When Turid Grotmoll joined SpareBank 1 as its director for residential market and non-life-insurance business in 2004, 409 people were working for the company. “Of those people, 408 of them were insurance people, and then there was me.”
Industry outsider
As Turid explains, her route to the finance industry was far from typical. Educated as a teacher in mathematics and media and as an engineer in electronics, sound and video, she also has a Masters of Management in marketing and business process reengineering and scenario management. “I worked in Norwegian broadcast television for 11 years as an engineer, editing programs, producing sports and news, and after that I worked at Telenor, Norway’s incumbent telecommunications business, for 17 years,” she says.
During that time, the organisation evolved from monopoly status to a global mobile player, and Turid ultimately held the role of CEO at Telenor Private, with responsibility for residential markets. “After being part of the attempt at merging Telenor and Sweden’s Telia, I was ready for new challenges. That was when I joined SpareBank 1.”
“I find the SpareBank 1 owners and partners meet the future in a very open-minded way, and I like that.” – Turid Grotmoll
A role to relish
She may have been an industry outsider when she joined SpareBank 1, but it’s a position that she has made work for her. “I started working with the distribution, sales, pricing, product development, procurement, CRM and data processing, working through everything to transform it from a product-focused to a customer-centric company,” she says.
In 2012, Turid took up the role of chief executive of the non-life-insurance business, and later that year, chief executive of the merged life and non-life-insurance business. Then in 2015, she was appointed to her current position as CEO for SpareBank 1 Group.
It’s a role she relishes. “I find the SpareBank 1 owners and partners meet the future in a very open-minded way, and I like that. They are curious and always looking to the future; they travel all over the world to see what’s next.”
Born out of crisis
SpareBank 1 was established after Norway faced a financial crisis from the late 80s to the early 90s and many savings banks were near bankruptcy. “This led to quite serious discussions between many savings banks on how to stay strong and independent while retaining their regional focus. And also how to compete with the bigger banks while markets were changing very rapidly,” says Turid. “Through those discussions, they built trust and a common understanding and a willingness to give a little independence to gain a lot of cooperation.” Thus, the SpareBank 1 Alliance, founded by four independent savings banks, was established on 11 November, 1996.
There have been some changes over the years. The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) joined the SpareBank 1 Alliance in 1999–2000, and Sparebanken Hedmark joined in 2006, while Sparebanken Vest left the alliance in 2003–2004. “There have been some changes, but the alliance has had a long life,” says Turid. It now consists of 16 banks with 300 offices across the country. They distribute SpareBank 1 Group’s products and join forces in areas such as brands, work processes, and IT and systems development.
“We are all involved in each of the processes for understanding the customers’ and members’ needs; establishing marketing and distribution according to the banks’ goals and the union’s goals; and developing products that are competitive in the marketplace,” explains Turid.
Ticking all the boxes
It’s a process of close cooperation that also drives the way they approach their relationships with suppliers. “We are always looking for long-term, close partnerships with suppliers because that suits us: the long-term development of partnerships.”
“We were the very first in the world to consider people’s health when they were buying insurance.”
For Turid, the company’s approach ticks a lot of boxes. “I like being part of a corporation that aims to stand by ordinary people and their businesses in their local environment. That’s what I came from in the broadcasting and telecommunications industries. I was working with mass markets, the ordinary people and the ordinary businesses in the regions.”
There’s also the appeal of bringing her experiences at the forefront of technology developments in the telecommunications industry into the banking and finance sector. “I came from Norway’s major telecom provider, and I learned things there that I wanted to take into another business,” she says.
It also fires her instincts as a businesswoman. “I like competing; I like making money; I like the sales and the development.” Part of that involves helping SpareBank 1 to realise the potential of its close relationships with its customers, or in the case of the union, its members.
Opportunities for growth
Looking forward, one area where she sees those close relationships could work in the alliance’s favour is in selling insurance. “I find there is a trend for simplicity where people like to buy from a supplier they trust.” When data and analytics are added to that mix, there’s an opportunity to be “even better prepared to deliver on our customers’ needs and wishes,” she says. “I believe we have the opportunity to grow. The other banks in Norway that have started an insurance business alongside their banking business are also growing.”
This is just one of the opportunities for cross-selling products she has pinpointed. In the next three to five years, the company is also aiming to take new positions in the digital space. “This summer, we took insurance to the marketplace to support customers renting their apartments through Airbnb,” says Turid. “I think we will find that this platform can be used for other purposes in the future.”
At the forefront of banking
While she admits the alliance has not really been at the forefront of innovation in the insurance area, it has led the way in quite a few areas on the banking front. “I believe we were the first in Norway with digital net banking and mobile banking. We have been early adopters and massive on social media, developing apps for different purposes.
However, the company has found it doesn’t always pay to be first to market. “In the non-life-insurance business, I think we were almost too early when we offered a digital service solution in 2002–2003. We were lagging behind because we had a bad solution,” Turid explains.
“In life insurance, we came out with the first one in 2012–2013 and have almost been alone with digital solutions for buying life products.”
Its latest innovation? mCASH, a mobile app that uses phone numbers to allow a smartphone user to transfer money from one bank account to another in real time. “We introduced mCASH in 2016 to compete with Vipps from [Norwegian bank] DNB.” SpareBank 1 also sees potential to put pension saving online. “We are at the forefront of many developments,” she says.
The thing that keeps her motivated and moving forward? The feeling of achieving success together, she says. “I have always been a team player and I think that feeling is what I enjoy the most.”