Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training & Development of Life Advisors Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of Degree Of MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION By DINESH PRATAP UPADHYAY Roll No. : 0814170012 June-August 2009 Under Guidance of : Under the Supervision of : ASHISH KUMAR SRIVASTAVA MISS SANDHYA KHARE Agency Manager Bharti Axa Life insurance Co. Gomti Nagar, Lucknow
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Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training & Development of Life
Advisors
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of Degree
OfMASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
By
DINESH PRATAP UPADHYAYRoll No. : 0814170012
June-August 2009
Under Guidance of : Under the Supervision of :ASHISH KUMAR SRIVASTAVA MISS SANDHYA KHAREAgency ManagerBharti Axa Life insurance Co.Gomti Nagar, Lucknow
SAGAR INSITTUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT Barabanki
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
DECLARATION
I the undersigned, hereby declare that this project entitled “SALES PROMOTION
RECRUITMENT, TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT of Life advisors at
Bharti AXA Life Insurance, LUCKNOW” is written and submitted by me to
SAGAR INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, BARABANKI
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of MASTER OF BUSINESS
ADMINISTRATION under the guidance of my company guide Mr. Ashish Kumar
Srivastava. This report neither full nor in part has ever been submitted for award of
any other course of either this Institute or any other Institute.
DINESH PRATAP UPADHYAY
MBA
2008-2010
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I sincerely thank Bharti Axa Life Insurance for providing me with an
opportunity to pursue my internship at their organization. I extend my thanks to
my guide Mr. Ashish Kumar Srivastava- Manager of Agency at Bharti Axa Life
Insurance and other members of the Division, Bharti Axa Life Insurance,
Lucknow for providing me the necessary guidance.
That project was a great experience for me. As is made aware of professional
culture that exists in an organization, about the market, qualities required work
and how to deal with the customers. I am extremely thankful to our respected
faculty Guide MISS SANDHYA KHARE“SITM Barabanki” for giving me there
wholehearted support, guidance and encouragement to me at every step of this
project. There valuable suggestions and advices have been a constant source of
inspiration to me in completing this project.
Finally, I express my thanks to the Respondents who took part in the survey.
Place : Lucknow
Date : 25.08.09
DINESH PRATAP UPADHYAY
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
TABLE OF CONTENTS
S. No. Contents1.0 Executive Summary2.0 Introduction to the Project2.1 Purpose of the Project2.2 Significance And Importance of the Project2.3 Objective of Project2.4 Scope of project2.5 Theory on Recruitment and Training2.6 Training and Development2.7 Types of Training and Development2.8 Limitations of the Project2.9 Brief history of the Insurance sector in India3.0 Profile of Organization3.1 Joint Venture Bharti and AXA3.1.1 Bharti AXA Life Insurance3.2 Products of Bharti AXA Life Insurance3.2.1 Products for Individuals3.2.2 Products for Groups4.0 Research Design and Methodology4.1 Research Design4.2 Sample Design4.3 Recruitment Process4.4 Survey Questionnaire5.0 Data Presentation, Analysis and Interpretation6.0 Findings and Suggestions6.1 Findings6.2 Suggestions7.0 Solutions8.0 Results9.0 Conclusion10.0 Bibliography11.0 Annexure11.1 Annexure 111.2 Annexure 2
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The project is about recruitment, training and development of Life advisors. The
project was undertaken by 6 member team and the entire task was divided into
sub- tasks. The process started from identifying the need, then advertising the
same to prospective individuals by distribution of pamphlets, holding various
activities in residential areas etc. then individuals were surveyed. The
questionnaire was designed in such a manner that it gave a general idea about
the ability and capability of respondent as a prospective life insurance advisor.
Certain scores were allotted depending on the answers given by the respondent.
Those who were high on the scores were motivated to visit the office for
conduction of their interview. After the successful completion of interview
individuals were informed if they were selected for training of Life advisors.
They were asked to fill the NAAF form and a fee was collected from them along
with their photographs. After successful completion of training an exam was
conducted and those who qualified the exam were selected as life advisors.
The project report submitted here covers theory on recruitment, training and
development, flowchart of activities undertaken for recruitment, training and
development, data analysis of the survey and a list of suggestions and
recommendations for the company at the end of the entire study.
During the process of summer project we conducted activities in Residential
colonies like “Lucknow, Gonda, Balrampur etc.. The samples of the pamphlets
that were designed and were distributed for such activities have been given in the
annexure.
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
INTRODUCTION TO THE PROJECT
PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT
The purpose of the company project study was to:
Get hands on experience of recruitment in Insurance sector.
Understand the external recruitment process of Life advisors.
Applying theoretical knowledge to the recruitment practices at Bharti AXA.
