A CASE STUDY ON

Diary of an Insurance Seller

SUBMITTED TO:
SGPIMS,DHARMAJ Year: 2010-2011

AFFILIATED TO: Gujarat Technological University,Ahmedabad

FACULTY GUIDE: Prof. Priyanka Patel

SUBMITTED BY: Keval Patel (107330592060) Jaydip Rathod(107330592036) Ketul Kachaya (107330592049)

Case:-Diary of an Insurance Seller

Hi all, my name is Shankar Shambhu and I work for a company called Birla Sun Life Insurance co. Ltd. (BSLI). This company is under the umbrella of Aditya Birla Group headed by Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla, who is a pioneer in bringing new technology, processes, and products to the Indian market and command high level of respect among the business community in India. When the government of India opened up the insurance sector in 2001 for the private players, Birla group tied up with Sun Life Financial Corporation of Canada. Sun Life is a more than 130 years old company, and was in India before independent among the hundreds of private insurance companies. Birla Sun Life Insurance is one of the big players in India, such as LIC, ICICI Prudential, TATA-AIG, and ING-VYSYA. Even after privatization of the insurance sector, Life Insurance Corporation continues to be the largest players due to a guaranteed seal given by the Finance Ministry, which can be repealed only by a parliament act. My company Birla Sun Life Insurance is the third largest player after LIC and ICICI Prudential. Products that I sell All the products that I sell in the market are unit linked products. The policyholders can see for themselves how their money performs on a day-to-day basis. The different products offered are Flexi Life Line (Life Insured up to hundred years of age), Flexi Cash Flow (a money back policy), Flexi Save Plush (a simple saving option), Classic Life (a latest fixed deposit like a life insurance policy) and term policies. Terms policies are unique in the Indian market, in which if the policyholder survives, all the premiums paid by him/ her are given back.

Riders are also available for the customers to choose. Riders are value added benefits with an additional amount of small premium. These riders are given for accidental death, dismemberment of the body parts, and 27 different diseases one or more of which the policyholder might suffer from. All The products have a prefix called Flexi, because the products are flexible according to the customers need. There is no loan facility available with the BSLI policies, but customers can withdraw an amount within a limit, which they need not pay back, nor do they have to pay any interest. The amount withdrawn is liable to be deducted on maturity or death of the policyholder. A customer can modify the lifeline policy as his or her pension policy. The following is a description of how I sell. Prospecting I start prospecting with people known to me and then I take a link from them and build my market. Each person is required to provide a minimum five names of the person who can be approached for policies. The agents, known as insurance advisors at BSLI, do prospecting. Some advisor goes to school, colleges, and offices and directly talks to the prospecting. In BSLI advisor are asked to interview the prospects by describing the benefit of insurance cover and are asked for the policy. If the prospect do not understand the importance of a life insurance policy, they may not pay premium subsequently, which may be a loss of business for the company. So it is important to advise the prospect about the benefit of insurance for him and his family. Only the head of the family or the earning member who is responsible for the economic security of the family is approached for the insurance. Customer Contact The prospects are approached by phone, personal visits, or through recommendation of others over a direct mailer followed by personal visits. The benefits of the husband insuring the wife and children being insured by the father are explained to the prospect in detail. Sometimes wife and children become the life insured and the husband/ father

becomes the owner of the policy. Once the prospect shows interest in the benefits, personal details like name and date of the birth are collected. Presentation Insurance is an intangible product. So the benefit of the product is explained in detail. With the prospects name and birth, an illustration is generated with the policy details like names of the person insured and the owner, their dates of birth, name of policy, number of years of the policy (called benefit period), premium paying period, riders amount, its premium, no. of years of the riders, and table showing the benefit in amount if the policy matures or otherwise. The surrender value and amount is shown. This illustration is detailed to the prospects and if the prospects agree for the same and are satisfied, a signature of the policy owner is taken on the illustration, the application is filled in, and the first premium is collected. After collection of the first premium and the application, the sale is considered closed. Demonstration Since insurance is an intangible product, it cannot be demonstrated. However, the benefit of the policy, the maturity value and it use, and the withdrawal provisions are explained. Once the policy document is received, it is the duty of the advisor to visit the customer to explain the silent features of the policy document and request to give names of five acquaintances for further prospecting. If unfortunately the policyholder dies, it is the duty of the advisor to probe the death without getting noticed by the nominees, and if it is genuine, to speed up the process of getting the death claim for the nominee. Handling Objections Customers pose various kinds of objections including the facilities provide by competing products, The objection are mostly in terms of premium account, grace period, where to pay, how to pay, time taken by the insurer in settling the death and maturity claim. The

