DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this work entitled “Recruitment of

Advisors in Indian Life Insurance Industry” is my
work carried out under the guidance of my faculty guide
Ms. Sanchita. This report neither full nor in past has ever
been submitted for award of any other degree of either
this University or any other University.

Deepak Sharma
(0541211707)
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In preparation of this report by me, I feel great

pleasure because it gives me extensive practical
knowledge in my career. I get idea about recruitment of
advisors in Indian Life Insurance Industry by this project.

I am thankful to Ms. Sanchita (Faculty Guide) for

valuable inspiration and guidance provided me
throughout the course of this project. She have patient
and critically gone the subject matter.

I would like to take opportunity to express my

gratitude towards all of them who have contributed
directly or indirectly in my project work.

Deepak Sharma
 INDEX
PARTICULARS Page
No.
CERTIFICATE FROM THE INTERNAL GUIDE I
DECLERATION II
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT III
LIST OF TABLES & GRAPHS V

CHAPTER-1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Executive Summary 2
1.2 Objective Of The Project 3

CHAPTER- 2
OVERVIEW OF INSURANCE
2.1 What Is Insurance? 5
2.2 Basic Concept 6
2.3 Fundamental Principles Of Insurance 6
2.4 History Of Insurance 8
2.5 List Of Life Insurer 17
2.6 Types Of Insurance 19
2.7 What Are The Benefits One Get From 20
Insurance 20
2.8 Distribution Channels In Insurance

CHAPTER -3
INSURANCE AGENT RECRUITMENT 24
3.1 Meaning of Insurance Agent recruitment 25
3.2 Need For Insurance Agent 26
3.3 Functions Of The Insurance Agent 27
3.4 Support And Benefits 29
 3.5 Learning From Executive Training 30
3.6 Insurance Agent’s Profile Involves Knowing 30
3.7 Criteria For Selection Of Insurance Agent 31
3.8 Code Of Conduct For Insurance Agents

CHAPTER -4
THUMB RULE FOR RECRUITMENT 36
4.1 Recruitment 36
4.2 Why Recruitment? 39
4.3 Whom To Recruit? 42
4.4 Where To Recruit? 44
4.5 How To Recruit?

CHAPTER -5 48
5.1 Research Methodology 48
5.2 Marketing Research Process 50
5.3 Data interpretation & Graph Analysis

CHAPTER -6 66
6.1 Findings 70
6.1 Suggestions & Recommendations

CHAPTER -7 73
7.1 Conclusion

CHAPTER -8 75
8.1 References
 LIST OF TABLES
S.No. Particulars Page
1 [Table 5i] :- Happy with current job, No.
need for supplementary income and 50
preference for supplementary income.

2 [Table 5ii (a)] :- Happy with current job/

Financial situation, Basis:- occupation 53

3 [Table 5ii (b)] :- Need for supplementary

source of Income, Basis:- occupation 55

4 [Table 5ii (c)] :- Preference for

supplementary 57
source of income, Basis:- occupation
5
[Table 5iii (a)] :- Happy with current job/ 59
Financial situation, Basis:- Age Group
6
[Table 5iii (b)] :- Need for 60
supplementary
7 source of Income, Basis:- Age Group
61
[Table 5iii (c)] :- Preference for
8 supplementary
source of income, Basis:- Age Group 62

9 [Table 5 iv (a)] :- Happy with current

job/ 62
Financial situation, Geographic basis
10
 [Table 5iv (b)] :- Need for 62
supplementary
source of Income, Geographic basis

[Table 5iv (c)] :- Preference for

supplementary
source of income, Geographic basis
LIST OF PIE-CHARTS & GRAPHS
S.No. Particulars Page
1 [Fig. – 5a] :-Pie chart showing people No.
happy with current job/Financial 50
situation
2
[Fig. – 5b] :- Pie chart showing need for 51
supplementary source of Income
3
[Fig. – 5c] :- Pie chart showing 52
preference for supplementary source of
4 income
54
[Fig. – 5d] :- Graph showing people
5 happy with current job/Financial
situation, Basis:- occupation 56

[Fig. – 5e] :- Graph showing need for

6 supplementary source of Income, Basis:-
occupation 58

[Fig. – 5f] :- Graph showing preference

7 for supplementary source of income,
Basis:- occupation 59

8 [Fig. – 5g] :- Graph showing people

 happy with current job/Financial 60
situation, Basis:- Age Group

9 [Fig. – 5h] :- Graph showing need for

supplementary source of Income, Basis:- 61
Age Group
10
[Fig. – 5i] :- Graph showing preference 63
for supplementary source of income,
11 Basis:- Age Group
[Fig. – 5j] :- Graph showing people 63
happy with current job/Financial
situation, Geographic basis
12
[Fig. – 5k] :- Graph showing need for 63
supplementary source of Income,
Geographic basis

[Fig. – 5 l] :- Graph showing preference

for supplementary source of income,
Geographic basis
 Chapter 1:
Introduction

 Executive Summary

 Objectives
 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Executive Summary

In today’s competitive market, for life insurance sector,
recruiting good agents has often been considered the
number one job & problem in agency management. It is
certainly a task that new companies in the Indian life
insurance market have put much stress on. The reason is
that life insurance remains a product, not many are easily
disposed to buy and not many want to sell either. The
survival of agency manager depends on his convincing
enough qualified and competent people to choose life
insurance selling as a permanent career. Recruitment
involves selecting the right candidate for the agent’s job
and selling the agency idea to him.

Recruitment continuously is very much important for life

insurance companies; because FYP (First Year Premium)
is directly depend on the number of Agents/Advisors,
Activity Ratio, Case Rate & Case Size. Apart from
recruiting more & more advisors it is necessary to recruit
quality advisors to maintain activity ratio, case rate and
case size.

Further, it is very important to know the target segment

for recruitment, in this project work, I have segmented
the whole market mainly on the basis of demographic
(occupation, & age), and geographic (urban & sub-urban
areas) segmentation, to identify the potential segment for
recruitment.

1.2 Objective of the project

 To identify the segment of people for Insurance

Agents recruitment.

 Find out the different ways to find the prospects for

Insurance Agents recruitment.

 To find the reason behind individual decisions in

joining life insurance company as an agent or
advisor.

 To find probable individual for recruitment for the

organization.

 To know difficulties in recruitment.

 To know the process of good recruitment.

 Chapter 2:
Overview Of Insurance

 What Is Insurance?

 Basic Concepts

 Fundamental Principles of Insurance

 History of Indian Insurance Industry

 List of Life Insurers

 Types of insurance
  What are the benefits one get from insurance

 Distribution Channels in Insurance

OVERVIEW OF INSURANCE

2.1 What Is Insurance?

Insurance is a contract between two parties whereby

one party agrees to undertake the risk of another in
exchange for a consideration known as premium.

Insurance is an economic device whereby the

individual can substitute a small relatively definite cost
(premium) for a large financial loss (the contingency
insured against) that would have to be borne if
insurance was not available.

The party which undertakes the risk is called insurer

and the other one, whose risk is transferred is known
as the insured.

 The insurer promises to pay a fixed sum of money to

the insured on the happening of an uncertain event
 (death) or after the expiry of a certain period in case of
life insurance.

 The insurer agrees to indemnify the insured on the

happening of an uncertain event in case of non-life
(general) insurance.

2.2 Basic Concepts

 The concept behind insurance is that a group of

people exposed to similar risk come together and
make contributions towards formation of a pool of
funds.

 In case a person actually suffers a loss on account of

such risk, he is compensated out of the same pool.