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPORTANCE OF THE PROJECT
In the last few years, the market has undergone some fundamental changes in terms of
technologies, sources of recruitment, competition in the market etc. In an already
saturated market, where the practices like poaching and raiding are gaining
momentum, Sales professionals are constantly facing new challenges in one of their
most important function- Selling. They have to face and conquer various challenges to
find the best candidates for their organizations which can meet there targets.
The project focuses on the challenges facing the Sales department in the growing
insurance industry in India. Problems caused by the lack of skilled personnel and the
increasing demand for skilled employees are also discussed in the project.
In addition, challenges regarding the recruitment, training and development of
employees are examined. The project throws light on various measures taken by Sales
department in insurance organizations to improve the environment and the
productivity of employees.
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECTThe objectives were-
R- Recruitment
T- Training
D- Development
C- Coding and Licensing
I- Increase in Sales
To analysis insurance as an investment Plan.
To Analysis the pricing of different unit linked investment plans and
handling lindges with other P's of marketing.
To study the consumer perception preference and behaviour product of
Bharti AXA Life Insurance.
Team objective: To recruit more than 5 Life advisors during two months in
Lucknow region.
Individual objective: To interview prospective candidates to be recruited as LA,
assist Managers of Agency in selecting the candidates, make arrangements for
BOP’s and to assist in their training, coding and licensing thereby increasing the
sales of the company.
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
SCOPE OF THE PROJECT
The project involved recruiting life advisors for Bharti AXA Life insurance in
Lucknowregion. The task was taken up by a 6 member team and the entire
process of recruitment was divided into sub- tasks. To further it, the project also
involved arranging for preliminary training of Life advisors.
The process of recruiting and training Life advisors can be broken into the
following steps:
Identifying individuals who are willing to solicit insurance business as a
life advisor of the company.
Assisting in scheduling the training and examination of the life advisors.
Assisting and coordinating with Agency Development Manager of the
company for licensing and coding of Life Advisors.
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
THEORY ON SALES PROMOTION
By their very nature, Bharti AXA Life Insurance require higher advertisement
and sales promotion expenses than any consumer product offering measurable
performance. Different kinds of advertising and sales promotion exercises are
required to serve the needs of different classes of investors. For instance, an
aggressive ‘push’ marketing strategy is required for retail markets, where
investors are not adequately aware of the product and do not have specialized
skill in financial market, in contrast with ‘pull’ marketing strategies for the
wholesale market.
There are certain issues with reference to advertisement, publicity literature and
offer documents, which deserve attention. Most of the Life Insurance
advertisements look similar, focusing on scheme features, returns and incentives.
An investor exposed to the increasing number of Life Insurance products finds
that all the available brands are rather identical, and cannot appreciate any
distinction.
The present form of application, brochures and other literature is generally
lengthy, cumbersome and at times complicated leading to higher emphasis on
advertisement. One of the limiting factors is the regulatory framework governing
advertisements of Life Insurance products. For instance, in the offer documents,
Bharti AXA Life Insuranceare required to mention the fund objectives in clear
terms. Immediately thereafter, the first risk factor that has to be mentioned is
that there is no certainty whether the objectives of the fund will be achieved or
not. Some more relaxation in these may facilitate bringing more novelty in
advertisements, within a broad framework, without luring investors through
false promises, and will certainly improve the situation.
Another hurdle is the statutory disclaimer required to be carried along with
every advertisement. Bharti AXA Life Insurancehave to provide risk factors.
Under the present Life Insurance regulations, a prior approval by SEBI is a
must before a Life Insurance can launch its fund. In the regulation itself, a
period of one month has been provided. But in a month’s time, perhaps the
situation may so change, that the timing of launch gets affected. The requirement
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
for getting approval, which normally takes about 2 months’ time, defeats the
purpose for which the fund was designed also.
QUALITY OF SERVICE
This industry primarily sells quality of services, given that the performance
cannot be promised. It is with this attribute along with procedural simplicity,
that the fund gradually builds its brand and its class of loyal investors. The
qualities of services are broadly categorized as:
Timely services after the sale of the units; and
Continuous reporting of investment performance.
Life Insurance managers must give due attention and evaluate their
performance on each front. They may also consider an option of conducting a
service audit for controlling and improving the quality of service.
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
MARKET RESEARCH
Investment in Life Insurance is not a one-time activity. It is a continuous activity.
The same investor, if satisfied, will come to the fund again and again. When the
investor sends his application, it is not only an application, but it also contains
vital information. Most of this information if tabulated and analyzed, would
provide important insights into investor needs, preferences and behavior and
enables us to target customers need more accurately, to achieve better
penetration, deeper loyalty and reduced costs. It is in this context that direct
marketing will assume increased importance. Knowing the customer thoroughly
is of utmost importance. Unlike the consumer goods industry, it is not possible
for Life Insurance industry to test market and have pilot projects before launch.
