that it cannot be ignored. Sanctions are being added seemingly every month as geopolitical changes are forcing companies to pay attention to compliance more than ever. If you slip up and accidentally end up working with a restricted party, the ramifications can be significant as well as the loss of trust and reputation with clients and business partners. 

Did you know that there’s a better way? The traditional approach of manual screening methods is far too slow for today’s fast-paced markets, and sales teams are often frustrated by how much this work cuts into their own time. For a more effective way to cover Denied Party Screening, read on about Salesforce and its integrated solution. 

Key Takeaways

  • Despite its necessity, global sanctions screening can be cumbersome, impacting operational efficiency and sales team productivity.
  • Given the large number of third parties an organization is exposed to, manual denied party screening processes are slow and prone to errors, disrupting sales workflows and potentially leading to costly compliance violations.
  • Geopolitical changes and rising enforcement actions such as with OFAC sanctions are driving the need for heightened compliance measures and effective screening methods.
  • Integrating screening into CRM platforms like Salesforce streamlines compliance, by automating processes and promoting collaboration across the organization.
  • Salesforce combined with Descartes screening capabilities provide robust options for strengthening compliance processes and increasing sales velocity.

Why Sanctions List Screening Can Be Difficult 

Your organization works with a large number of third-party entities and onboards new ones every year. You are ultimately responsible for not only your own legal compliance but also the standing of any of those third parties. For example, if you’re working in sales, some “red flags” recommended by the Bureau of Industry and Security might include the entity: 

  • Being listed directly on a government watch list
  • Not saying anything about the end-use of the goods purchased 
  • Not having much business history 
  • Refusing to use financing when it’s an option 
  • Speeding through the transaction without knowing much about the goods purchased 

Having to go through all of these checks slows down the work of the sales department. And if you end up finding a problem, then there’s a chance you’ll have to throw out an entire transaction and start over from the beginning. 

Nonetheless, governments make it clear that businesses themselves are responsible for their own compliance level and Global Sanctions Search. So, the question now is: what can we do to make it more efficient? 

The Solution Is Integrated Screening 

Whether we’re talking about sales or export compliance, screening for restricted parties doesn’t have to be such a headache anymore with the current digital tools we have now. You’re likely familiar with customer relationship management (CRM) platforms and might even use one in your organization already. 

These tools are designed to help us conduct interactions with clients and other partners, but did you know they often have ways to integrate new functionalities? Salesforce is one example that can work well with Descartes, a Restricted Party Screening service provider. 

Why would you want third-party risk management and your CRM to work together? Using Salesforce Screening reduces the workload on the rest of your staff and actually accelerates the sales process. The benefits of automated and integrated screening include: 

  • High compliance rates: The landscape of legal sanctions is always changing, so how do you know the sanctions list you’re working with is up-to-date? Digital tools always ensure that you have the most recent copy available and can automate most of the process so that no entity is left unchecked. 
  • Less wasted time: Say that a third-party your sales team has been working with turns out to be a restricted party. Under automated screening, the problem is pointed out early on so that no time is wasted on continuing a sale that will eventually be thrown out anyway. 
  • Integration: Integrating screening with the CRM platform ensures a seamless experience where data and activities can be shared constantly throughout the company. 

Automated screening with Salesforce and the Descartes service is a powerful tool to have in the face of ever-demanding legal compliance requirements. When done correctly, restricted party screening doesn’t have to be a roadblock for the sales department. 

Read our white paper to get more detailed information about Performing Effective and Comprehensive Denied Party Screening Within the Salesforce CRM or visit our Salesforce screening resource centerYou can also read this guide on how to optimize your denied party screening process.

How can Descartes Help? 

To help manage compliance risks more effectively, Descartes provides a range of denied party screening and 3rd party risk management solutions, including integration with Salesforce. 

Descartes Visual Compliance solutions are flexible and modular, allowing organizations to pick the specific and exact functionality and content they need for their particular compliance needs and scale up later as and when necessary. 

By utilizing our robust solutions, organizations can strengthen their compliance processes, enhance their competitive edge and increase sales velocity. 

Are you interested in learning more about how Descartes can enhance your Salesforce deployment? Contact us today to get started. Also read what our customers are saying about Descartes Denied Party Screening on G2 – an online third-party business software review platform.