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Private life insurer Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance plans to launch two products every month under the traditional product regime, in place since January. Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Anuj Agarwal, in an interview with M Saraswathy, talks about the company’s growth strategy. Edited excerpts:
The company has planned to file two products a month. Why did you adopt this strategy?
It will be at least two products a month. We want to complete all our filings by
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Now, we are trying to prepare products for the specific needs of customers to make these more competitive.
For the online channel, we are looking at a model through which we can increase web traffic and tie it with a lead management system. We already have a system in place, but we want to activate this. We will also consider tying up with web aggregators.
Have all the products under the new regime been filed?
We have used it to revamp our product portfolio through file-and-use. It offers better surrender value and higher death benefits. Also, products are better for customers. A shift to a new regime is never easy. This was the case here, too.
At the moment, we are focusing on training agents, explaining product features to all intermediaries and launching as many products as possible. We have 16 new products---eight on the group side and eight on the life side. We will launch more products in the micro segments and specific child and health plans. We are planning to complete our product bouquet by June.
Bajaj Allianz has seen a drop in the number of policies sold by agents. But the premia generated are higher. Why?
Our productivity is higher compared to others in the sector. We have reduced some lesser-performing intermediaries and sales managers and that has increased the size. Small policies have been reduced, too. So, while we are not writing big-ticket policies, we are writing fewer small policies. By removing these small policies, which were expected to lapse, our persistency will improve.
Persistency has been a concern and a constant focus area. What are the steps being taken to bring about an improvement on this front?
We have undertaken several projects to improve persistency. We have tied up with firms to have a customer database. We have introduced an interactive voice response system; customers can pay through phones. We have also launched a customer contactability project and have tied up with five-six banks so that renewal premia can be paid at any of their branches.
For banking partners, we are trying to be far more automated. If we are able to link one server to another, it will reduce the time taken for processing. Through technology, we want to reduce costs and improve the experience of customers. For the micro-insurance segment, we are bringing out e-KYC (know your customer) and identification through Aadhaar.
Remuneration is the primary factor behind agent attrition. What incentives do you plan to provide agents to retain them?
The only way to deal with this issue is to motivate agents. We are thinking of a long-term health plan to be sold only by agents. Agent attrition is also linked to sales manager attrition. Therefore, if we reduce that, agent attrition could be contained. Sales managers help them close a sale and earn commissions.
