Mr Ravi Krishnamurthy is the President (Zone I), at SBI Life Insurance Co. Ltd. He holds the responsibility for deploying key strategies and functional guidance to all areas in the company, besides overseeing the achievement of business and operational goals across the Northern States - Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Delhi, Punjab, J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, and parts of UP & Uttarakhand.

Q. Insurance companies are into stress when you think will this end? 

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has not only affected businesses but also societies and communities at large. It has changed the way businesses used to operate and introduced a new normal which is being followed by individuals and organizations to maintain continuity. While the new normal has presented its own challenges, it has also provided various opportunities to re-invent and re-imagine the supply chain. There has been a refreshingly changed orientation to technology and digital platforms are proving to be helpful at this hour. From selling new policies or settling claims, digitalization seems to be a game changer.  But most importantly, it is the quality of the human resources which is proving to be assets to steer the organizations in these times.

At SBI Life Insurance, there is nothing more important to us than the safety and well-being of our SBI Life family members, which include our customers, employees, bank partners, distributors (Life Mitras) and the society, we serve. Our customers and distributors, Life Mitras have faced tough times safekeeping the health of their families and managing financial security. Hence, as an insurance company, our ability to maintain high-quality service and stability for our customers is a must, needless to say, while also ensuring the safety of our employees.

From where we stand right now, on the front-line of this battle against COVID-19, we are really proud of our focus to ensure full business continuity. We were sufficiently prepared to address the crisis situation and therefore were able to provide continuity in our critical business operations from the time of the lockdown. Our most valued human resources have come to the fore to develop various digital tools and technologies and our biggest asset i.e. our employees and distributors are wholeheartedly adapting to new ways of technology and various ways of working and communicating with customers. We are geared to work on the virtual digital space by using our digital tools like M-Connect which provides the distributors with easy access to information pertaining to sales brochures, uploading of supportive documents, product videos and Smart Advisor app that provides information & support to the front line warriors (sales force) for their key business data, etc. to ensure that they are able to timely respond to customer queries and effectively close the deal.

Apart from this, we have also provided sufficient technology support to our back office especially customer care where the teams are working 24*7 in this situation and providing the best possible solution to the customers. We have equipped our employees, distributors and partners with necessary digital tools. Our customer service portal is designed to easily assist customers to complete their needs digitally. Besides our frontline employees, distributors and bank employees are encouraging customers to use our digital applications for their policy related needs. 

While the situation around is evolving and demands all of the human race to adapt to the changing environment, we at SBI Life, are proud to have invested over time in a foundation of committed sincere employees and knowledgeable and valued Life Insurance distributors ( Life Mitras) , Corporate Agents, Brokers and good Banks as our partners for distribution. This is our biggest asset and aim to seamlessly offer continuity of business by consciously maintaining high service standards including high standard of Information Security which is equally important through the crisis.

Q. There is a lot of redemption pressure on life insurance companies, what is the status of your company?

Life Insurance product is positioned as either a long term investment product or protection product. In both the scenario it’s a tool to take care of your planned expenses in future or safeguard against uncertainties. The current scenario has actually created more awareness amongst the consumers regarding importance of having a Life Insurance Policy. 

Our Company has one of lowest mis-selling ratio and surrender are also lowest as compared to most of the industry players. 

This is due to the strong standards of ethics we have laid down since inception. We have taken lots of initiative in the past as continue to do so even now to build strong quality of frontline staff interaction with prospects and policy holders so as to enable them understand the benefit and importance of continuing with their respective insurance policies. 

The Company also uses various data analytics to persuade customers to continue policies, offer them revival plans for their lapsed policies and thus ensure long term continuation of association with us. This has helped us limit surrenders to a large extent. We had many years back set up dedicated vertical to ensure collection of renewals knowing that we must play an active role to help customers continue their policies.

SBI Life Insurance was first amongst the players to implement Pre-Issuance Welcome Call (PIWC) for all the customers to ensure that the customer has understood the terms and conditions of the policy and there is no mis-selling or mis understanding. All these steps have assured that even in current scenario, the renewal premium grew by 30% and persistency ratio of 25th and 37th month have shown improvements over the previous quarter.