 Insurance has two fundamental characteristics:

• Risk is transferred or shifted from one
individual to a group.
• Losses are shared, on some equitable basis, by
all members of the group.
2.3 Fundamental Principles of Insurance

 Insurable Interest:
• Insurable Interest is defined asthe legal right to
insure arising out of a financial relationship
recognized under law, between the insured
and the subject matter of insurance.
• The Principle of Insurable Interest states that
the insured must be in position to lose
financially if a loss occurs.
 Utmost Good Faith:
• A positive duty voluntarily to disclose,
accurately and fully, all facts material to the
risk being proposed, whether requested or not.
• Higher degree of honesty is imposed on
both parties to an insurance contract than any
other contract, because- Insurance product is
intangible one.

 Principle of Indemnity:
• It states that the insurer agrees to pay no
more than the actual amount of loss.
• In other words, the insured should not make
profit from a loss.
• The principle applies to non-life (property
and liability) insurance contracts only.
 Principle of Subrogation:
• It is the right of one person, having
indemnified another under a legal obligation to
do so, to stand in the place of that other and
avail himself of all the rights and remedies of
that other.
• In other words, it is the substitution of the
insurer in place of the insured for the purpose
of claiming indemnity from a third person for a
loss covered by insurance.
• It avoids a situation where an insured might
profit from an insured event.

2.4 History of Indian Insurance Industry:

The business of life insurance in India in its existing form

started in India in the year 1818 with the establishment
of the Oriental Life Insurance Company in Calcutta.

The story of insurance is probably as old as the story of

mankind. The same instinct that prompts modern
businessmen today to secure themselves against loss
and disaster existed in primitive men also. They too
sought to avert the evil consequences of fire and flood
and loss of life and were willing to make some sort of
sacrifice in order to achieve security. Though the concept
of insurance is largely a development of the recent past,
particularly after the industrial era – past few centuries –
yet its beginnings date back almost 6000 years.

Life Insurance in its modern form came to India from

England in the year 1818. Oriental Life Insurance
Company started by Europeans in Calcutta was the first
life insurance company on Indian Soil. All the insurance
companies established during that period were brought
up with the purpose of looking after the needs of
European community and these companies were not
insuring Indian natives. However, later with the efforts of
eminent people like BabuMuttylal Seal, the foreign life
insurance companies started insuring Indian lives. But
Indian lives were being treated as sub-standard lives and
heavy extra premiums were being charged on them.
Bombay Mutual Life Assurance Society heralded the birth
of first Indian life insurance company in the year 1870,
and covered Indian lives at normal rates. Starting as
Indian enterprise with highly patriotic motives, insurance
companies came into existence to carry the message of
insurance and social security through insurance to
various sectors of society. Bharat Insurance Company
(1896) was also one of such companies inspired by
nationalism. The Swadeshi movement of 1905-1907 gave
rise to more insurance companies. The United India in
Madras, National Indian and National Insurance in
Calcutta and the Co-operative Assurance at Lahore were
established in 1906. In 1907, Hindustan Co-operative
Insurance Company took its birth in one of the rooms of
the Jorasanko, house of the great poet Rabindranath
Tagore, in Calcutta. The Indian Mercantile, General
Assurance and Swadeshi Life (later Bombay Life) were
some of the companies established during the same
period. Prior to 1912 India had no legislation to regulate
insurance business. In the year 1912, the Life Insurance
Companies Act, and the Provident Fund Act were passed.
The Life Insurance Companies Act 1912 made it
necessary that the premium rate tables and periodical
valuations of companies should be certified by an
actuary. But the Act discriminated between foreign and
Indian companies on many accounts, putting the Indian
companies at a disadvantage.

The first two decades of the twentieth century saw lot of

growth in insurance business. From 44 companies with
total business-in-force as Rs.22.44 crore, it rose to 176
companies with total business-in-force as Rs.298 crore in
1938. During the mushrooming of insurance companies
many financially unsound concerns were also floated
which failed miserably. The Insurance Act 1938 was the
first legislation governing not only life insurance but also
non-life insurance to provide strict state control over
insurance business. The demand for nationalization of life
insurance industry was made repeatedly in the past but it
gathered momentum in 1944 when a bill to amend the
Life Insurance Act 1938 was introduced in the Legislative
Assembly. However, it was much later on the 19th of
January 1956 that life insurance in India was nationalized.
About 154 Indian insurance companies, 16 non-Indian
companies and 75 provident were operating in India at
the time of nationalization. Nationalization was
accomplished in two stages; initially the management of
the companies was taken over by means of an Ordinance,
and later, the ownership too by means of a
comprehensive bill. The Parliament of India passed the
Life Insurance Corporation Act on the 19th of June 1956,
and the Life Insurance Corporation of India was created
on 1st September, 1956, with the objective of spreading
life insurance much more widely and in particular to the
rural areas with a view to reach all insurable persons in
the country, providing them adequate financial cover at a
reasonable cost.

LIC had 5 zonal offices, 33 divisional offices and 212

branch offices, apart from its corporate office in the year
1956. Since life insurance contracts are long-term
contracts and during the currency of the policy it requires
a variety of services need was felt in the later years to
expand the operations and place a branch office at each
district headquarter. Re-organization of LIC took place
and large numbers of new branch offices were opened. As
a result of re-organization servicing functions were
transferred to the branches, and branches were made
accounting units. It worked wonders with the
performance of the corporation. It may be seen that from
about 200.00 Crores of New Business in 1957 the
corporation crossed 1000.00 Crores only in the year
1969-70, and it took another 10 years for LIC to cross
2000.00 crore mark of new business. But with re-
organization happening in the early eighties, by 1985-86
LIC had already crossed 7000.00 crore Sum Assured on
new policies.

Today LIC functions with 2048 fully computerized branch

offices, 100 divisional offices, 7 zonal offices and the
corporate office. LIC’s Wide Area Network covers 100
divisional offices and connects all the branches through a
Metro Area Network. LIC has tied up with some Banks and
Service providers to offer on-line premium collection
facility in selected cities. LIC’s ECS and ATM premium
payment facility is an addition to customer convenience.
Apart from on-line Kiosks and IVRS, Info Centers have
been commissioned at Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore,
Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, New Delhi, Pune and many
other cities. With a vision of providing easy access to its
policyholders, LIC has launched its SATELLITE SAMPARK
offices. The satellite offices are smaller, leaner and closer
to the customer. The digitalized records of the satellite
offices will facilitate anywhere servicing and many other
conveniences in the future.

From then to now, LIC has crossed many milestones and

has set unprecedented performance records in various
aspects of life insurance business. The same motives
which inspired our forefathers to bring insurance into
existence in this country inspire us at LIC to take this
message of protection to light the lamps of security in as
many homes as possible and to help the people in
providing security to their families.

 Some of the important milestones in the life insurance

business in India are:

1850Non life insurance debuts with triton insurance

company.

1870Bombay mutual life assurance society is the first

Indian owned life insurer.

1912The Indian Life Assurance Companies Act

enacted as the first statute to regulate the life
insurance business.

1928The Indian Insurance Companies Act enacted to

enable the government to collect statistical
information about both life and non-life insurance
businesses.

1938Earlier legislation consolidated and amended to

by the Insurance Act with the objective of protecting
the interests of the insuring public.
1956245 Indian and foreign insurers and provident
societies taken over by the central government and
nationalized. LIC formed by an Act of Parliament, viz.
LIC Act, 1956, with a capital contribution of Rs. 5 Crore
from the Government of India.
The General insurance business in India, on the other
hand, can trace its roots to the Triton Insurance
Company Ltd., the first general insurance company
established in the year 1850 in Calcutta by the British.
Some of the important milestones in the general
insurance business in India are:

1907 The Indian Mercantile Insurance Ltd. set up, the

first company to transact all classes of general
insurance business.

