We'll Maintain Focus On Further Simplification Of Processes, Faster Resolution:

Tell us about a few consumer trends in the Life Insurance segment right now. With clients become a lot more digitally savvy, how has it affected buying decisions?
The Indian life insurance industry is expected to reach USD 280 billion by 2020 owing to the increasing awareness amongst customers, consumer centric products and varied distribution channels. The industry is expected to grow by 12-15% annually for the next three to five years. However, currently the penetration of life insurance continues to be a subject of discussion, considering that it was just 3.7% (premiums as % of GDP) in 2017. However, this signals at the growth opportunity in the life insurance segment.

The India’s millennial population is expected to cross 45 crores by 2020. This set of audience is driven with maximization of benefits; they have a larger appetite for risk-taking and are more open to sharing their data in the virtual world. The ready availability of data has opened new avenues for the industry to grow in addition to a better understanding of consumer demands and preferences which are now more readily available through data analytics and insights. The tech-savvy millennials spend a majority of their time on screens and for insurance companies, going online not just makes thing more convenient but also more accessible. This in turn enable insurers to reach a larger audience base and drive more awareness around financial planning.

Advancement in technology has led to enhanced customer engagement with higher rate for renewal of policies and cross sell opportunity for life insurers. Additionally, Artificial intelligence (AI) based programmatic marketing has further enabled insurers to customize their offerings and meet diverse customer needs. Now, it is invariable to focus on multiple channels and there digital has a vital role. The scope for business growth will be higher in the coming days from online platform owing to the increase in tech savvy customers. Also, online offers increased convenience to customers with better speed which are important parameters to consider for a better experience.

We’re witnessing a clear shift towards pure risk products, especially among millennials. What factors are contributing to this?
The shift towards pure risk products, in my view, has still not gathered pace and a lot more needs to be done. While there may be several reasons contributing to more millennials buying pure risk products, I believe that these changes may have to do with the following:

* Millennials have greater financial awareness
* Insurers on their part have also started to focus on spreading awareness on the need for insurance
* There is a lot more information available online making it easier for customers to make informed choices
* The emergence of web aggregators making it easier to compare offerings from multiple insurers
* Higher costs of living/ rising health care costs prompting millennials to look at the pure protection products to secure the future of their loved ones.

From a customer service standpoint, where do you think the major gaps lie in the industry at this point in time?
Insurance industry in India has not been an early adapter of technology to engage with customers or provide Digital touch-points for customer interaction and servicing when compared to its peers in Banking. This is changing, and we have an opportunity to learn from other industries on usage of technology to engage with young and new customers.

One of the biggest challenges the industry faces from a customer service standpoint is managing Orphan customers (customer whose sales representative/agent in no longer active). Very high attrition figures in front-line sales and advisors makes this problem even more severe. This is not only a customer service challenge but has an impact on revenues arising out of renewal premiums. Since many products are designed to be renewed every year, it becomes essential for insurers to find out innovative means to engage with customers.

Another area of concern are customer grievances which are a result of the advisor not doing proper need analysis and hence not selling the product best suited to the customers’ financial goals or in certain instances, not providing/hiding the correct product details (mis-selling). This has led to a host of issues ranging from complaints to customers refusing to pay renewals. While organizations are making efforts to curb such practices, they continue to be real challenge in servicing customers.

From a talent standpoint, what are some of the challenges the Life Insurance industry is facing in general?
To start with, India has few educational institutions catering to Insurance specific curriculums and there is almost a perennial shortage of talent with core insurance skills like Underwriting, reinsurance and claims management. 

Another area of concern is agents and financial planning advisors, key drivers of insurance sales. A lot of gaps exist when it comes to their understanding of insurance & other financial products, communication skills and awareness about industry trends. Many agents also approach their roles as part-time jobs and hence are often not able to contribute to their full potential.  There is a need for mindset change and insurers need to educate agents/ potential agents about prospects.

Young managerial talent often does not look at insurance as a career option. At Tier 1 B schools where banking has been a preferred sector, insurance is yet to make significant inroads as a preferred employment sector.  

Tech savvy customers are driving Insurers (who have been rather slow in adopting technology) to go digital at a rapid pace. IT, Digital & Social Media talent is now in high demand.  Since a lot of these skills were not developed internally, they have had to be acquired by sourcing talent from outside the Insurance (and sometimes even BFSI) sector. As the focus on Digital, Data Analytics, newer technologies like IoT and Blockchain increases, attracting talent for associated roles will be a key focus area/ challenge.

How many takers have you found for your online will writing service so far?
A: We launched the service in mid-2018. So far in last ten months we have registered nearly 450 wills.

Lastly, tell us a bit about some of your plans for this fiscal, from the people and operations standpoint.
A: We have been focusing on digitization of processes, reduction/ simplification of paperwork and providing more servicing options to customers. Many of the customer requirements/requests for servicing can now be fulfilled at the click of a button. In the current fiscal year, we will maintain focus on further simplification of processes, faster resolution to customer grievances/ queries and providing a ‘Digital First’ experience to our customers. From a People standpoint, our focus has remained on developing people, providing them opportunities for new learning and diverse roles.