most important objection that I have to handle is about trusting the company, as it is a private player, and doubts as to how the money is secured in the country. I handle these objections by describing the success and commitment level of Birla group, the business scope of Sun life across the globe, the legal provisions made by the Minister of Finance, and the control of the independent insurance regulator body. Company-published literature and public relation material come handy here in convincing the customer about the security of his investments. Such objections are usually handled during the detailing of the illustration itself. Closing The sale is closed as soon as the first premium is collected. Again the benefits are once again explained and the security aspect is also guaranteed. The customer is profusely thanked and congratulated for taking the policy with BSLI. Exit and Follow-up It is the duty of advisor to follow-up for the renewal premium. Unless the advisor calls up policyholder to remind about the renewal, the owner may not remember it, even thought the insurer sends a customary notice. The advisor has to remember the date of birth of the other family members, so that he can congratulate the person who may take another policy at a large stage. These are some of the benefits of following up the customer. A good impression with customer always helps in getting a recommendation for the further sale and creating goodwill for the company. I am sure every insurance seller must be doing business in this way. I wonder if I can do a better prospecting by some new methods so that I will be able to generate more business. Someone recommended me to take the yellow pages and make cold calls. But I am not sure whether cold calling for insurance will work. Similarly, I have to pitch in always and talk about what will happen to the family when the prospect dies due to some mishap. I am not comfortable with this idea I sometimes fell that I am selling death threats to people.

Summary of the case

 Introduction: Insurance seller:- Mr. Shankar Sambhu  Insurance company: - Birla Sun Life Insurance Co.( This company is under the
umbrella of Aditya Birla Group headed by Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla.)

 In 2001, Birla group tied up with Sun Life Financial Corporation of Canada. Sun
Life is a more than 130 years old company & one of the big players in India.

 My company Birla Sun Life Insurance is the third largest player after LIC and
ICICI Prudential.

 Products sell by Mr. Shankar Sambhu: Product Market:- unit linked products.  Products:1) Flexi Life Line (Life Insured up to hundred years of age) 2) Flexi Cash Flow (a money back policy), 3) Flexi Save Plush (a simple saving option), 4) Classic Life (a latest fixed deposit like a life insurance policy) 5) Term policies (unique in the Indian market, in which if the policyholder survives, all the premiums paid by him/ her are given back.)

 How products were sell: Prospecting:- I start prospecting with people known to me and then I take a link
from them and build my market.

 Customer Contact:- The prospects are approached by phone, personal visits, or

through recommendation of others over a direct mailer followed by personal visits.

 Presentation:- Insurance is an intangible product. So the benefit of the product is

explained in detail. With the prospects name and birth, an illustration is generated with the policy details

 Demonstration:- Since insurance is an intangible product, it cannot be

demonstrated. However, the benefit of the policy, the maturity value and it use, and the withdrawal provisions are explained.

 Handling Objections:- Customers pose various kinds of objections including the

facilities provide by competing products, The objection are mostly in terms of premium account, grace period, where to pay, how to pay, time taken by the insurer in settling the death and maturity claim.

 Closing :- The sale is closed as soon as the first premium is collected.  Exit and Follow-up:- It is the duty of advisor to follow-up for the renewal
premium. Unless the advisor calls up policyholder to remind about the renewal, the owner may not remember it, even thought the insurer sends a customary notice.

Question & Answer

 Question:How can I positively pitch in for insurance products without talking about mishaps, death, and suffering? Many a time it looks like I am doing a bad job from social status point of view, but I know this is a rewarding career. How can I improve upon my social standing? I am also a bit hesitant to make cold calls as I assume that it may lower my self-esteem because of the likelihood of the high level of rejection. I dont know these are my dilemmas may be you will solve them and write a note for me....

 Answer:-

 Difinition:Insurance  For positively pitch in insurance products , do the following:

 First of all to know that who is your customer.  Avoid using cold calls.  Adopt the new and different customer contact process.  To explain all the benefits and features at the time of selling the insurance
policy to the customer.

 To aware the customers about companys strengths and the different policies
and schemes according to their preferences and need

 To give examples of those customers who get benefits from companys

policies.

 Mr. Shankar Shambhu was think that this is a bad job from social point of view,
but it is a good job because by doing this job people get benefits of their investment and make their life secures against risk and uncertainty. So, this is a very rewarding job from the social point of view as his work for society.

 As Mr. Shankar Shambhu is bit hesitant to make cold calls due to the likelihood of
the rejection, first of all he had known about the customers and calls them about the insurance policy.

 Conclusion:As a insurance seller, Mr. Shankar Shambhu is doing job which is not bad but it is rewarding career. So for positively pitch in for insurance products, he should adopt the above points and avoid cold calls and negative use of words for selling the insurance to the customers.