1957 General Insurance Council, a wing of the

Insurance Association of India, frames a code of
conduct for ensuring fair conduct and sound business
practices.

1968 The Insurance Act amended to regulate

investments and set minimum solvency margins and
the Tariff Advisory Committee set up.

1972The General Insurance Business (Nationalization)

Act, 1972 nationalized the general insurance business
in India with effect from 1st January 1973. 107 insurers
 amalgamated and grouped into four companies’ viz.
the National Insurance Company Ltd., the New India
Assurance Company Ltd., the Oriental Insurance
Company Ltd. and the United India Insurance Company
Ltd. GIC incorporated as a company.

 Insurance sector reforms

In 1993, Malhotra Committee, headed by former Finance

Secretary and RBI Governor R. N. Malhotra, was formed
to evaluate the Indian insurance industry and recommend
its future direction.

The Malhotra committee was set up with the objective of

complementing the reforms initiated in the financial
sector. The reforms were aimed at “creating a more
efficient and competitive financial system suitable for the
requirements of the economy keeping in mind the
structural changes currently underway and recognizing
that insurance is an important part of the overall financial
system where it was necessary to address the need for
similar reforms…” In 1994, the committee submitted the
report and some of the key recommendations included.

1997 Insurance regulator IRDA set up

 2000 IRDA starts giving licenses to private
insurers: Kotak Life Insurance ICICI prudential and
HDFC Standard Life insurance first private insurers to
sell a policy

2001 Royal Sundaram Alliance first non life insurer

to sell a policy

2002 Banks allowed to sell insurance plans.

 The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority

(IRDA)

The Insurance Act, 1938 had provided for setting up of

the Controller of Insurance to act as a strong and
powerful supervisory and regulatory authority for
insurance. Post nationalization, the role of Controller of
Insurance diminished considerably in significance since
the Government owned the insurance companies.

But the scenario changed with the private and foreign

companies foraying in to the insurance sector. This
necessitated the need for a strong, independent and
autonomous Insurance Regulatory Authority was felt. As
the enacting of legislation would have taken time, the
then Government constituted through a Government
resolution an Interim Insurance Regulatory Authority
pending the enactment of a comprehensive legislation.
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority
Act, 1999 is an act to provide for the establishment of an
Authority to protect the interests of holders of insurance
policies, to regulate, promote and ensure orderly growth
of the insurance industry and for matters connected
therewith or incidental thereto and further to amend the
Insurance Act, 1938, the Life Insurance Corporation Act,
1956 and the General insurance Business
(Nationalization) Act, 1972 to end the monopoly of the
Life Insurance Corporation of India (for life insurance
business) and General Insurance Corporation and its
subsidiaries (for general insurance business).
The act extends to the whole of India and will come into
force on such date as the Central Government may, by
notification in the Official Gazette specify. Different dates
may be appointed for different provisions of this Act.

The Act has defined certain terms; some of the most

important ones are as follows:
 Appointed day means the date on which the
Authority is established under the act.
 Authority means the established under this Act.
 Interim Insurance Regulatory Authority means the
Insurance Regulatory Authority set up by the
Central Government through Resolution No. 17(2)/
94-lns-V dated the 23rd January, 1996.
Words and expressions used are not defined in this Act
but defined in the Insurance Act, 1938 or the Life
Insurance Corporation Act, 1956 or the General Insurance
Business (Nationalization) Act, 1972 shall have the
meanings respectively assigned to them in those Acts

A new definition of "Indian Insurance Company" has been

inserted. "Indian insurance company" means any insurer
being a company
(a)which is formed and registered under the
Companies Act,1956
(b) in which the aggregate holdings of equity shares
by a foreign company, either by itself or through
its subsidiary companies or its nominees, do not
exceed twenty-six per cent. Paid up capital in
such Indian insurance company
(c) whose sole purpose is to carry on life insurance
business, general insurance business or re-
insurance business.

2.5 LIST OF LIFE INSURERS:

Apart from Life Insurance Corporation, the public sector

life insurer, there are 20 other private sector life insurers,
most of them joint ventures between Indian groups and
global insurance giants.
SL Insurers Foreign Partners Reg Date of Year of
. n. Registra Operati
NO No. tion on
.
1 HDFC Standard Life Standard Life Assurance, 101 23.10.200 2000-01
Insurance Co. Ltd. UK 0
2 Max New York Life New York Life, USA 104 15.11.200 2000-01
Insurance Co. Ltd. 0
3 ICICI-Prudential Life Prudential , UK 105 24.11.200 2000-01
Insurance Co. Ltd. 0
4 Kotak Life Insurance Old Mutual, South Africa 107 10.01.200 2001-02
Co. Ltd. 1
5 Birla Sun Life Sun Life, Canada 109 31.01.200 2000-01
Insurance Co. Ltd. 1
6 Tata-AIG Life American International 110 12.02.200 2000-01
Insurance Co. Ltd. Assurance Co., USA 1
7 SBI Life BNP Paribas 111 29.03.200 2001-02
Insurance Co. Ltd. Assurance SA, France 1
8 ING Vysya Life ING Insurance 114 02.08.200 2001-02
Insurance Co. Ltd. International 1
B.V., Netherlands
9 Bajaj Allianz Life Allianz, Germany 116 03.08.200 2001-02
Insurance Co. Ltd. 1
10 Metlife India Metlife International 117 06.08.200 2001-02
Insurance Co. Ltd. Holdings Ltd., USA 1
11 AVIVA Aviva International 122 14.05.200 2002-03
Holdings Ltd., UK 2
12 Sahara Life 127 06.02.200 2004-05
Insurance Co. Ltd …………………………… 4
13 Shriram Life Sanlam, South Africa 128 17.11.200 2005-06
Insurance Co. Ltd. 5
14 Bharti AXA Life AXA Holdings, France 130 14.07.200 2006-07
Insurance Co. Ltd. 6
15 Reliance Life 121 03.01.200 2001-02
Insurance Co. Ltd. …………………………… 2
(Earlier AMP Sanmar
Life Insurance Co.
from 3.1.02 to
29.9.05)
16 Future Generali Pantaloon Retail Ltd.; 133 04.09.200 2007-08
India Life Insurance Sain Marketing Network 7
Co. Ltd. Pvt. Ltd. (SMNPL),
Generali, Italy
17 IDBI Fortis Life Fortis, Netherlands 135 19.12.200 2007-08
Insurance Co. Ltd. 7
18 Canara HSBC OBC HSBC, UK 136 08.05.200 2008-09
Life Insurance Co. 8
Ltd.
19 AegonReligare Life Religare, Netherlands 138 27.06.200 2008-09
Insurance Co. Ltd. 8
20 DLF Pramerica Life Prudential of America, 140 27.06.200 2008-09
Insurance Co. Ltd. USA 8
 2.6 Types of insurance:

Generally, insurance is divided into two categories and is

named as;
• General Insurance
• Life Insurance

FRAME WORK ANALYSIS OF

INSURANCE

GENERAL LIFE
INSURANCE INSURANCE

INDIVIDUA MICRO GROUP

L INSURANC INSURANCE

HEALTH ULIPs ANNUITY WHOLE ENDOWME TERM

INSURAN PLANS LIFE NT INSURAN
2.7 What are the benefits one get from
insurance:

 Safeguards oneself and one's family for future

requirements.
 Life cover.
 Peace of mind in case of financial loss.
 Encourage saving.
 Tax rebate.
 Protection from the claim made by the creditors.
 Security against a personal loan, housing loan or
other types of loan.
 Provide a protection cover to industries, agriculture,
women and child.

