With the entry of private players into the sector, the insurance landscape is witnessing a revolution. This article discusses their impact in the areas of product knowledge dissemination, creating new markets and customer acquisition. The author accentuates the significance of the role of CRM as a vital tool with reference to business expansion and service through intermediaries.
With the opening up of the economy, a number of private sector insurance companies have joined the fray and are offering a plethora of products and services. Knowledge dissemination has been propelled by electronic and mass media campaigns. Today's knowledge-savvy consumer is challenging the Indian retail insurance industry to redefine itself. In the current competitive scenario, for an insurance company to survive competition, succeed and profit, there is hardly any option but to learn from and actively respond to consumers' needs. A recent headline in one of India's leading dailies caught everyone's attention `LIC's clerical staff to don a new avatar'. LIC is trying out a scheme, which no PSU has attempted before. The company is encouraging its employees to don the mantle of marketing agents, armed with the CRM mantra.
According to Kotler, CRM principally revolves around marketing. It involves integrating information gathered from all distribution channels and analyzing the data with the help of IT to understand customer behavior. The continuous analysis and improvements over a period should result in enhancing customers' lifetime value with the firm. |