At the same time, focusing and concentrating on a particular geographic area
where the fund has a strong presence and proven marketing network, can help
reduce network, can help reduce issue expenses and ultimately translate into
higher returns for the investor. Very little research on investor preference is
available, but the industry can collectively have a data bank, and share the
information for appropriate use.
Market Segmentation Different segments of the market have different risk-
return criteria, on the basis of which they take investment decisions. Not only
that, in a particular segment also there could be different sub-segments asking
for yet different risk-return attributes, and differential preference for various
investments attributes of financial product. Different investment attributes an
investor expects in a financial product are:
Liquidity,
Capital appreciation,
Safety of principal,
Tax treatment,
Dividend or interest income,
Regulatory restrictions,
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
Time period for investment, etc.
On the basis of these attributes the Life Insurance market may be broadly
segmented into five main segments as under.
1) Retail Segment
This segment characterizes large number of participants but low individual
volumes. It consists of individuals, Hindu Undivided Families, and firms. It may
be further sub-divided into:
i. Salaried class people;
ii. Retired people;
iii. Businessmen and firms having occasional surpluses;
iv. HUF’s for long term investment purpose.
These may be further classified on the basis of their income levels. It has been
observed that prospects in different classes of income levels have different
patterns of preferences of investment. Similarly, the investment preferences for
urban and rural prospects would differ and therefore the strategies for tapping
this segment would differ on the basis of differential life style, value and ethics,
social environment, media habits, and nature of work. Broadly, this class
requires security of the principal, liquidity, and regular income more than
capital appreciation. It lacks specialised investment skills in financial markets
and highly susceptible to mob behaviour. The marketing strategy involving
indirect selling through agency network and creating awareness through
appropriate media would be more effective in this segment.
2) Institutional Segment
This segment characterizes less number of participants, and large individual
volumes. It consists of banks, public sector units, financial institutions, foreign
institutional investors, insurance corporations, provident and pension funds.
This class normally looks for more specialized professional investment skills of
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
the fund managers and expects a structured product than a ready-made product.
The tax features and regulatory restrictions are the vital considerations in their
investment decisions. Each class of participants, such as banks, provides a niche
to the fund managers in this segment. It requires more of a personalized and
direct marketing to sustain and increase volumes.
3) Trusts
This is a highly regulated, high volumes segment. It consists of various types of
trusts, namely, charitable trusts, religious trust, educational trust, family trust,
social trust, etc. each with different objectives. Its basic investment need would
be safety of the principal, regular income and hedge against inflation rather than
liquidity and capital appreciation. This class offers vast potential to the fund
managers, if the regulators relax guidelines and allow the trusts to invest freely
in Life Insurances.
4) Non-Resident Indians
This segment consists of very risk sensitive participants, at times referred as ‘fair
weather friends.’ They need the highest cover against political and exchange
risk. They normally prefer easy exit with repatriation of income and principal.
They also hold a strategic importance as they bring in crucial foreign exchange –
a crucial input for developing country like ours. Marketing to this segment
requires special kind of products for groups of foreign countries depending upon
the provisions of tax treaties. The range of suitable products are required to
design to divert the funds flowing into bank accounts.
5) Corporates
Generally, the investment need of this segment is to park their occasional surplus
funds that earn return more than what they have to pay on account of holding
them. Alternatively, they also get surplus fund due to the seasonality of the
business, which typically become due for the payment within a year or quarter
or even a month. They need short term parking place for their fund,. This
segment offers a vast potential to specialized money market managers. Given the
relaxation in the regulatory guidelines, fund managers are expected design
products to this segment.
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
Thus, each segment and sub-segment have their own risk return preferences
forming niches in the market. Bharti AXA Life Insurancemanagers have to
analyze in detail the intrinsic needs of the prospects and design a variety of
suitable products for them. Not only is that, the products also required to be
marketed through appropriately different marketing strategies.
AD’S THE WAY
Increasing sales have given Life Insurance promoters the budget to spend more
on advertising, which has further boosted sales
The Atheists are turning believers. Life Insurances, private sector ones in
particular, who had written off advertising as the “ultimate waste of money”
have nearly tripled their press media spend from Rs.12.20 crore in the period
January to April 1998 to Rs. 31.6 crore in January to April 1999, according to
data supplied by Prudential ICICI AMC (PIAMC) and sourced from ORG-
MARG.
What’s interesting is that in this period the share of the private sector Bharti
AXA Life Insurancein the category’s total media spending has surged from 20
percent to 52 percent. This can be attributed to private sector funds (given the
data available with the Association of Bharti AXA Life Insuranceof India) seeing
an increase share of net inflows relative to the bank-sponsored counterparts in
the public sector.
For proof, take a look at some figures. PIAMC – which spent Rs. 4.5 crore on
advertising in the entire fiscal year 2000 has spent the same amount during the
first four months of the current fiscal itself. Kothari Pioneer Life Insurance
which spent a negligible amount on advertising in 1999-2000 and Rs.163 lakhs in
2001 has already spent Rs. 453 lakhs in the first three quarter.