2.8 Distribution Channels in Insurance

  Introduction
An insurance cover is an intangible product evidenced by
a written contract known as the ‘policy’. Insurers market
various insurance covers either directly or through
various distribution channels—individual agents,
corporate agents (including Bancassurance) and Brokers.
The marketer in the distribution network is in direct
interface with the prospect and the customer.

Life insurance products are sold through individual agents

and many of them have this as their only career
occupation. General insurance products are sold through
individual agents, corporate agents and brokers.

Distribution channels such as agents are licensed by the

IRDA. To get an agency license, one has to have certain
minimum qualifications; practical training in insurance
subjects and pass an examination conducted by the
Insurance Institute of India.

IRDA regulations on licensing of agents/brokers lay down

the code of conduct for individual agents, corporate
agents and brokers.
Thus it is seen that the dos and don’ts for these
intermediaries are given clearly at the point of sale as
well as in the event of a claim. Service does not end with
the customer receiving his document; it in fact only
begins here. After sales service is as important or even
more important – like when a refund has to be made or
when a claim has to be made.

One of the issues that are of great concern affecting

professionalism in insurance activities is resorting
rebating by intermediaries. Rebating is prohibited as per
Section 41 of the Insurance Act, 1938 and the public are
advised not to deal with intermediaries offering rebate of
any kind.
Rebating means a share of commission receivable by the
agent/broker is given to the prospect/client. This is done
to attract the client in the purchase of insurance contract
by offering cash. Competition among agents/brokers is so
cut-throat, some agents indulge in such unethical
practices. Public are advised not to ask for any prohibited
rebates in premium since commission payment to an
agent is the only income for some to take care of their
families. Similarly, agents are also advised not to indulge
in such practices which could cause them loss of agency
income.

 Alternate Distribution Channels:

The insurance marketplace is undergoing a

transformation that may eventually lead to significant
changes in how consumers purchase insurance products.
A variety of distribution channels are currently used in
this market place and some insurers utilize a combination
of distribution channels. Such as:
• Direct Sales
• Brokers
• Corporate Agents
• Telemarketing
• Online Marketing
• Retail Chains
• Franchisee

Chapter 3:
Insurance Agent Recruitment

 Meaning of Insurance Agent recruitment

 Need For Insurance Agent

  Functions Of The Insurance Agent

 Support And Benefits

 Learning From Executive Training

 Insurance Agent’s Profile Involves Knowing

 Criteria For Selection Of Insurance Agent

 Code Of Conduct For Insurance Agents

INSURANCE AGENT RECRUITMENT

3.1 Meaning of Insurance Agent recruitment

Insurance agent recruitment is all about recruiting

financial advisor for the company. The financial advisor is
the person who can guide the people in making proper
investments regarding their life………………
Now the question comes is that “how can he/she be the
advisor of the company” ???????

 Financial Advisor:

Financial advisor is the person who has been issued the

government authorized IRDA license which is valid for
three years and in those 3 years he/she can tap into an
unlimited income and reinvent their life.

As a Life Advisor a person’s role would go beyond selling

policies. His/her role would be to explain life insurance
and its benefits to potential customers and help them
decide which plan suits them best after analyzing their
financial needs. Hence, life insurance offers one with an
opportunity for:
 An exciting / challenging career.

 Flexible work hours.

 Unlimited income.

 Regular income for years till the policies sold by one

is in force.
3.2 Need For Insurance Agent:

• Insurance is sold, not bought, because of its

intangibility ( Fig- 3a shows the
intangibility of insurance)
• People do not understand, how insurance works. It
is like sand when it is bought and gold when it is
realized.
• Insurance is a concept that has to be explained
personally.
• Buyer has his own special needs and requires
specialized solution.
• It is the AGENT who knows the proposer and he
only can act as first line underwriter.
 (Fig -3a)

3.3 Functions Of The Insurance Agent:

Life insurances agent has the unique role of such a

person, who enjoys the trust of two parties - the prospect
and the insurer - simultaneously in the same transaction.

To simplify, functions of a life insurance agent could be

divided into two parts, viz.
• 'Pre-sale functions';
• 'Post-sale functions'
 Function Before Sales:
• Contact prospects
• Study their insurance needs
• Completion of formalities for proposal of new
insurance viz,
• Filling of form

• Arranging for Medical Examination

• Collection proofs of age and income

• Any other information required by the

underwriters

 Function After Sales:

• Ensure payment of renewal premiums.
• Assist policyholder for nomination / or change
thereof.
• Assist the policyholder in case he wants to get loan
against the policy assignment.
• Assist the policyholder or the claimant to comply
with the requirement for getting timely settlement
of claims.

3.4 SupportAnd Benefits:

As a Life Advisor with Insurance companyone would enjoy
the following benefits:

 Enriching Training Program:

An intensive training program before one commences
his/her new career. This would equip one with all the
information and knowledge about life insurance, its
benefits and our products. This would help one to perform
his/her job better and meet his/her goals. One would also
enjoy the benefits of continuous training and mentoring
programs that are designed to update one, apart from
enhancing one’s selling skills.

 Mentoring:
Training and support from the Company to meet one’s
goals. Opportunity to learn from industry professionals.

 Flexibility:
Decide one’s own working hours and earning goals.

 Satisfaction:
One will help people manage their assets and plan their
financial security, and experience deep satisfaction from
making a positive difference in others lives. One acts as a
strategist in annuities, business insurance, estate
planning and personal investment, providing both short
and long term solutions to financial risks.
 Freedom:
Continue with your present job occupation if you so
desire and treat this as a parallel source of income. This
allows you time to decide if you want to take the job of a
Life Advisor as a full time activity.

 Earnings:
Entitlement to a percentage of the premium as
commission till the time the policies sold by you are in
force.

 Attractive Additional Benefits For High Performers:

Palmtops, Planners, Leather portfolio bags, Offsite
conferences, Foreign trips and Sales promotional
schemes.

3.5 Learning From Executive Training:

• Provides an opportunity to apply the concepts learn t

in real –life situations.
 • It sensitizes us about nuances of work place by the
time-bound projects assigned by the company.
• It creates awareness about the strengths &
weaknesses in the work environment
• It provides a platform to develop a network while OJT
(On-the-job-Training), which would be useful in
enhancing career prospectus.
• Know the day-to-day functions of the company.
• It provides a unique opportunity to get exposed to
corporate culture, professional experience &
professional behavior & putting the theoretical
concepts learnt in the classroom for developing
managerial skills.
• To gain a deeper understanding of the work culture,
deadlines, pressure etc. of an organization.
• It gives a flavor of teamwork, organization culture,
team dynamics, result orientation, organizational
pressures, complexities in achieving the desired
results etc.
• It provides direct exposure to the execution &
support functions of the departments.
• It provides a good scope for developing necessary
managerial skills &positiveattitude

3.6 Insurance Agent’s Profile Involves

Knowing:
 • Demographic background
• Educational background
• Experience background
• Industry background.

3.7 Criteria For Selection Of Insurance Agent:

Criteria for the selection of the Financial Advisor are as follow;

 Age: 18 or above for both Male and Female

 Educational Qualification Required:

o Rural Area*: 10th Pass
o Urban Area*: 12th Pass
[* Areas are bifurcated according to the population.]

For getting license to work as an agent of any company a person

must complete his/her training and pass exam of IRDA. If a person
is already holding license for General Insurance than he/she will
have to complete only few hours of training.

