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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