BW Businessworld Life Insurance Summit 2017 | ‘Invest And Educate The Customers’

In his opening address Anurag Batra, Chairman and Editor in Chief, BW Businessworld group said, “We are in the business of building communities and thus helping various segments to grow. This Summit is our yet another initiative in the Life Insurance segment.” Insurance sector today is a push based industry. How to make it a pull based, technology driven segment is very pivotal for the growth of this segment and this is BW Businessworld’s effort to make that happen, explained Batra at the first ‘Life Insurance Summit 2017’ organised by BW Businessworld.

In his Exclusive Insights from the Kantar IMRB Insurance India 2017 Report, Praveen Nijhara, Executive Director, Kantar IMRB & Head of Stakeholder Management Business observed, “Customer today is exposed to multiple products and categories and are seeking lot more information. This makes it difficult for insurance companies.” But, the customer still not understand the basic technology and this is an opportunity for insurance companies, said Nijhara.

What do customers expect and how to retain them, Nijhara explained citing the observations based on the study. In Metros and tier 1 cities, Brand image, Overall experience (regarding the product, distribution, communication) and Price charges matters.

Nijhara further looked at how companies staked up over the years, key improvements in the industry and how private players are gaining the ground. However, he pointed out that LIC is still the market leader with 73 per cent of the life insurance pie and a huge customer loyalty base.

According to the report, the key challenges, he said are: Not all unhappy customers will talk to the company or its agent; Lapsation is often self-created by the companies themselves by misspelling, servicing; Human interaction still remains important; For technology to work, awareness and mind-set need to change and the non-metros could be a different animal altogether.

He concluded by advising the gathering to have self-right and transparency while dealing with customers, formalise the distribution channel and to invest and educate the customers on digital initiatives.

The Indian Life Insurance industry is at cross roads. Private players are staring to compete with LIC, new and innovative distribution structures are emerging. And tech players are starting to disrupt the traditional distribution ecosystem. In this background, BW Businessworld organised its first Life Insurance Summit in Mumbai.