All the above criteria are common for all the companies, they
have to follow it. In practice, because of competitive environment
many companies decide their own criteria apart from all above.
Different criteria used by companies are shown in the following
table:
 At least Living in Networ High Net Married Age
Graduat Ahmedab k/ Income and have group
e ad for at Society (HNI)*grou depende 25-50
Person least 3 group p nts yrs
yrs
1
KLI
     
ICICI -
    
Prudential
2

LIC - - - -
 
Birla Sun - - -
  
life
Bajaj - - -
  
Allianz 3
ING - - - - -

Vysya4
BhartiAxa -
    
6
Aviva NA
TABLE 3.1Criteria for Selecting Agents by different Companies.

3.8 Code Of Conduct For Insurance Agents:

 No Insurance Agent Shall:

• Solicit or procure insurance business without
holding a valid license;
• Induce the prospect to omit any material
information in the proposal form;
• Induce the prospect to submit wrong information in
the proposal form or documents submitted to the
insurer for acceptance of the proposal;
• Behave in a discourteous manner with the
prospect;
• Interfere with any proposal introduced by any
other insurance agent;
• Offer different rates, advantages, terms and
conditions other than those offered by his insurer;
• Demand or receive a share of proceeds from the
beneficiary under an insurance contract;
• Force a policyholder to terminate the existing
policy and to effect a new proposal from him within
three years from the date of such termination;
• Have, in case of a corporate agent, a portfolio of
insurance business under which the premium is in
excess of fifty percent of total premium procured,
in any year, from one person (who is not an
individual) or one organization or one group of
organizations;
• Apply for fresh license to act as an insurance
agent, if his license was earlier cancelled by the
designated person, and a period of five years has
not elapsed from the date of such cancellation;
• Become or remain a director of any insurance
company;
 Every Insurance Agent Shall:
• Identify himself and the insurance company of
whom he is an insurance agent;
• Disclose his license to the prospect on demand;
• Disseminate the requisite information in respect of
insurance products offered for sale by his insurer
and take into account the needs of the prospect
while recommending a specific insurance plan;
• Disclose the scales of commission in respect of the
insurance product offered for sale, if asked by the
prospect;
• Indicate the premium to be charged by the insurer
for the insurance product offered for sale;
• Explain to the prospect the nature of information
required in the proposal form by the insurer, and
also the importance of disclosure of material
information in the purchase of an insurance
contract;
• Bring to the notice of the insurer any adverse
habits or income inconsistency of the prospect, in
the form of a report (called “Insurance Agent’s
Confidential Report”) along with every proposal
submitted to the insurer, and any material fact
that may adversely affect the underwriting
decision of the insurer as regards acceptance of
the proposal, by making all reasonable enquiries
about the prospect;
• Inform promptly the prospect about the
acceptance or rejection of the proposal by the
insurer;
• Obtain the requisite documents at the time of filing
the proposal form with the insurer; and other
documents subsequently asked for by the insurer
for completion of the proposal;
• Render necessary assistance to the policyholders
or claimants or beneficiaries in complying with the
requirements for settlement of claims by the
insurer;
• Advise every individual policyholder to effect
nomination or assignment or change of address or
exercise of options, as the case may be, and offer
necessary assistance in this behalf, wherever
necessary;
 Chapter 4:
Thumb Rule For Recruitment

 Recruitment

 Why Recruitment?

 Whom to Recruit?

 Where to Recruit?

 How to recruit?
 THUMB RULE FOR RECRUITMENT

4.1 Recruitment:
Recruiting good agents has often been considered the
number one job & problem in agency management. It is
certainly a task that new companies in the Indian life
insurance market have put much stress on. The reason is
that life insurance remains a product, not many are easily
disposed to buy and not many want to sell either. The
survival of agency manager depends on his convincing
enough qualified and competent people to choose life
insurance selling as a permanent career. Recruitment
involves selecting the right candidate for the agent’s job
and selling the agency idea to him.
4.2 Why Recruitment?

Recruitment is critical when the agency force is small. But

it becomes important even for a fairly large sized agency.
Agency groups, like companies and products, have a life
cycle. Turnover of agents is a fact of life business. In
course of time only some agents can maintain high new
business growth rate and remain stars. Many quite or
turn inactive after some time while other tend to lose
steam. Some, who have a regular flow of high renewal
commission, may relax efforts or look for other pastures
in which their skills could be employed. If the agency
manager does not continuously add new people to
replenish the resulting depletion of selling energy, the
agency system would begin crumble in spite of its
apparent success.

From the following calculation we can understand the

need for recruiting new & quality advisors:
FYP = TOTAL NO. OF ADVISORS × ACTIVITY RATIO × CASE
RATE × CASE SIZE
Where,
FYP = First Year Premium.

No. of Active Advisors

Activity Ratio (%) = Total Number of Advisors

Case Rate = Total No. Of Policies

Total No. of Active Advisors
 Case Size = Total Premium
Total No. Of Policies

From the above calculation we can say that FYP is directly

proportional to the No. of advisors. So it necessary to
recruit more & more advisors, and again apart from
recruiting new advisors it is necessary to recruit quality
advisors to maintain Activity Factor, Case Rate, & Case
Size.

Why then do agency managers often fail to recruit? The

reason is that it is not considered urgent enough. There is
a lot of energy that needs to be expended to recruit and
develop a new agent but payoffs come much later. Again,
there are periods (like March) when one has to focus on
getting business. It is a poor time to bring new people
into the agency. Many are lost simply because one could
not devote sufficient time to develop them.

New men, typically, would contribute only a small share

of the agency business so that if one dose not recruit, it
will not make an immediate difference to the agency
operation. The penalty may be there but it is a deferred
one. For example, if there is no recruitment done in the
years 2008& 2009, the impact may really be felt only by
2012. Remember that at that time more than half the
agency’s business may come from agents recruited after
2007. The two years of non- recruitment would have
created a huge hole in the fabric that cannot be sewed up
quickly by extra recruitment in 2010. The omission by
then has become irrevocable.

The only solution to the above is to recruit continuously

and at all times- indeed make a habit out of recruitment.
No doubt, the lean months are when one can spend more
time on recruiting while peak business periods like
December to March may put other demands on the
agency manager’s time. But we must remember that
peak months also provide an opportunity to new agents
to get off to a flying start. Nothing works, like early
success, to motivate an agent to plunge into the business
with heart and soul.

The only thing worse than non - recruitment is to recruit

indiscriminately and for the sake of fulfilling a
recruitment quota. This is a disease, which seems to have
caught on with life insurance companies in the Indian
market. It is like drawing water from a well with a bucket
that has a hole in it. The logic seems to be that if you get
sufficiently large numbers, many will drop off but some
may stay. There are two problems with this logic. First, it
is very inefficient way of doing things. Agents are
deadweight unless they can work independently and
generate new business. What is the purpose of recruiting
an agent if the agency manager has to do canvassing of
business and other activities on his behalf? Many drop off
any way after a few halfhearted attempts.

Second, what many marketing managers do not seems to

realize is this serious harm done to an agency
organization and agency manager’s morale when he is
not even allowed (leave alone supported) to strike a
balance between recruitment and agent development
one may argue that winners (the agents who will make it)
do not need too many winners would like to be part of a
ship that is rudderless, without the captain in sight and
crew that is verge of jumping off?

