OP Financial Group is updating their customer relationship management system and developing a CRM platform that encompasses the entire group. Marjaana Mönkkönen has an important part to play in the transition, as she is leading the update in OP Corporate Bank. Taking the update forward are the organisation’s culture of experimentation, the leading technology in the area as well as the great cooperation between teams.   

Marjaana has a background in both the humanities and business studies. She took her first professional steps in customer relationship management while working with sales development in the wind power sector and was immediately excited about the topic. She has later advanced her career in the financial sector, first as a consultant and then as an internal expert. “CRM work allows us to get close to core business operations and influence how we create value for the customer while also creating value for the entire company,” describes Marjaana.   

In her current role, Marjaana is in charge of advancing the CRM project for OP Financial Group’s Corporate Bank. The Corporate Bank’s business goals are a major part of her work. “At best, functional CRM work creates lays the foundation for business. It is used to develop a strong basis for work, thanks to which experts working with the customer API can focus on what’s important, i.e. customer contacts,” says Marjaana.  

The role of a functional customer relationship management system is also significant from the customer’s viewpoint, as an efficient CRM system allows us to respond to customer needs in the best possible manner. “When our systems work as intended, we can provide the best and smoothest service experience even in situations, where the customer’s service path includes multiple steps,” says Marjaana.    

Strong together  

Marjaana’s work as Business Lead, CRM Corporate involves identifying the overall picture over the long term. “The goal is to design work so that we can continuously develop our customer relationship management capacity and system support,” she summarises.  When operations have a positive impact on business, people can be satisfied with their work. “It is always gratifying when a goal with the system is achieved thanks to our development work,” says Marjaana.  

She considers the moments when the team comes together to become more than the sum of its parts to be particularly significant. “At best, there is an incredible strength in the group. It is great to follow the growth stories of entire teams and how swiftly operations develop when they are offered the proper framework,” describes Marjaana.  

And what kind of expertise does a Business Lead need in their work? Marjaana’s role emphasises business understanding above all else, even though CRM-related substance and content knowledge is also important. “It is good to know technical viewpoints, but technical expertise is not required –for that, we have leading tech experts in our teams,” Marjaana says with gratitude. Good leadership and communication skills are also important to ensure that matters can be resolved in the best possible way.

  Seamless user experience as the goal 
  
The customer relationship management system update currently ongoing in OP Financial Group will bring many interesting tasks to Marjaana’s work desk. A big part of her work time is spent in assessing how the CRM update is implemented on the Corporate Banking side and how the personnel can be involved. In the transition, the vision and focus are pointed strongly towards the future.   

“We are utilising leading technology in the field and can apply it efficiently,” says Marjaana. “We are not simply making a technological update, but will also be able to redesign operating models and the entire business,” she says.  

Unifying the user experience is also an important part of the update. “The update will open many new opportunities with which we can improve our ability to seamlessly operate as one OP,” describes Marjaana. “All of this is being implemented by an excellent and dedicated group. That and the strong commitment and support of management make my work particularly meaningful.”  

An agile culture encourages to try new things  

OP Financial Group offers various opportunities to develop one’s own expertise. According to Marjaana, an agile culture of experimentation is also strongly present in the teams. “Testing out new things is encouraged at a low threshold, and we genuinely want to be pioneers in the field,” describes Marjaana. In addition to time, the employer offers various resources for maintaining competence. “OP offers a wide range of in-house training and access to different articles, with which employees can follow topical discussions about their field and stay up to date,” she says.  

Marjaana describes OP Financial Group as an employer that allows employees to genuinely affect people’s everyday life in an interesting working environment. The financial services group is one of the largest employers in Finland and its customer relationship management plays an important role in what kind of banking and insurance services are offered to millions of people in Finland. “The group wants to genuinely invest in innovation, personnel wellbeing and expertise. Here, a CRM worker can genuinely develop, grow and take on a role,” summarises Marjaana.