Birla Life Insurance, which spent Rs. 1 crore on advertising in the year 1999-
2000 plans to double that amount.
Clearly advertising types have something to cheer about. But what’s caused this
sudden attitudinal shift towards advertising? According to experts, funds are
being pushed into advertising more by intermediaries like banks who are
reluctant to sell a product whose name is unfamiliar to investor. Besides, since
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
more open-ended schemes are now available, some form of ongoing support to
keep sales booming has been deemed necessary by the funds.
In the words of Mr. Rajiv Vij, vice president marketing, Templeton Asset
Management (India) Pvt. Ltd., “ The industry has discovered that advertising in
the changed climate today, when investors are most receptive to Life Insurances,
can perk up sales by anywhere between 20-40 percent.” PIAMC managing
director Ajay Srinivasan gives his rationale for stepping up marketing spends:
“we believe that the brand is an important part of the consumer’s decision to
invest in a category that is not yet clearly understood by people.” According to
the Life Insurance marketers, advertising helps bring recall when consumers are
looking at investment opportunities. Srinivasan says that tactical advertising has
raised PIAMC’s brand awareness from five percent in June 1993 to 34 percent
now, as per a recent IMRB survey.
Advertising backed by an integrated marketing and communication campaign
designed to attract investors with long term prospective has helped the fund post
a redemption-to-sales ratio of just about five percent as compared to 20-30
percent for the industry on an average.
But what mode of advertising do these funds choose? “To sell the category,”
avers VIJ, “mass media is more effective because one needs to target a large
segment of the population.” Life Insurance marketers feel that since the category
is ‘information – centric’, press is the best medium to get across one’s message.
Within the print media, most marketers feel that a combination of leading
mainline and financial newspapers complemented by finance/ business
magazines, with relevant thematic appeal and editorial content are the perfect
mix.
Direct mail is another medium, which some funds have successfully used. But
rather than sending out mailers to all and sundry, there is a need for appropriate
targeting.
Educational seminars are the final leg in the marketing and communication
process. In these, investors conditioned by advertising and hooked by an
interesting mailer can have lingering doubts clarified.
Attractive point of purchase (POP) material can also help.
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
Another very successful media niche, which has been exploited to the hilt by
funds, is intermediary magazines and newsletters. Besides the low costs of
advertising in these newsletters, these publications circulate to those who are
looking for investment opportunities and thus represent an extremely lucrative
target segment.
Advertising content by most of the funds too has undergone a marked change
from concept-selling ads dispelling myths, to selling specific schemes that meet
defined objectives/ goals.
But why is advertising suddenly working for Bharti AXA Life Insurancewhen it
doesn’t seem to have made a difference earlier? A sustained marketing strategy
instead of a few, scrappy ads is now seen to be the key to investor demand.
According to Birla Sun Life AMC chief market development officer
N.K.Sharma, advertising serves as a reminder complementing a sales push by
the distributor. “Since the distributor wasn’t ready in earlier years, advertising
then, didn’t work, “he says. Brand building, is a long-term exercise. Just like
Bharti AXA Life Insuranceadvocate that investors take a long-term approach to
investing, similarly funds need to take a long-term approach to brand building.
Fund marketers and industry observers however, caution against the danger of
selling the product for the wrong reasons. Funds need to focus on sustainable
communication. They need to build brands that strike a chord with investors by
relating to their concerns rather than selling flavour-of-the-month style. The
winning formula as industry watchers put it is the troika of performance, service
and trust for meeting long term needs or goals.
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
Changes that have taken place since the advent of the Net
Lower Costs: Distribution of funds will fall in the online trading regime
by 2003. Bharti AXA Life Insurancecould bring down their
administrative costs to 0.75% if trading is done on- line. As per SEBI
regulations, bond funds can charge a maximum of 2.25% and equity
funds can charge 2.5% as administrative fees. Therefore if the
administrative costs are low, the benefits are passed down and hence
Bharti AXA Life Insuranceare able to attract mire investors and increase
their asset base.
Better advice: Bharti AXA Life Insurancecould provide better advice to
their investors through the Net rather than through the traditional
investment routes where there is an additional channel to deal with the
Brokers. Direct dealing with the fund could help the investor with their
financial planning.
In India, brokers could get more Net savvy than investors and could help
the investors with the knowledge through get from the Net.
New investors would prefer online: Bharti AXA Life Insurancecan target
investors who are young individuals and who are Net savvy, since
servicing them would be easier on the Net.
India has around 1.6 million net users who are prime target for these
funds and this could just be the beginning. The Internet users are going to
increase dramatically and Bharti AXA Life Insuranceare going to be the
best beneficiary. With smaller administrative costs more funds would be
mobilized .A fund manager must be ready to tackle the volatility and will
have to maintain sufficient amount of investments which are high
liquidity and low yielding investments to honor redemption.