4.3 Whom to Recruit?

The agency organizations would be crippled era long if

the right kind of people were not in the ship. The agent’s
job like any other contains a job description and a job
specification. The agency manager needs to be clear
about not only what he requires the agent to do also a
profile of who would play the role well. It is not necessary
or even possible to get readymade MDRT stuff. The key is
to discover those people who have the latent potential to
grow and to be groomed so as to emerge as sales
champions. As in new business prospecting, one must
build a reservoir of potential candidates who can be
offered an agency career. Let us looked at some of the
qualities to look for (Fig-4a):

Fig-4a

 The candidate should ideally come from a background

where work and life has been challenging and every
meal had to be earned the hard way. An agent’s job is
essentially entrepreneurial. The only security that there
is comes from the ability to perform & this is often not
within one’s control. A great deal of courage, self-
discipline, self-confidence, self-drive is needed to
enable one to stick to the course & work in an
environment where results do not come easily.
 A person with some business & service experience&
who has enjoyed success pattern may make a good
recruit. Such a person is likely to have a fair amount of
maturity of thought and a sense of responsibility.
Success also requires discipline and healthy work
habits. Remember, customer have to be sure about the
person from whom they are buying insurance.
 The candidate must obviously be one with the ability to
relate with and communicate to people. One of the key
things to especially look for is the social mobility of the
prospect- is he actively engaged in community and
social activities where he meet and render services to
other people. Is he someone who is liked?
 One of the critical requirements of an agent is
character & attitude. Character is about doing what is
right and ethical and in the interest of one’s customers.
Similarly, one must be sure of the agent’s attitude to
insurance and the customer. The agent must be the
type who believes in insurance & the importance of
financial security.
 Finally, the most important attribute to look for is fire in
the belly – a hunger to excel in the agency profession.
There are no free lunches. Success has a price and one
can pay that price only when there is sufficient fire
within.
4.4 Where to Recruit?

The types of people we have profiled above are obviously

not likely to be sitting idle at home. Usually, they are
engaged somewhere. It is also obvious that good
prospects do not easily come by. One has to make a
search for them and discover them. Let us look at some
of the source from which one may draw good prospects.
 A most potent source lies in individuals and
professional/occupational being displaced by industry
wide vocational disturbances. A large number have
taken voluntary retirement (VRS) or face retrenchment.
Similarly many business proprietors have their
revenues and profits affected by competition and
adverse trends. These are people likely to be interested
in life insurance sales career. They do not posses
maturity and work experience but also are at an age
when fire is still there.
 A next source is to liaise with Placement Agencies and
other platforms where people in search of jobs are
registered. One may also advertise about a job
opening. The problem is that such recruitment centers
are unlikely to promote a job in life insurance selling.
This is where selling the career become important.
 For several decades, the most popular source of
agency recruitment has been members of one’s
extended family & community, friends circle, one’s
customers and center of influence. They may either
themselves become agents or recommend and help in
 recruiting others. Policyholders, especially if they are
satisfied clients, could provide great support in this
regard. The problem is that many of them are not
business minded. They have valuable personal contacts
but the agency manager would need to work and assist
to convert these into professional and business
relationships.
 Fourth, there are salesmen in other areas. Those in
FMCGs can be found in retail outlets or moving from
house to house. Others from the pharmaceutical
industry visit doctors and hospitals. There are salesmen
all around the place. The task is to ask if they intend to
remain in their present line of sales all their lives. Why
not plunge into something a lot more challenging and
rewarding?
 One of the most promising sources of recruitment is
the housewives looking for a part time job to
supplement family income. Women can understand
personal and family financial problems and are able to
interact on an emotional level. Remember they
constitute half of the mankind and are the pillar of
support in every family. In many Indian & Asian
communities, women would not move amidst and talk
freely to male strangers. But housewives would listen
to other housewives. Perhaps the best advantage
stems from the fact that millions are seeking new
career opportunities today and are entering the job
market in large number.
 The college campus is also a possible source of
recruitment. One hazard is that students may not stick
with it for long. Those in the top half of class
(academic) performers are likely to search for and find
other jobs or go for higher studies. It would be
worthwhile to look for good solid people at the lower
half of the class.
 Finally there is the professional financial adviser (e.g. a
CA or income tax practitioner) who may consider the
agency as an additional part-time source of income.

4.5 How to recruit?

The recruitment process has two steps:

Find out the
prospect
Recruitment
Selling the agency
to the selected
prospect

 The first stage is that of qualifying the prospect-

making sure he/she is the right candidate for the
agency. It may be wise to spend some time for the
purpose- observing and getting to know the prospect
better. There are many things to know, such as family
background & education, past achievements, social
mobility and connections, dreams and ambitions, how
he looks at life insurance and its selling. Among other
 issues it is especially vital to look for the thread of
discontentment- is the prospect dissatisfied with his
present job and state of affairs and ready to take the
plunge. Would he have enough fire and discipline to
make a success of a job? These are matters involving
judgment and a prudent agency manager would not
hurry.

 The second stage is that of selling the agency to the

selected prospect. This may again involve one or more
sessions:
• Selling the agency career.
• Establishing leadership.
• Selling the company.

• Selling the agency career: Every prospect needs to

be first of all convinced that a career in life insurance
selling offers a rewarding way of life.
Let us start with stability. There is tremendous
stability in this career, once the early humps are
tackled. Every new policy earns not only
commissions but also lots of incentives. The beauty
is that the market we are working in is continuously
expanding.
As for the career advancement, the sky is the limit.
An agent has one of those jobs where one can earn
more than the company chairman as there are
tremendous growth opportunities.
 A third major selling point is the freedom that comes
with the job here is the career where one can set
one’s own time schedule of work and life choose
one’s own clientele; learn continuously on the job
and move ahead.

• Establishing leadership: we come now to one of the

most critical items that agency manager has to sell.
He has to sell himself and convince the prospect to
accept his leadership and supervision. Let us call this
session a commitment interview. In this interview the
agency manager extends an invitation and a promise
that joining his agency group is the path to a
rewarding career. Agency manager may have many
examples to relate about successful agents who
made it under his leadership.

• Selling the Company: Let us now come to the third

item to be sold- the company. One way of doing so
has been to lure agents through higher material
incentives and commissions. For a new agent prime
question is the company’s acceptability and whether
it can be sold to members of the public. The other
new concern of any newcomer would be about the
company environment&culture.
Chapter5:
  Research Methodology

 Marketing Research Process

 Data interpretation & Graph Analysis

5.1 Research Methodology:

Research always starts with a question or a problem. Its

purpose is to question through the application of the
scientific method. It is a systematic and intensive study
directed towards a more complete knowledge of the
subject studied. Marketing research is the function which
links the consumer, customer and public to the marketer
through information- information used to identify and
define marketing opportunities and problems generate,
refine, and evaluate marketing actions, monitor
marketing actions, monitor marketing performance and
improve understanding of market as a process.

Marketing research specifies the information required to

address these issues, designs, and the method for
collecting information, manage and implemented the
data collection process, analyses the results and
communicate the findings and their implication.

5.2 Marketing Research Process

As marketing research is a systemic and formalized

process, it follows a certain sequence of research action.
The marketing process has the following steps:

 Formulating the problems

 Developing objectives of the research
 Designing an effective research plan
  Data collection techniques
 Evaluating the data and preparing a research report

There is only one type of data collection method use in

my project report.

– Secondary data.

For my project, I decided on Secondary data collection

method was used by referring to various websites,
books, magazines, journals and daily newspapers for
collecting information regarding project under study.

5.3 Data Interpretation & Graph Analysis:

TABLE 5-
Happy with Need for Preference for supplementary income
their current supplementary
job & financial
situation. Income

Yes NO Ye May NO As a Multilevel

marketing
Part Tuition Other
life time s s
s be insuran busines
ce s
agent.

