A

CASE STUDY
ON

“Diary of an Insurance Seller”

SUBMITTED TO:
SGPIMS,DHARMAJ

Year: 2010-2011

AFFILIATED TO:
Gujarat Technological University,Ahmedabad

FACULTY GUIDE: SUBMITTED BY:

Prof. Priyanka Patel 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repealed only by a parliament act.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 customer’s 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 don’t 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 company’s strengths and the different policies
and schemes according to their preferences and need
 To give examples of those customers who get benefits from company’s
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.