Net based advertisements: There will be more sites involved in ads and
promotion of Life Insurances. In the U.S. sites like AOL offer detailed
research and financial details about the functioning of different funds and
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
their performance statistics. a is witnessing a genesis in this area . There
are many sites such as indiainfoline.com and indiafn.com that are doing
something similar and providing advice to investors regarding their
investments.
Reasons for bad performance of Bharti AXA Life Insurance
Most investors associate Bharti AXA Life Insurancewith Master gain, Monthly
Equity Plans of SBI Life Insurance, UTI and Canbank Life Insurance and of
course Morgan Stanley Growth Fund. This is so because these funds truly had
participation from masses, with a fund like Morgan Stanley having more than 1
million investors. Investors feel that after 5 years, Morgan Stanley Growth Fund
units still trade below the original IPO price of Rs 10.
It is incorrect to think that all Bharti AXA Life Insurancehave performed
poorly. If one looks at some income funds, they have come with reasonable
returns. It is only the performance of equity funds, which has been poor. Their
poor performance has been amplified by the closed end discounts i.e. units of
these funds quoting at sharp discounts to their NAV resulting in an even poorer
return to the investor.
One must remember that a Life Insurance does not provide assured returns and
neither can it "manufacture" returns out of thin air. Returns provided by Bharti
AXA Life Insuranceare a function of the returns in the underlying asset class in
which the fund invests. Good funds can beat returns in their asset class to some
extent but that’s all. E.g. take the case of a sector specific fund like a pharma
fund which invests only in shares of pharmaceutical companies. If the Govt.
comes with new regulation that severely restricts the pricing freedom of these
companies resulting in negative outlook for the sector, the prices of all stocks in
the sector could fall substantially resulting in severe erosion in the NAV of the
fund. No one can do anything about it. A good fund manager would probably sell
part of the fund before prices fall too much and wait for an opportune time to
reinvest at lower levels once the dust has settled. In that case, the NAV of the
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
fund would fall to a lesser extent – but fall it will. If the investor in the fund has
invested in some stocks in the sector on his own, in all probability, his personal
investments may have depreciated to a larger extent.
Most Life Insurance managers took some time to realize the changed
circumstances wherein the open economy ushered in by the liberalization took
the full impact of the global deflation in commodity prices. This problem was
compounded further by the Asian crisis after which cheap imports from Asia
caused severe pressure on profits.
One more issue is that the fund managers in many funds were not
"professionally qualified and experienced". This is especially true of some of the
funds floated by nationalized banks. Some of these individuals were transferred
from the parent organization and did not really know much about investment
management.
Lastly, investors would do well to have a look at the investments, which they
made on their own. In most cases, they would have done much worse than the
Life Insurances. We have received numerous requests for advice from individual
investors on what to do about their own investments. If that were any indicator,
investors would have done really badly.
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
Market Share of Bharti AXA Life Insurancein India
S.No. Asset Management Company AUM
(Rs. In Crore)
Market Share
( in %)
1. ABN Amro 1572.1 0.94
2 Alliance Capital 1341.91 0.80
3. Benchmark 495.85 0.30
4. Birla Sun Life 10722.37 6.38
5. BoB 124.85 0.07
6. CanBank 1895.46 1.13
7. Cholamandalam 910.79 0.54
8. Deutsche 2317.65 1.38
9. DSP ML 7074.2 4.21
10. Escorts 122.62 0.07
11. Fidelity 1495.4 0.89
12. Franklin Templeton 17079.3 10.17
13. Global Insurance Co. 122.09 0.07
14. HDFC 15709.86 9.35
15. HSBC 7569.61 4.51
16. ING Vysya 1925.17 1.15
17. JM Financial 3975.26 2.37
18. Kotak Mahindra 7296.86 4.34
19. LIC 2872.26 1.71
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
20. Morgan Stanely 1640.47 0.98
21. Principal 611.5 3.64
22. Pru ICICI 17196.43 10.24
23. Reliance 10129.89 6.03
24. Sahara 300 0.18
25. SBI 7182.29 4.28
26. Standard Chartered 8143 4.85
27. Sundram 1871.42 1.11
28. TATA 8164.23 4.86
29. Taurus 176.27 0.10
30. UTI MF 22443.74 13.36
Total AUM 167986.85 100.00
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
THEORY ON RECRUITMENT & TRAINING
The Recruitment Process: Recruitment refers to the process of sourcing, screening,
and selecting people for a job or vacancy within an organization. Though individuals
can undertake individual components of the recruitment process, mid- and large-size
organizations generally retain professional recruiters. These are the main stages in
recruitment.