71 79 69 67 14 21 7 52 47 23

Fig- 5a

 Interpretation :
From the above pie chart we can see that 53% people are
not happy with their current job/financial situation,
because of increasing cost of day to day life & limited
source of income. So there is tremendous opportunity in
the market for targeting people to recruit as an insurance
advisor by showing them career & unlimited earning
opportunities in the business of insurance.
 Fig. 5b

 Interpretation :
From the above pie chart we can see that only 9.33%
people said that they are completely happy with their
job/financial situation and there is no need for any
supplementary source of income for them.
In the previous pie chart (fig.5a) we have seen, 47%
people said that they are happy with their job/financial
situation, but only 9.33 % (Fig.5b) people said that they
don’t need the supplementary source of income, which
gives an indication that there are some people in this
47%, who need an extra source of income.
So from the above pie charts we can say that more than
90% people need a supplementary source of income.
Therefore, by showing them unlimited supplement
earning opportunities in this business, we can easily
target them for recruitment.
 Fig. 5c
 Interpretation :
From the above pie chart (Fig. 5c) we can see that 14%
people says directly that life insurance agent is the best
way to supplement ones income, because of unlimited
earning opportunity and flexible working hour. So, we can
easily target this segment of people for recruitment.
With the help of data collected, I have segmented the
market mainly on the basis of demographic & geographic,
for recruitment.

 Demographic basis:

• Occupation
Table 5-ii

Occupation Happy with current

job/financial situation.
Yes No TOTAL
Teachers 8 7 15
Advocates 6 9 15
Doctors 14 1 15
Pvt.-service 7 8 15
Govt.-service 8 7 15
Businessmen 13 2 15
Salesperson (M.R, 2 13 15
Sahara Agent etc.)

Students 6 9 15
House wife 3 12 15
professional 4 11 15
financial adviser
( e.g. C.As)
TOTAL 71 79 150
 Fig.

HAPPY WITH THEIR CURREN JOB/FINANCIAL SITUATION

 Interpretation :
From the above figure (Fig. 5d), we can see that 13
salesperson out of 15 (86.66%) are not happy with their
current job/ financial situation followed by 12 housewives
(80%), 11 professional financial advisors (73.33%), 9
advocates&students (60%), 8 Pvt. Service holder
(53.33%), and 7 teachers&Govt. service holder (46.66%).
On the other hand businessmen (86.67%) & doctors
(93.34%) are happy with their job/financial situation.
Therefore, we can say that they cannot be a potential
segment for recruitment.

Table 5 ii
(b)

Occupation Need for supplementary need

Yes May be No TOTAL

Teachers 7 6 2 15
Advocates 9 6 0 15
Doctors 1 9 5 15
Pvt.-service 5 9 1 15
Govt.-service 7 8 0 15
Businessmen 2 11 2 15
Salesperson (M.R, 13 2 0 15
Sahara Agent etc.)

Students 9 6 0 15
House wife 12 2 1 15
professional 4 8 3 15
financial adviser
( e.g. C.As)
TOTAL 69 67 14 150
NEED FOR SUPPLEMENTARY INCOME

14
14 13 13
12
12 11

10 9 9
8 8 8
8 7 7 7
6 6
6
4
4 3
2 2 YES
2 1
NO
0

Fig. 5e
OCCUPATION

 Interpretation :
From the above graph we can see that 13 salesperson
out of 15 says there is need for supplement source of
income i.e. 86.66%.
Again 12 housewives out of 15 i.e. 80% says there is
need for supplementary source of income, followed by 9
students & advocates (60%), 7 teachers & Govt.
employee (46.66%), and 5 Pvt.-Service holders (33.33%).
Only 1 doctor & 2 businessmen out of 15 i.e. 6.66% &
13.33% respectively, say there is need for supplementary
source of income.
 Table 5 ii
(c)
Occupation Preference for supplementary income.
As a Multileve Part Tuitio Other TOTAL
life l time ns s
insuran marketin busine
ce g ss
agent
Teachers 1 0 2 12 0 15
Advocates 2 0 8 3 2 15
Doctors 0 0 0 4 11 15
Pvt.-service 0 0 9 5 1 15
Govt.- 0 0 10 5 0 15
service
Businessme 0 0 10 0 5 15
n
Salesperson 4 7 4 0 0 15

Students 3 0 2 10 0 15
House wife 4 0 5 6 0 15
professional 7 0 2 2 4 15
financial
adviser
( e.g. C.As)
TOTAL 21 7 52 47 23 150
 Fig. 5f
PREFERENCE FOR SUPPLEMENTARY INCOME

 Interpretation :
From the above graph we can see that 7 out of 15 i.e.
46.66% professional financial advisers like CAs directly
prefer life insurance agent is the best way to supplement
one’s income, followed by salespersons & housewives
(26.67%), students (20%), advocates (13.33%),
&teachers (6.67%).
While no, doctors, businessmen, Pvt.-service & Govt.-
service holder preferred life insurance agent is the best
way to supplements one’s income.
 Table 5 iii
(a)
• Age group
Age group Happy with current
job/financial situation.
Yes No TOTAL
18-25 15 27 42
26-35 21 25 46
36-45 25 15 40
46-55 10 12 22
TOTAL 71 79 150

Fig.
HAPP
Y WITH THEIR CURRENT JOB/FINANCIAL POSITION
5g

 Interpretation:
From the above graph we can see that 27 people out of
42 i.e. 64.3% between age group 18-25 are not happy
with their current job/financial situations followed by
 age group 46-55 (54.5%), 26-35 (54.3%), & 36-45
(37.5%).

Table 5 iii
(b)
Age group Need for supplementary need TOTAL

Yes May be No

18-25 25 16 1 42
26-35 18 27 1 46
36-45 21 15 4 40
46-56 5 9 8 22
TOTAL 69 67 14 150

AGE GROUP
Fig. 5h

NEED FOR SUPPLEMENTARY INCOME

 Interpretation:
 From the above graph we can see that 25 people out of
42 (59.5%) between age group 18-25 says there is
need for supplementary source of income, followed by
age group 36-45 (52.5%), 26-35 (39.1%) and 46-56
(22.7%). Again we can see that 8 people out of 22
(36%) between age group 46-56 says that there is no
need for supplementary source of income.
Table 5 iii
(c)
Age Preference for supplementary income.
group
As a life Multilev Part Tuitions Other TOTAL
insurance el time s
agent marketi busine
ng ss
18-25 6 4 9 18 5 42
26-35 10 3 18 12 3 46
36-45 5 0 16 15 4 40
46-56 0 0 9 2 11 22
TOTAL 21 7 52 47 23 150
 Fig. 5i

PREFERENCE FOR SUPPLEMENTARY INCOME

 Interpretation:
Form the above graph (Fig. 5i) we can see that 10
people out of 46 (21.7%) between age group 26-35
prefers life insurance agent is the best way to
supplements ones income, followed by the age group
18-25 (14.2%) and age group 36-45 (12.5%).

 Geographic Basis:

Table 5 IV
(a)
Region Happy with current
job/financial situation.
Yes No TOTAL
Sub-Urban 31 45 76
Urban 40 34 74
TOTAL 71 79 150

Table 5 IV
(b)
Region Need for supplementary need
Yes May be No TOTAL

Sub-Urban 40 32 4 76
Urban 28 36 10 74
TOTAL 68 67 14 150

Table 5 IV
(c)
Region Preference for supplementary income.

