In addition to the traditional sales channel of insurance via agents, the insurance distribution channel through banks (Bancassurance) had gradually become a trend and an important transformation of the sales strategy of the non-life insurance companies. However, along with the positive aspects of the Bankcassurance model, many bankers were still anxious about how to make the source of customers not exhausted. As a customer using many non-life insurance products of different companies, also a banker with many years of selling insurance, the author would like to share some experiences from practical experience as follows.
Firstly, because the starting point was not a professional insurance consultant, the first customer system that might also be important for many new insurance bankers were relatives and friends. However, many people in the industry had to recognise the fact that dealing with this kind of customer was very difficult, which the author shared in the article ‘Banker sells insurance: how to complete the contract with fastidious customers?’. Furthermore, even selling to relatives and friends because of compassion, many bankers still worried that when fully exploiting this customer system, who could be other customers?
The concept of relatives and friends was comprehensive and also grew over time. This meant that your relatives and friends would increase over time. These days, they participated in insurance for themselves; in the future, they would be able to buy for their children and grandchildren. And so on, if the dealer knew how to take care of his customers, keep a good relationship with them, there was no exhaustion of relatives and friends. Moreover, in an increasingly flatter world, sellers’ dynamism and positive energy would help them to extend their friend list. The problem was whether they could develop and build multi-dimensional and resonant relationships between their friends.
Secondly, customers at the counter were also a good source for bankers. The advantage of banks was that they had more products and services to sell to customers than pure insurance companies. For example, a customer who deposited, borrowed money, studied abroad, bought and sold gold, exchanged foreign currencies, guaranteed, etc. could also be a customer of insurance products. Besides, the banker had full customer information, even the financial health and many personal content, personalities and preferences of customers without having to find customers by calling depending on luck like insurance companies. At the counter, sellers would find it easier to advise the customer and introduce the insurance products rather than knocking the door or phoning customers. When customers sit and listen to the seller’s advice, run the charts as if they had a 50 percent chance of success.
Thirdly, it was the source of new customers by external marketing, which was a real source of ‘endless’ buyers with bankers. The question was how bankers could get acquainted, collect information, and sell insurance to these completely unfamiliar customers; or, how not to falter because of the refusal, bluntly chasing customers. It was clear that bankers should learn from the counsellors sold through traditional agency channels. Typically, insurance company counsellors called 50 to 100 customers a day and got about five appointments. For bank staffs, although having available customer system with full phone numbers and addresses, they seemed not to exploit telesales channel to sell insurance.
In fact, the marketing perseverance of consultants in insurance companies was much better than bankers. Insurance company consultants had long working hours, a few lunch breaks, weekends, holidays, etc. Whenever receiving an appointment with a customer, regardless of time, space, geographic distance, they all tried to arrange to meet their buyers. If bankers could sell insurance with the spirit of by all means like professional insurance sales, they undoubtedly could do better than insurance agencies. But once the banker failed to sell insurance, salaries and regimes still did not affect much. It seemed that the motivation and determination to sell were not strong enough.
For a completely new customer, it was not easy for sellers to get acquainted, ask for personal information, income, and to run the illustration. Before inviting them to be customers, the seller should be the customers who bought their products first. If they sold groceries, soft drinks, then you should buy the product, supporting them a few times to get acquainted and slowly exploit. Because usually, no owner could refuse when being asked about their name, phone number after the seller had bought their goods. Even all the people who were providing daily products and services could also be potential customers that the sellers sometimes forget to exploit. For example, if one visited a milk store, the milk seller might also be a client, or he might provide some useful information.
Fourthly, it was the exploitation of existing customers. Unlike the channel advisors, bankers did not seem to exploit well customers who bought insurance in previous years. Therefore, the rate of customers participating in the second and third contracts was minimal. For customers to buy more or introduce relatives and friends to join, the banker must have an excellent customer care regime persistently and regularly. However, the banker had too many customers, who were deposit customers, loan customers, card customers, studying abroad, not just customers who bought insurance. Therefore, a banker needed to fully exploit cross-selling to facilitate customer care for subsequent insurance contracts.
For example, instead of selling only life insurance, bankers could sell more credit cards, deposits, loans, studying abroad services, gold, foreign currencies, etc. to maintain a good, long-term relationship. Each banker needed to have a notebook to take care of each customer in the most detailed and complete manner of personal information, family, hobbies, etc. This was a critical source of customers not only at present but also many years from then. Many customers reflected that after selling the contract, the consultants were often indifferent and had almost no contact with the customers besides paying the premium.
Finally, perhaps the leading cause of customer exhaustion was the energy and aspiration of every banker. Many friends, after a few failed attempts to sell insurance to relatives and friends, felt like losing morale, no longer wanted to restart. Bankers should not focus only on one customer for the whole month and then giving up, feeling disappointed when being denied. On the contrary, many bankers had closed a few contracts and given themselves a break because they had met the yearly target. This was very dangerous because the opponent would exploit the customer source during their break. And once selling non-life insurance only for key performance indicator (KPI) or just for commissions but not with a passion, a genuine aspiration would hinder the development.
