Insurance Is Not Just About Sales Targets

I was delighted with my role and the responsibilities assigned along with it. The freedom to talk to a vast number of people in the company, the partner bank and the competitor banks allowed me to learn a lot during these 2 months. Being an intern in the dual domain of strategy and marketing helped me in making my experience richer. I had the privilege to ask as many questions as I wanted which helped me gain an in-depth understanding of the bancassurance model.

Pardon me, for assuming everyone reading this article would be aware of what bancassurance is. Let me help you with this. It is basically a mode of the channel for selling insurance by the insurance companies through banks which have a large, loyal customer base and is regulated by IRDAI. In layman terms, banks now act as agents for the insurance companies earning commissions for every policy they sell.

Visiting multiple branches in Mumbai became an everyday routine for me. I quickly learned all the possible modes of travel in Mumbai. The famous Mumbai local indeed proved to be the lifeline for all my journeys. I was able to collect information during the day and explore the city that never sleeps, at night.

As if Mumbai was not enough, this already beautiful experience was bolstered by my visit to Jaipur. My organization wanted that I have a thorough understanding of the operations of our partner bank that was majorly based out of Rajasthan. It was motivating that the company was interested in providing all possible resources just to build my cognizance on the project. The trip to Jaipur helped me a lot and I got to see a completely different perspective of the partnership. The demographic differences in the two cities, the level of engagement in the bank headquarters, every little thing helped me in my project.

I came up with various marketing strategies for the bancassurance channel that would cater to different demographics. This was necessary because the bank had branches in various states. and not in capital cities such as Jaipur and Mumbai. During my internship, I interviewed more than 100 people on the field, some via call, and some by personal meetings, which helped me provide an analysis of the current level of engagement of the company with the partner bank and the process gaps. Accordingly, I provided insights so that those gaps could be bridged.

I enjoyed myself to the fullest, be it work or leisure. I had an amazing company of some good co-interns who helped me whenever I needed their assistance. One thing that I would suggest to new interns is to network with mentors of other interns too. That is the only way in which one can completely utilize the benefit of this corporate exposure.