A) Sourcing: Sourcing involves
1) Advertising- It is a common part of the recruiting process, often
encompassing multiple media, such as the Internet, general newspapers, job ad
newspapers, professional publications, window advertisements, job centers, and
campus graduate recruitment programs; and
2) Recruiting Research- which is the proactive identification of relevant talent
who may not respond to job postings and other recruitment advertising methods done
in #1. This initial research for so-called passive prospects, also called name-
generation, results in a list of prospects who can then be contacted to solicit interest,
obtain a resume/CV, and be screened (see below).
B) Screening & Selection:
Suitability for a job is typically assessed by looking for skills, e.g. communication,
typing, and computer skills. Qualifications may be shown through résumés, job
applications, interviews, educational or professional experience, the testimony of
references, or in-house testing, such as for software knowledge, typing skills,
numeracy, and literacy, through psychological tests or employment testing.
In some countries, employers are legally mandated to provide equal opportunity in
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
4.4.1 Email or Telephone call to unsuccessful candidates.
4.4.2 Technical Manager approval for a start up date.
4.4.3 Email or Telephone call to successful candidates.
4.4.4 HRM prepares a letter of appointment.
4.5 Selection Process
4.5.1 Starts with the preliminary interview.
4.5.2 Ends with contract of employment.
4.5.3 Different process for different organization.
4.5.4 Different process for different job in same organization.
4.5.5 Selection easy for shop floor workers.
4.5.6 Selection of managers are crucial.
4.5.7 Affected by internal & external environment.
4.5.8 Mutual decision making.
5. Filling up of compulsory IRDA form: A NAAF (New advisor application
form) is to be filled up by the candidate. Provided as annexure.
6. Scheduling of the training: Guidelines as per provisions of IRDA Act for
training of life advisors (effective from 31st October 2004).
6.1 The applicant shall have to undergo at least 100 hours’ practical training in life
or general insurance business which may be spread over three to four weeks,
where such applicant is seeking license for the first time to act as an insurance
agent.
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
6.2 The training duration should be minimum 18 working days excluding Sundays
and holidays.
6.3 No product training/market survey should be included into this hundred 100
hours training. The product training, if any, to be given by the insurance
company should be over and above the minimum training hours prescribed by
the Authority
6.4 The attendance record of the trainees should be maintained at the Institute for
necessary inspection at any given point of time.
6.5 In case of short-fall of attendance, extra class may be permitted but the extra
hours may be specified separately with proper attendance and details of
faculty.
6.6 Every Institute should have at least one qualified permanent faculty who is an
Associate or Fellow from the Insurance Institute of India for each stream i.e.
for Life and Non-Life.
6.7 The attendance register of the faculty members should be maintained at the
training institutes.
6.8 The record of the payment made to faculty should be maintained at the
training institute i.e. batch-wise payment detail should be maintained.
6.9 The faculty should provide details of the other Institutes with whom they have
been empanelled as part-time/guest faculty.
6.10 Register should be maintained at the training institute giving details of batches
completed, strength of the each batch, number of candidates decertified, name
of the sponsored insurer and details of faculty who imparted the training with
dates.
6.11 The seating capacity of each class-room should not exceed 40.
6.12 The fresh accreditation will be given on need basis after assessing the needs of
the particular city/town.
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
6.13 The initial approval will be for a period of 3 years and consideration of further
renewal up to 3 years would depend on the satisfactory compliance of
requirements of accreditation.
6.14 The insurance companies would regularly send their officials to oversee the
proper conduct of the training at the institutes and would not sponsor
candidates to those institutes that are not maintaining the required standards of
and facilities for the training.
6.15 The training institute must display the certificate of accreditation to impart
training issued by the Authority at the training institute.
6.16 The Institute should not allow a franchisee to conduct courses on its behalf
even if the faculty is that of the Institute. The Institute should conduct the
training on its own premises or hired premises with proper infrastructure.
6.17 No marketing fee/consultancy fee payment is permitted for getting the training
batches.
6.18 It will be the responsibility of the Insurance Company to check the status of
the institute before sponsoring any candidates for training.
6.19 In case of mofussil areas or the cities where there are no accredited institutes
and an insurance company intends to appoint agents, it will be the
responsibility of the insurance company to conduct training.
6.20 The Institutes must keep with them one set of records of the training at the
place where the training is being imparted.
6.21 The Institute should confine its activities only to the place/city for which it has
been given the approval. No training outside the said place/city is permitted.
6.22 The Institutes must submit a copy of the lease deed/rent agreement at the time
of seeking fresh accreditation/renewal/change of address of the institute.
6.23 On successful completion of training the candidates get COT i.e. the
Completion of Training Certificate by Bharti AXA.
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
7. Conduction of examination:
7.1 Syllabus: the syllabus prescribed by the authority for life insurance agents is
given in annexure 6. it is indicative and not exhaustive. The self study course
material developed by institute in book form only the broad basis of
examination which is available for sale with the institute and its associated
institutes. A candidate is expected to study the course material in depth and
also assimilate general information relevant to the subject. Candidate is also
expected to know up-to-date developments in the insurance industry.
