"OP Life Assurance combines long-standing expertise and fresh ideas"
Hannu Salmi was attracted to OP Life Assurance by exciting and varied duties. His broad experience of banking and investment services provides an excellent foundation for success as a Business Developer.
Before moving to work in investment and savings insurance, Hannu worked in various roles in the banking sector for several years, including as a customer advisor and investment expert. In providing and developing investment services, everything starts with the customer, so a deep customer insight is a significant advantage for a Business Developer.
External and internal customers cornerstones of development
Hannu's core duties involve developing unit-linked insurance services and products offered by OP Life Assurance in both the short and long term. Customers invest funds both with the assistance of employees and independently in OP Pohjola's self-service channels such as OP-mobile and online bank. To ensure that investments can be managed as coherently and efficiently as possible, feedback from customers and user experiences need to be listened to with a close ear.
"Customer surveys form a key part of our work. To take our development work in the right direction, it's essential that we understand how customers experience our services and products, and what they hope to get from them," Hannu says.
In addition to end customers, an important target group is internal customers such as OP cooperative bank employees.
"Employees are tasked with offering competitive products to our customers, so it is crucial to understand their needs as well to allow us to offer the best tools to support their work. Thanks to my background in banking, I'm familiar with the issues that matter to both customers and bank employees, which helps me in my current duties," Hannu adds.
Besides customer insight, a Business Developer must be capable of prioritising and solving problems even in challenging situations, while never forgetting the customer's best interests.
"The insurance business is influenced by many factors such as constantly evolving regulations. In this line of work, you need to be prepared for such changes and be able to accommodate them to customers' expectations," Hannu emphasizes.
Brand new digital purchase channel as a career highlight at OP
When Hannu began in his new position, he was immediately given responsibility for the implementation of a digital purchase channel for unit-linked insurance. The goal was to create a user-friendly, easy-to-understand and straightforward channel where customers could buy unit-linked insurance online.
Just over a year after Hannu joined OP as a Business Developer, the multistage project was brought to completion, and a finished product was released. Although development continued after the initial launch, Hannu says that he is satisfied with the result.
"The service has been praised for both its user-friendliness and clarity, which is of course rewarding. We've also received plenty of suggestions on how to further refine the service," Hannu says.
The development of a digital purchase channel was the first of its kind in unit-linked insurance, but the positive reception has convinced Hannu that the project will not be the last.
"We will begin working on the next development project based on what has the greatest demand and makes sense from a business perspective," he says.
One big family
In addition to Hannu, the investment insurance team consists of about 20 people working in sales promotion, marketing and IT development roles. Specialists in regulatory compliance, risk management and investment management also help ensure the quality of products and services. Hannu says that he is sometimes even surprised by the depth of expertise found within the company.
"Working at the interface between business and development means that I get to be closely acquainted with experts from different fields quickly," he explains. "For example, in developing the digital purchase channel, service designers, legal counsels and risk management experts were an integral part of the project. I greatly value the professionalism and expertise of both my own team and other stakeholder groups."
According to Hannu, the appeal of OP Life Assurance as a place to work is in the diversity of ages and backgrounds of its employees, as well as the unique work atmosphere and culture. Co-workers play a key role in creating a positive and encouraging atmosphere in which diversity and different perspectives come together in efficient cooperation.
"The company combines long-standing expertise and fresh ideas, which makes for a dynamic and development-oriented working environment. There's also a warm atmosphere at OP Life Assurance – here, we're all one big family," Hannu concludes.
