Extract :
Insurance
products are different from other products. It is intangible, so sales people
face a lot of difficulties for selling insurance products. Here effective
selling skills are needed to be successful. Today Insurance Industry faces a
big problem of active advisor. Company either terminates the relationship or
the advisor leave voluntarily because of insufficient income. This separation
occurs in life industry after six month (due to licentiate examination and
training process). Company and agent magnify the implication of this separation
in wasted resources in opportunity cost during the engagement period.
Advisor
is front liner, who is only a person who directly contacts with customer.
Advisors do this work as a mediator between customer and company. It means “the
agent is located at the place in the organization at which the company
financial security policy and plan are distributed to customers and also at the
place at which services are directly provided to the customer” (Oakes 1990).
Agent provides such types of service in term of consultancy i.e. to make help
in financial planning strategies.
Insurance
is relationship business. Relationship and emotion is the key of success in
selling. People purchase insurance because they love their family. It is human
tendency that people agree/purchase from such type of person who is
trustworthy. Like and trust is the key in insurance business. Due to this
reason brand and price are insignificant when client make a buying decision.
It
is seem that often people do not know much more about insurance, when they
compare with other products, so here advisor’s role becomes very important due
to following reason: -
- Advisors
have had to choose particular product according to client need so advisor
should know about financial planning.
- Product
knowledge is of prime value for every advisor. It gives them confidence and
trustworthiness before client. Advisor should know product’s merits and
demerits because different client have different needs.
- Insurance
is long-term financial product so advisor should know about customer
relationship management. It helps him time to time fulfill specific need and
query of client.
- People are
less aware and interested towards insurance product, so such types of
responsibility (to increase awareness and popularity amongst people) are
fulfilled by advisor.
- And lastly, all above thing are unnecessary,
if advisors do not sell insurance products. Effective selling skills help him
to fulfill such type of above goal.
This
study provides an understanding of effective selling and explores, how those
skills can be integrated in the organization structure to enable successful
selling. This study began with reviewing relevant literature on effective
selling skill needed for good sales performances. We were very particular that
what we had to take. In this literature we only concentrated on “which type of
problem are faced by sales person and its solution with the help of effective
selling techniques in the field of insurance”. In this process seller side has
been only covered.
The
following procedures were adopted to complete this assignment: -
- To conduct
interview with insurance company executive and sales person to know their view
- To find
where was problem or identify problem/challenges faced by sales team.
- Set
questionnaire according to problem.
- To conduct
interview/survey with the help of questionnaire
- Finding.
- Conclusion
and suggestion
In
this assignment, two type of data were used: a) Primary Data b) Secondary Data.
With the help of interview and questionnaire primary data were collected for
finding actual and realistic problems and their solutions. Secondary data were
collected from books and Internet to go in depth of topic.
2. Literature Review
In
the literature review phase, we understood that which factor affect on sells
performance and advisor’s ability. In this process we understood, how insurance
is different from other products, why sales persons fail to sell insurance. We
also realized during this process that motivation, behavior, characteristics
and training factors affect man power and its ability, how to generate lead and
convert into sales, how sales performance can be increased.
Mostly people think that seller skill
is inherent, but it is not correct. It can be achieved with the help of
training and practices. When a person does more practice and gets mastered in
such skill, it seems easy and natural. Professional salesmanship is a learned
skill. Insurance sales are more complicated to general sales. Advisor cannot
show insurance product, he can only describe benefit with the help of verbal
and non-verbal language. In this process he plays with another emotion and
sentiment. If he wins in this game then he will be successful in selling and
vice-versa.
Insurance is not purchased it is
sold. Here advisor face difficulty. Advisor has had to do a lot of work for
successful selling, such as to whom he is to sell (prospective client), turn
prospective client to customer. Only insurable person can take insurance, so he
has had to do segmentation and targeting type of work also.
With
the help of lead generation advisor can find prospective customer. There are
several methods to lead generation such as cold calling. Cold calling can be a
successful way to lead generation. If it is done with planning: for example how
to cold call, when to cold call, and how much cold call to make everyday in
order to get appointment. Some person thinks that seminar and free diner in
medium restaurant (fish bowling method) is also good way of lead generation. In
such type of seminar, should not use full word of insurance, only use
particular topic such as annuity: how it works, use, advantage, what to help
your client with their annuity need.
Public
relation is also great way to expose in market. Advisor can do it with the help
of trade show or he can make public relation with the help of promotional
activity. The real key of public relationship is to be friendly and focus on
meeting, not selling product.
“Many
of the most difficult sales jobs are easy to obtain (i.e. selling specialty
product such as house hold, hardware, life insurance or encyclopedias). They
have also been graveyard of thousand of co-worker” (Baker 1994). It means after
a minimum qualification and passing IRDA Licentiate examination, any one are
eligible to sale insurance policy. Due to this reason alteration rate is very
high in insurance industry. But now insurance companies are concentrating on
other distribution channel such as, bancassurance, Internet, NGO’s, micro
insurance. Now insurance company are concentrating on training program and they
recruit eligible candidate for executive trainee or other post (i.e. PGPMI).
Selling
skill can be developed such type of skill with the help of practice, practical
training and experience.
Behavior
style and interpersonal effectiveness is also important in selling. People fit
into four categories. Insurance products can be sold to them in different ways.
Interpersonal effectiveness helps to understand in what way an individual’s
mind works and his level of interest in a particular product /policy which may
act as guideline for the best way to
approach sell for each category developed in two ways: formal training and sales
experience gained through exercising the selling job over time. In formal
training people know about product and services, which help him to explain,
“what he has for other”. Secondly formal training is base of advisor carriers.
In formal training people know, which type of skill is required for effective
selling and they approach each category in effective way.
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