Episode 121 / Manulife / Sushmita Munshi / Head of Digital Products and Partnerships / Behavioural Insurance
How Behavioural Insurance Can Teach Marketers About Listening to the Customer
This week’s guest on the Shiny New Object podcast is Sushmita Munshi, Head of Digital Products and Partnerships at Manulife, interviewed by Automated Creative Founder, Tom Ollerton.
In her role as Head of ManulifeMOVE, a behavioural insurance product that keeps customers active as part of their life insurance policy, Sushmita Munshi is always learning from testing and listening to the customer. Her Shiny New Object is behavioural insurance itself, a new way to engage with customers and understand their motivations and how to leverage them for better life habits.
Having graduated from design school and worked for many years in agency roles, Sushmita calls herself a designer by craft as well as a change agent in the corporate world. She’s expanded her knowledge and skill sets continuously by taking on “side gig stretch roles” and she considers that time spent getting to know people and develop relationships has been one of her best investments.
It’s through time spent asking questions and taking on side gigs that Sushmita became involved with Manulife’s then-new project on behavioural insurance in 2015. Being new in the company, this offered her the perfect excuse to get to know the organisation, speaking to everyone and asking “stupid questions.” This is why her advice to new starters is to always put yourself “out there,” ensuring that those around you know you are open to new opportunities. Her other big advice for new marketers is to develop grit and deducibility skills. “There’s a high chance you’ll trip before you run,” which is why persevering is important. At the same time, Sushmita thinks that all marketers need to develop the ability to frame the question before they look for answers.
Going on to her Shiny New Object, Sushmita explained to us that behavioural insurance helps customers to build healthier and better lives by rewarding them for making healthier choices. ManulifeMOVE does just that, using insights from customers to not just change their habits, but also sustain the new choice they’ve made.
This is a triple win, as not only do customers get healthier and lead better lives, but insurers pay out less on medical fees, while there is less spent on health care at the community and society level.
How does this translate into marketing lessons? On the one hand, working in such a sensitive field has taught Sushmita how important it is to really listen to customers and understand them in the context of how they’re using her product. On the other hand, using an app to stimulate better life choices is putting technology forward, but Sushmita has learnt that “technology is too important to be left to technologists.” A good marketer must always work with them, ensuring the voice of the customer is kept at the heart of any developments.
To find out more about Sushmita’s advice to new starters in marketing, her projects around ManulifeMOVE and her insights into marketing in Asia in comparison to Europe, listen to the podcast .
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