Insurers want more feet on the ground

Life insurance companies are fast developing another statistical distribution channel, one that may assist work out multiple problems. The federal agency and bancassurance theoretical accounts may be the two most effectual channels, but companies are now creating a direct selling force.

Such a military unit could undertake multiple issues of productivity, increased penetration, keeping and cases of possible mis-selling.

Most insurance companies including Max New House Of York Life, Bharti Axa Life, Birla SunLife, Reliance Life, Tata AIG Life, Kotak Insurance and others are said to be lining up concrete programs or testing the concept.

Industry issues like distribution, committee structure, productiveness and work force have got been in the limelight. Companies are therefore experimenting with newer ways of reaching out.

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DNA Money talked to some insurance companies to calculate out the trend.

Tata AIG Life, which have a balanced statistical distribution break-up between federal federal agency and bancassurance, is testing out the possible of this channel, said Manish Lalwani, senior frailty president for agency sales.

Max New House Of York Life, which already have a gross sales force, programs to spread out it.

"We have got 1000 employees under this section and wishing to scale it to over 22 mercantile establishments all over the country," Gary Roentgen Bennett, CEO, said. "While agents will stay the key, we experience that influence and control on direct employees is greater. And with the productiveness of direct employees being higher than the norm agent, it do sense to develop this statistical distribution transmission channel seriously," he added.

Priya Ranjan, director, HR, Bharti Axa Life, said, "We are investing in edifice up a strong direct gross sales military unit as a separate transmission channel of distribution. We have got programs to increase the figure of employees from 2,000 to 4,000 by December 2008."

Birla Sun Life is piloting respective direct selling theoretical accounts at present. "One manner is purely through direct Mailers and teleselling for the pur present of cross selling. The other is an experimentation with employees perhaps under a contract, but more than of feet-on-street, and without the committee as given to agents," Anjana Grewal, senior VP, selling and communication, Birla SunLife said.

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