7.2 Pattern of examination: normally objective type multiple choice
questions are asked. A candidate is required to indicate the correct alternative.
A candidate is required to secure at least 50% marks to be declared successful.
But the institute reserves the right to change, the pattern of question paper for
the examinations without notice to anyone to test the knowledge of the
candidate as it deems fit.
7.3 Mode of examination: The test can be taken up in either of the two
modes- online or offline. Depending on the mode of testing the training is also
arranged. For online mode the training is also done online whereas in offline
mode the training is done in the class room format of. The duration of
classroom training is 6+2 days. Where 6 days are reserved for compulsory
IRDA training and the remaining 2 days are for product based training.
7.4 Admission card: No candidate will be allowed to appear for the
examination unless he/ she produces the admission card. The admission card
will be issued by Bharti AXA. Besides admission card candidate must possess
COT issued by Bharti AXA.
7.5 Sample questions: a list of sample questions is given as annexure.
8. Final selection as Life Advisor: the final selection as Life advisor is
communicated to the candidate.
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE1. Name:2. Age:3. Sex: Male Female4. Occupation:
Government Employee Private Employee Student Proprietor Others
5. Number of Years spent in Pune: Less than 1 year 1-2 Years 2-3 Years 4-5 Years
6. Marital Status: Married Unmarried
7. Do you live in joint family? Yes No
8. If married do you have children, how many? 1 child 2 children
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
3 children 4 children
9. Which is your biggest concern for future? Child education Retirement Child’s marriage Medical illness
10. Have you made provision for future liabilities? Yes No
11. Given a chance would you like to make extra money? Yes No
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
Analysis 1
Age of respondents: the following is the distribution of age of the respondents.
Age <25 Years 25-35 Years 35-45 Years >45 Years
Number of
individuals
584 396 73 47
Less than 25 years of age individuals constitute 53% of sample size.
Whereas individuals with more than 45 years of age constitute only 4%.
Interpretation: sample which has been surveyed is dominated by younger
individuals.
Age of respondents
584
396
73 47
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
<25 years 25-35 years 35-45 years >45 years
Age
Num
ber o
f ind
ivid
uals
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
Analysis 2
Sex of respondents
Sex of Respondent
male, 814, 74%
female, 286, 26%
male female
Interpretation: Sample is dominated by males which constitute 74% of total size.
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
Analysis 3
Occupation of Respondents
Occupation Student Pvt.
Employee
Govt.
Employee
Proprietor Others
Number 436 395 87 135 47
govt. employee, 87
pvt. Employee, 395
student, 436
proprietor, 135
others, 47
govt. employee
pvt. Employee
student
proprietor
others
Interpretation: Sample is dominated by students and Private Employees (76%).
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
Analysis 4Number of Years spent in lucknow.
Interpretation: Most of the individuals (less than 1 yr) have come to Lucknow to
study or work. The individuals with 4-5 years spent in Lucknow or more are basically
localites.
Number of years spent in Lucknow
468
158
231
243
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
less than 1 year
1-2 years
2-3 years
4-5 years
num
ber o
f yea
rs
number of individuals
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
Analysis 5
Marital status:
Marital status
368, 33%
732, 67%
married
unmarried
Interpretation: two thirds of the sample size is Unmarried people.
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
Analysis 6
Question: Do you stay in a joint family in Lucknow?
Yes – 387 No- 713
Family type of respondent
387
713
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
staying in joint family not staying in joint family
Interpretation: Almost 65% of Individuals are staying either alone or in a nuclear
family. They are basically students or individuals who have come to Lucknow for job
opportunities.
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
Analysis 7
Question: If you are married, do you have any children? How many?
Number of children 1 child 2 children 3 children 4 children
Number of
individuals
97 72 15 1
Number of children if married.
97
72
15
10
20
40
60
80
100
120
1 child 2 children 3 children 4 children
Num
ber o
f ind
ivid
uals
Interpretation: Only 185 respondents have children, of which 50% have only one
child.
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
Analysis 8
Question: What is your biggest concern for future?
Biggest concern for future
child education, 433, 39%
retirement, 217, 20%
child's marriage, 103, 9%
medical illness, 347, 32%
child education
retirement
child's marriage
medical illness
Interpretation: medical illness (32%) & child education (39%) are major concern
for future.
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
Analysis 9
Question: Have you made provision for future liabilities?
Yes: 304 No: 796
Have you made provision for future Liabilities.
yes, 304, 28%
no, 796, 72%
Interpretation: 72% of the individuals have made no provision for the future
liabilities.
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
Analysis 10
Question: Given a chance would you like to make extra money?