Q.  What is your projection for the financial year 2020-21 for your company? 

We’ve been in the lockdown for a little over five months and situation is quite fluid in specific city/area based on the re-lockdown, so it is too early to comment from a long term business point of view. We continue to focus on improving our protection business and provide complete “Financial Immunity” to our customers by offering them the right insurance solutions through our comprehensive product portfolio. As we see the consumers focus shifting more towards building physical and financial preparedness for the uncertain times, we continue to develop strategies to address their growing protection needs.  With this, we are also looking at adding few need-based protection products to our portfolio. 

Another focus area is to persistently stay connected with the customers through our intuitive digital platforms which has allowed us to carry out our critical business operations as usual. This was possible due to our well-designed business continuity plans and till date we are able to complete our sales remotely and address customer queries. This gives us an opportunity to further enhance the productivity levels in the long run and smoothly function without any interruptions. 

Apart from this, we are actively making use of AI, Data Analytics and lead management for our agency and banca channels which will help them continue with their business. We are also open to adding valuable strategic partners like Banks and other financial companies to our distribution network so that we make insurance easily accessible to the consumers across the country. 

With a customer-focus approach, our endeavor is to build a sustainable business that can effectively manage such disruptions. Today, the overall uncertainty has made an average consumer more cautious and migrate to short-term solutions to manage the unpredictability of the situation. So, our responsibility in guiding them towards the right financial solutions has become much more pertinent. 

Q. At what percentage do you think the Life insurance industry will grow in the financial year 2020-21 and why?

Looking at the scenario, there is surge in demand for protection plans, guaranteed saving plans and annuity products. But from two months there is positive movement in ULIP too. As of now it’s slightly difficult to ascribe any growth number for complete financial year. But in month of July, the industry has grown by 7% as compared to July’19. So we are hopeful that this momentum should be maintained.   

Q. Due to Covid-19, consumer behaviour is undergoing immense changes, what trends have you been noticing?

The ongoing pandemic is having a huge psychological impact as consumers are particularly concerned about their health, finances and life in general. Their attitudes, approach and purchasing habits are evolving with the changing environment. We can see that the need for protecting the family from uncertainties is felt more deeply than in the past. With physical wellbeing becoming a priority, there has been a steep uptake in staying fit and maintaining immunity levels. On the other hand, the pandemic has led to a significant shift in how consumers perceived the insurance category. With risk to future cash flows and life uncertainties in focus, insurance has become far more significant than ever. 

Consumers are looking at insurance as a long- term protection- cum-investment tool. To build financial immunity , consumers need to have a comprehensive insurance solutions that addresses the growing long term saving and protection needs which offers amounts in right milestones and safeguards the family from uncertainties towards health and life and income. In line with this change, we aim at providing complete ‘Financial Immunity’ to the consumers through our comprehensive need-based insurance solutions. We are skilling our Life Mitras and our distribution partners on these lines. 

Another behavioural change was that insurance traditionally has been a product sold face-to-face. When the lockdown was announced in March, there were concerns that distributors won't be able to connect with the customers and provide face-to-face insurance advisory. Digitalization has been a game changer for life insurers and consumers. Distributors with the help of intuitive customer-friendly digital applications are constantly keeping in touch with the customers and on the other hand, customers who earlier were hesitant to use digital platforms, are now willingly making transactions online or buying insurance with an open mind.   

We see customers returning back to life insurance and there has been encouraging trends towards the buying behavior with respect to Life Insurance. 

Q. You mentioned about financial immunity what does that mean and how can an individual build a robust one?

Financial Immunity means to be able to protect the financial security & stability of the family from potential risks. Since the current situation has led to an increase in various risks related to health & life in general, the benefits and importance of building a strong financial immunity is well understood. Therefore one of the ways through which a strong financial immunity can be built is by having a comprehensive Term insurance that addresses the growing needs of the individual. A Term plan with an inbuilt Critical Illness cover can help avoid a catastrophic financial event. So it important to ask oneself all possible questions to arrive at an adequate insurance coverage. While there may be many financial instruments that helps build wealth for an individual but it is only through a Life Insurance one can stay protected from the uncertain times.

http://www.insurancealertss.com//Insurance/Service/%20INDIAS%20BEST%20INSURANCE%20AGENT%20AWARDS%202020