As a life Multileve Part Tuitio Other TOTAL

insurance l time ns s
agent marketin business
g
Sub- 15 1 30 22 8 76
Urban
Urban 6 6 22 25 15 74
TOTAL 21 7 52 47 23 150
 REGION REGION

Fig. 5j HAPPY WITH THEIR CURRENT JOB/ Fig. NEED FOR

SUPPLEMENTARY INCOME
FINANCIAL POSITION

REGION

Fig. 5 l PREFERENCE FPR SUPPLEMENTARY INCOME

 Interpretation:
From the above graph (Fig. 5j) we can see that in the
Sub-Urban areas, 45 peoples out of 76 (59.2%) are
unhappy with their current job/financial situation. While in
urban area it is around 45.9%.
Again need for supplementary source of income (Fig. 5k)
is higher in Sub-Urban areas, i.e. 52.6%, while in urban
areas it is 37.8%.
Further we can see that preference for supplementary
source of income as life insurance advisors is more in
Sub-Urban areas than urban areas, varying from 19.7% to
8.12%.
 Chapter6:

 Findings

 Suggestions & Recommendations

 6.1 Findings:

Table
• On the basis of occupation:
Occupation Not happy with Need for Preference for
their current supplementary supplementary
job/ financial source of income. source of
situation. (%) (%) income (as a life
insurance
agent). (%)
Professional 73.33% 26.67% 46.66%
financial
advisors

Salesperson 86.66% 86.66% 26.67%

Housewives 80% 80% 26.7%

Students 60% 60% 20%

Advocates 60% 60% 13.33%

Teachers 46.66% 46.66% 6.67%

Pvt. Service 53.33% 33.33% 0%

Govt. Service 46.66% 46.66% 0%

Businessmen 13.33% 13.33% 0%
Doctors 6.66% 6.66% 0%

From the above table we can conclude that professional

financial advisors, salesperson and housewives are the
most potential segments of people for recruitment
followed by the students, advocates & teachers.

• Though only 26.67% of professional financial

advisers say there is a need for supplementary
source of income, but 46.66% of professional
financial advisers prefer to become life insurance
agent, because professional financial advisers are
the best person who can advise people, related to
their investment decisions.
• Again a salesperson is a another good segment of
people for targeting recruitment, because their need
for income is quite higher (86.66%) & even they are
trained enough in terms of sales.

• Apart from these two segments housewives is also a

good segment for targeting recruitment, because
their need & preference (as a life insurance agent) is
too high compare to the rest of segments, because
women can understand personal and family financial
problems and are able to interact on an emotional
level.

• Further we can see that students is also a good

segment for recruitment, because their need for
income is also high & even 20% of students prefer
life insurance agent is the best way to supplements
ones income, because every students needs money
for their personal expense.
 • Advocates and teachers can also be a target
segment for recruitment, because their need for
income is also quite high & even 13.33% of
advocates and 6.67% of teachers prefer life
insurance agent is the best way to supplements ones
income, but comparatively these are the less
potential segments compare to other identified
segments.

• Businessmen & doctors are not a potential segment

for targeting recruitment, because their need for
supplementary source of income is very low & also
most of them are happy with their current
job/financial situation.

• Pvt. service holder & Govt. service holders are also

not a potential segment for targeting recruitment,
though their need for income is present , but they
don’t prefer life insurance agent is the best way to
supplements ones income, mainly because of ego
problems & time constraint.
• On the basis of Age Group : Table-
Age Not happy with Need for Preference for
grou their current supplementary supplementary source
ps job/ financial source of of income (as a life
situation. (%) income. (%) insurance agent). (%)
18-25 64.3% 59.5% 14.2%

26-35 54.3% 39.1% 21.7%

36-45 37.5% 52.5% 12.5%

46-55 54.5% 0% 0%
From the above table we can conclude that people
between the age group of 18-25 & 26-35 are the most
potential segments for recruitment, followed by the age
group of 36-45.
• 64.3% of People between the age group of 18-25
are not happy with their current job/financial
situation & also need for supplementary source
of income is 59.5%. In this group most of them
are at struggling stage of their life and are very
energetic, so it can be a target segment for
recruitment.

• Again, people between the age group of 26-35

are a target segment for recruitment because of
their increasing responsibility towards family.

• People between the age group of 36-45 is also a

good segment for recruitment, but
comparatively less than other identified
segments because at this stage of life most of
them are settled & often their child also grows
up.

• People between the age group of 46-55 is not a

potential segment, though the 54.5% of people
are not happy with their current job/financial
situation, but their need and preference for
supplementary source of income is negligible
because of their age factor.
 • On the basis of Geographic Segmentation: Table –
Regi Not happy with Need for Preference for
on their current supplementary supplementary source
job/ financial source of of income (as a life
situation. (%) income. (%) insurance agent). (%)
Sub- 59.2% 52.6% 19.7%
Urban

Urban 45.9% 37.8% 8.12%

Thus from the above figures we can say that in Sub-

Urban areas are the most potential segment for
recruitment than the urban areas, because need for
income is there, and again there is a limited source of
income opportunity.
Further we know that in the Sub-Urban & rural areas
there is tremendous potentiality for the business of
insurance, because of the less penetration of insurance.
6.2 Suggestions & Recommendations:

• Professional financial advisors like CAs, Tax

consultant, etc. is the most potential segment of
people for recruitment, Insurance Agents should
target this segment of people to get quality
recruitment.

• Salesmen like Sahara agents, MR etc. is also a very

good segment of people for recruitment, and
Insurance Agents should target this segment of
people to get quality and even in quantity.

• Housewives between the age group of 35-50 can be

a target segment for recruitment, Insurance Agents
should target this segment of people to get leader.

• Students can be one of the target segment,

Insurance Agents should target this segment
continuously, because students can generally work
for short term only.

• Teachers & advocates can be one of the potential

segments, for these Insurance Agents should target
this segment by conducting homogeneous group
Career Orientation Presentation (COP).
• Generally Govt.-service & Pvt.-service holders does
not prefers to become life insurance agent, but there
is a need for supplementary source of income is
quite higher, for targeting this segment of people
BAs should give 1:1 COP.

• Doctors are not a target segment for

recruitment.

• People between the age group of 18-25,

26-35, and 36-45 are the most potential segment for
recruitment.

• People between the age group of 46-55 can be a

target segment, though the preference to become a
life insurance agent is low, but need for income is
quit higher, to target this segment Insurance Agents
should give effective COP & make them realize that
they are still young and energetic, and can work
effectively.

• Sub-Urban areas are the most potential segment for

recruitment than the urban areas, Insurance Agents
should target more & more on Sub-Urban to get
quality recruitment.
 Chapter 7:

Conclusion
7.1 Conclusion:
It is believed that it is a tough task to find out a quality
prospect for insurance advisor’s recruitment, as every
individual has its limited contact base. We have seen in
the above analysis that with the help of references &
market survey tool an individual can enter into cold
market easily, and then extend up to no limit.

But it is a tremendous challenge to find out the potential

segment of people for recruitment. So, we have
segmented the whole market mainly on the basis of
demographic (occupation & age) and geographic
segmentation (region), with the help of market survey
tool, to identify the potential segment of people for
recruitment and our exhaustive research in the field of
recruitment in Life Insurance has squeezed out some
interesting trends which can be seen in the above
analysis.
 Chapter 8:

 References
8.1 References:

In order to obtain more information regarding the present

study and to substantiate it with theoretical proof, the
following references were made: -

 Websites Referred
• www.google.com
• www.irdaindia.org
• www.thehindubusinessline.com

 Books Referred
• Books Published By IRDA.
• Kotler& Keller, Marketing Management, PHI, 13th
Edition.
 Magazines
• Insurance World.
• The Outlook Money.