Literature review POSITIONING OF INSURANCE Needs-based Positioning This is the most co mmo nly under stood positioning and

based on the differing needsof different group of co nsumers. This can be done successfully is a co mpany has uniq ue strengths to service a group of customer need better than others. Access-based Positioning Positioning of custo mer s can also be done b y the way they are accessible. That isdifferent groups o f custo mers may be accessible in different ways even tho ugh they may have similar needs. Access is typically a function of customer geography or customer scale. Assure security and growth based positioning Safety and security based positioning For childrens education and marriage positioning The business of insurance is re lated to the protection of the economic value o f assets. Ever y asset has a value. The o wner of the assets may suffer a huge loss in case the natio nal health programs . The family planning and healthcare initiatives o f the governmenthave so far effective in reducing birthrates and impro ving mortality rates. According to the W H O r e p o r t p u b l i s h e d i n 2 0 0 2 I n d i a r a n k e d 1 3 th f r o m t h e b o t t o m i n t e r m s o f p u b l i c spending on health. Although Indias p ublic spending is lo w, o verall health spending impro ved due to higher private spending. Currently less than 15% o f the Indian population has so me kind of health insurance cover. Health insurance remains vastly underdeveloped in India. The state own ed companies had little focus upon the developing line of business on a sy s t e m a t i c a n d profitable basis. The health portfolio that had a loss ratio of about 78% in 2003 deteriorated to 98% in the following year .Anyway the Third Party Agreement (TPA) has however given rights to some tension between the healthcare providers and the health insurance companies.

Jack Burke ( I n s u r a n c e m a r k e t i n g , J u l y 2 0 0 4 ) i n h i s a r t i c l e CROSS SELLING emp hasis that people depend on insurance agents or brokers for the selection of a n d b u y i n g of policies related to life, health, automobiles etc. but it has been found that most agents or brokers specialize in selling policies related only to particular f i e l d . T h e statistics showed that the average American had 7.2 insurance policies i.e., selling more than o ne policy to their client. This can be specified as cross selling or multiline marketing. M o r e p o l i c i e s p e r c l i e n t m e a n l o w e r a c q u i s i t i o n c o s t , h i g h e r c l i e n t r e t e n t i o n a n d g r e a t e r profit.

A.Srujan (Insurance mar keting July 2004) in his article Rural insurance market in India

States that the gro wth in the insurance sector is higher than the GDP gro wth rate of the co untry. A careful analysis o f postal liberalization period suggest that new insurance players made a good start while the existing one maintained consistent gro wth level. The two segments of Indian insurance market i.e., Urban and Rural have their own characteristic f e a t u r e s . T h e economic growth of the two has not been the same. But there is a fact that most o f the new insurance co mpanies started operating fro m metro s and urban. So they got more opportunity to cover by several types of insurance. Moreover due t o t h e b e t t e r ed ucational status they got awareness about several financial and insurance products. Still there are many opportunities in rural insurance market .Gigantic population, gro wth in inco me level o f rural population, high saving habits e t c . a r e s o m e p l u s a r e a s a n d i f w e exploit these areas, there in a very good scope for the growth. Government of India makes steps to improve t he conditions of the rural area Janasree Bema Yojna, LALGI etc. are some examples. Government made a tie with LIC and made several scheme for rural people like Siksha Sahayog Yojna, Krishi Shrimik Samajik suraksha Yojna etc. Anyway it is the opportunities not co mp ulsions which wo uld drive the old and ne w players to rural India and the outcome will be stead y and secured econo mic growth.

Rachana Parihar (Insurance mar keting, july2004) in her article challenges & opportunities in India Bancassurance:

e m p h a s i s t h a t B a n c a s s u r a n c e s y m b o l i z e s t h e co nvergence o f banking & insurance. The term involves distributio n of insurance products through a banks branch work. While the banc assurance has beco me a successful story in Europe, it is relatively a new concept in Asia. The motive behind this also varies. For banks, i t i s a m e a n s o f p r o d u c t d i v e r s i f i c a t i o n & a s o u r c e o f a d d i t i o n a l f e e i n c o m e . I n s u r a n c e co mpanies see it as a tool for increasing their mark et penetratio n and premium tur nover. The customer sees it as a bonanza in terms of reduced price, high quality p r o d u c t s a n d delivery at the doorsteps. But, when we think a b o u t I n d i a t h e r e i s a h u g e p o o l o f s k i l l e d p r o f e s s i o n a l s w h e t h e r i t i s b a n k s o r i n s u r a n c e companies who may be easily relocated for any banc assurance venture.

Most large retail banks engender a greater deal of trust i n b r o a d s e g m e n t s o f consumers, which they can leverage in selling them p e r s o n a l l i n e i n s u r a n c e P r o d u c t s . Another advantage banks have over traditional insurance distributors is the lo wer cost

per s a l e s l e a d m a d e p o s s i b l e b y t h e i r s i z a b l e a n d l o y a l c u s t o m e r b a s e . B a n k s a l s o e n j o y significant brand awareness within their geo graphical regio ns. Banks proficiency in using Technology has resulted in improvement in transactio n processing and custo mer service. But there are also so me short co mings. The mo st obstacles to success are the poor human resource management, lack of sales culture within the bank, no involvements b y the branch manager, insufficient product promotions etc.A n y w a y t o m o v e b e y o n d p r o d u c t s o r i e n t e d c r o s s s e l l i n g t o c u s t o m e r f o c u s e d crossed buying req uires a holistic ap proach to

banc assurance. Success of a banc assurance requires change in approach, thinking and work culture on the part of everybody involved.

Brian D Baetz ( I n s u r a n c e m a r k e t i n g , J u l y 2 0 0 3 ) i n h i s a r t i c l e Term insurance sales techniques S t a t e s t h a t t o d a y p e o p l e n e e d t e r m i n s u r a n c e m o r e t h a n e v e r , s o o n e should learn to be efficient in its sale. Term insurance enables even those people who could o t h e r w i s e n o t b e a b l e t o a f f o r d a s u f f i c i e n t a m o u n t o f l i f e i n s u r a n c e , t o e n s u r e t h a t t h e i r family will not suffer financially should they die. He says that he point o ut to clients the importance of adequate co verage to protect their families. If their inco me per mits, he enco urages them to make a co verage permanent life insurance. Scott Meant, ChFC,CFP,CLU, a Met Life agent fro m Elmsford,NYbelieves term insurance will continue to be sold as a co mmodity unless the producer can demonstrate that he /she delivers additional value . He works to help buyers understand t h e p r o d u c t s convertibility period, and the kinds of permanent products to which their term insurance can b e c o n v e r t e d . H e b e l i e v e s p r o d u c e r s s h o u l d r e c o m m e n d t h e a p p r o p r i a t e a m o u n t o f coverage.