Yes: 833 No: 267
Given a chance would you like to make extra money?
yes, 833, 76%
no, 267, 24%
Interpretation: 76% of the individuals would like to make extra money. Such
individuals are identified and then they are motivated become Life advisors for an
extra source of income.
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
FINDINGS
The findings are based on the survey undertaken and interview of individuals for the procurement of life advisors.
The major findings are:1. The Individuals finally selected as Life advisors constitute 0.72% of Sample
size.2. 47.05% of the Individuals who underwent the training cleared the exam.3. 3.30% of the individuals who wanted to make extra money could finally be
selected for the Job.
Total number of Individuals surveyed -1100
Among the individuals surveyed, the individuals who were
willing to make extra money- 833
Among the individuals who were willing to make extra money, those with Q score greater than 3-
242
Among the Individuals with scores
> than Q3, those interviewed- 30
Individuals selected for IRDA training
17
8Finally selected Life advisors
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
SUGGESTIONS
The fee charged from candidates as application money should be waved off. It
should rather be paid by the Insurance Company.
The strict training schedule should be made flexible. For a person who is Q4
or Q5 on score it is difficult for him/ her to be able to come for training
especially in case when he/ she is already working.
The incentive system should be more attractive to motivate more and more
people for becoming Life Advisors.
More and more promotional activities should be held for enhanced brand
building which will facilitate revenue generation and increased satisfaction
leading to customer retention in the long run.
There is need to have in place a properly managed performance appraisal
system even for life advisors that would contribute to effective retention of
personnel.
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
SOLUTIONS
The usual procedure to go about the project is to conduct the Group Field
Activity (GFA). In that, the trainees are sent to the market to gather data and leads.
They have only the survey questionnaire with them. We conducted this for the first 2
weeks. But the results were not up to the mark. The main reasons have been cited in
the limitations. To counter the hurdles faced, we came up with the following
solutions:
1. Promotion:
While interacting with the prospects, we had to convey the idea orally. The
retention time is very little as the respondents are in some hurry. Besides, the GFA, is
something such as a brochure could be handed out to the prospects, it would stay on
their minds. The Brochure would contain all the major details such as the benefits, the
compensation, the work flexibility and the requirements of being an Life Advisor.
Thus we designed a brochure/pamphlet on the same lines. But being trainees,
the expenses had to be borne by us. So we decided to print the brochure as flyers on
cheap recycled paper. We decided to distribute these flyers while taking survey.
Along with distributing the flyers, we decided to put the flyers
along with our contact information in the newspapers of the area. For this, we
contacted the local newspaper vendor. This gave us higher number of leads as we
were approaching the right target prospect.
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
2. Event:
To generate more leads, we required to attract more people. This could be
done by a small event at some school or a social place like a mall or a shop. We
decided to approach a nearby primary school and offered to hold a drawing
competition for the students. The holiday season was nearing and this would mean
that more students would participate. The parents would come to the event as well and
hence we could generate leads.
3. Initial Screening Forms:
These are the forms which calculate the Q scores of the probable prospects. So
we decided to take the Initial screening form (ISF) questionnaire and get it filled by
the prospects in the first interaction itself so that we could shortlist candidates for the
second process. This saved time considerably as we did not have to go into details to
screen out the candidates. Now we could calculate the Q score directly.
4. Secondary Database:
We approached our respective guides to provide us with the database of the
current and past customers of the nearby areas. That way, we could hold a telephonic
conversation and hence generate leads.
Along with the GFA, the aforesaid actions helped us gather more leads for the
Business Opportunity Presentation.
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
RESULT
After undertaking the entire process of questionnaire survey, individuals were
analyzed on the basis of their Q scores.
Those individuals whose Q score was greater than 3 were considered better
prospects to be Life advisors.
30 individuals were Interviewed.
17 individuals were selected for IRDA training.
8 individuals successfully completed the training and passed the Exam and
were Finally selected as Life advisors at Bharti AXA Life Insurance, Gomti
Nagar, Lucknow.
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors
For the purpose of this report, it was found that the questionnaire and interview
questions, employee manual were sufficient to obtain the information required to
analyze the process of requirement and selection within the organization. It has
been found that the organization has a sound understanding of what process
need to be used in order to achieve effective recruitment and selection of Life
advisors. In addition to this, there are several recommendations for the
organization.
For any firm to be successful the main objectives should be:
Sustainable long-term growth,
Stable income and
Asset preservation;
Need to emphasize quality and diversification in both equity and fixed
income asset classes.
Focus should be on long-term consistent investment performance.
Emphasis towards training and enhancing skills of recruits needs to be
more.
Invest more in current staff than in Recruitment:
Conduct internal audit.
Be Creative
Understand and manage salary:
The general perception of life insurance has to change in India before progress is
made in this field.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Project Report on Sales Promotion, Recruitment, Training and Development of Life Advisors