Product Manager at Prudential Financial

Introduction:Prudential Financial, historically a B2B entity, recognized the shifting landscape of financial institutions desiring direct customer interactions. Their goal? Evolve from a traditional B2B framework to a direct-to-consumer digital powerhouse.

Initial Challenges:

Organizational Shift: Prudential's new department aimed to function as an internal startup, tasked with establishing a robust digital presence and infrastructure for direct consumer interactions.

Strategic Implementation: While the strategy was somewhat defined, fully translating it into actionable steps presented its own set of challenges.

Assumptions & Decisions: Unidentified implicit assumptions risked strategy derailment. Moreover, pivotal business decisions required a deeper customer understanding.

Integration & Data Management: It was key to integrate the digital offering into the larger ecosystem and to both establish and use the right data metrics for ongoing product enhancement.

Customer Experience: Striking a balance between clients eager to take specific actions, like opening accounts, and those seeking guided digital planning was essential.

My Approach:

Customer & Market Analysis: By defining the target customer and delving into industry research, I gathered crucial insights into market needs and customer behavior.

Data-Driven Strategy: Utilizing both qualitative and quantitative data, I identified key themes to shape the product's direction.

Stakeholder Collaboration: Merged stakeholder perspectives with customer goals, ensuring alignment across the board.

Customer Journey Mapping: Detailed the customer's interaction path - from initial contact to in-depth product engagement.

Agile Implementation: Led strategic pivots, collaborated with compliance teams, and supervised an Agile Scrum team, ensuring timely product delivery and regulatory adherence.

Outcomes:

LINK: Though no longer active, LINK was a testament to Prudential's commitment to direct consumer engagement, a milestone in their digital transformation journey.

Strategic Pivots: Enabled timely adjustments in the development cycle, ensuring project timelines remained unaffected.

Regulatory Compliance: Worked closely with legal, compliance, and risk teams, ensuring the digital experience adhered to Regulation Best Interest, preventing potential multi-million dollar fines.

Performance Metrics: Achieved a 31% increase in account openings and improved lead generation by 15%. Additionally, customer conversion rates surged by 23%.

Team Leadership: Supervised a dedicated team, driving the creation and deployment of Prudential's pioneering digital planning and financial wellness experience.

Enhanced Communication: Devised a streamlined communication map, ensuring customers received timely notifications at crucial service touchpoints.

Conclusion:Through a customer-centric approach and collaboration with key stakeholders, I aided Prudential Financial in bridging the gap between their B2B legacy and a direct-to-consumer digital future. The journey showcased the power of strategic pivots, data insights, and understanding the intricate dance between stakeholder goals and customer needs.