A PROJECT REPORT ON STUDY ON AFTER SALES SERVICE AND

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION OF THE ICICI PRUDENTIAL LIFE

INSURANCE COMPANY IN BANCASSURACE, KOLKATA.

A Project Report Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of

Master of Business Administration (MBA)

In

NORTH EASTERN REGIONAL INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

Affiliated to Dibrugarh University and Appoved by AICTE

Under the Guidance of

Institutional Guide Organizational Guide

Mr.Rahul Purkayastha Mr. Faculty,NERIM,Guwahati

Submitted by

Soma Chakraborty

MBA 3RD SEMESTER, ROLL-68

What is Life Insurance?

Life insurance is a guarantee that your family will receive financial support, even in your
absence. Put simply, life insurance provides your family with a sum of money should
something happen to you. It thus permanently protects your family from financial crises.

In addition to serving as a protective cover, life insurance acts as a flexible money-saving

scheme, which empowers you to accumulate wealth-to buy a new car, get your children
married and even retire comfortably.

Key Benefits of Life Insurance

Need for Life Insurance

Today, there is no shortage of investment options for a person to

choose from. Modern day investments include gold, property, fixed

income instruments, mutual funds and of course, life insurance.

Given the plethora of choices, it becomes imperative to make the

right choice when investing your hard-earned money. Life insurance

Is a unique investment that helps you to meet your dual needs –?

saving for life's important goals, and protecting your assets.

Asset Protection

From an investor's point of view, an investment can play two roles –

asset appreciation or asset protection. While most financial

instruments have the underlying benefit of asset appreciation, life

insurance is unique in that it gives the customer the reassurance of

asset protection, along with a strong element of asset appreciation.

The core benefit of life insurance is that the financial interests of

One’s family remains protected from circumstances such as loss of

income due to critical illness or death of the policyholder.

Simultaneously, insurance products also have a strong inbuilt wealth

creation proposition. The customer therefore benefits on two counts

and life insurance occupies a unique space in the landscape of

investment options available to a customer.

Goal based savings

Each of us has some goals in life for which we need to save. For a

young, newly married couple, it could be buying a house. Once, they

decide to start a family, the goal changes to planning for the

education or marriage of their children. As one grows older, planning

for one's retirement will begin to take precedence.

Clearly, as your life stage and therefore your financial goals change,

the instrument in which you invest should offer corresponding

benefits pertinent to the new life stage.

Life insurance is the only investment option that offers specific

products tailor-made for different life stages. It thus ensures that the

benefits offered to the customer reflect the needs of the customer at

that particular life stage, and hence ensures that the financial goals of

those life stages are met.

The table below gives a general guide to the plans that are

Appropriate for different life stages.

Life Stage Primary Need Life Insurance Product

Young & Single Asset creation Wealth creation plans
Young & JustAsset creation & protection Wealth creation and mortgage
married protection plans
Married with kids Children's education, AssetEducation insurance, mortgage
creation and protection protection & wealth creation plans
Middle aged withPlanning for retirement &Retirement solutions & mortgage
grown up kids asset protection protection
Across all life-Health plans Health Insurance
stages
CONCEPTUAL BACKGROUND

• Satisfaction is defined as . . .

“A person’s feeling of pleasure or disappointment resulting from comparing a

product’s perceived performance (or outcome) in relation to his or her expectations.”

Customer Satisfaction can be defined as supplying or gratifying all wants or wishes,

fulfilling conditions or desires, or the state of the mind anything that makes a customer
feel pleased or contented.

Consumer Behavior:

Consumer behavior is defined as the behavior that consumers display in searching for,
purchasing, using, evaluating and disposing of products and services that they expect will
satisfy their needs.

The study of the processes involved when individuals or groups select, purchase, use, or
dispose of products, services ideas, or experiences to satisfy needs and desires

Customer value: The ratio between the customers’s perceived benefits (economic,
functional and psychological) and the resources (momentary, time, effort, psychological)
used to obtain those benefits.

Customer satisfaction: Customer satisfaction is the individual’s perception of the

performance of the product or service in relation to his or her expectations.

Motivation: The processes that account for an individual’s intensity, direction, and
persistence of effort toward attaining a goal.

Personality can be described ad the psychological characteristics that both determine and
reflect how person responds to his or her environment.

Perception is defined as the process by which an individual selects, organizes, and

interprets stimuli into a meaningful and coherent picture of the world.

Consumer learning is the process by which individuals acquire the purchase and
consumption knowledge and experience they apply to future related behavior.

THE CONSUMER ADOPTION PROCESS

The consumer adoption process is the process by which customers learn about new
products, try them, and adopt or reject them. Today many marketers are targeting heavy
users and early adopters of new products recognizing that specific media can reach both
groups and tend to be opinion leaders. The consumer adoption process is influenced by
many factors beyond the marketer’s control, including consumers and organizations
willingness to try new products, personal influences and the characteristics of the new
products or innovations

STAGES OF ADOPTION PROCESS

An innovation refers to any good, service, or idea. That is perceived by someone as new.
The idea may have long history, but it is an innovation to the person who sees it as new.
Innovation takes time to spread through the special system. The consumer adoption
process focuses on the mental process through which an individual passes from first
hearing about an innovation to final adoption. Adopters of new products have moved
through the following five stages.

1. AWARENESS: The consumer becomes aware of the innovation but lacks

information about it.
2. INTEREST: The consumer is stimulated to see the information about the
innovation.
3. EVALUATION: The Consumer considers whether to try the innovation or not.
4. TRIAL: The consumer tries the innovation to improve his estimate of its value.
5. ADOPTION: The consumer decides to make full and regular use of the
innovation.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM:

“STUDY ON AFTER SALES SERVICE AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

OF THE ICICI PRUDENTIAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY IN
KOLKATA.”

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT:

The objective behind the conducting project exercise was to get useful insight about the
insurance sector. I have prepared this report with some specific objectives. The objective
is as under:

1. Identify the diverse customer requirement.

2. Sell insurance professionally.

3. To find out how people think about private life insurance.

4. To find out what respondents expect from life insurance.

5. To understand the present after sales-service and how it can be improved.

6. To come out with conclusion and suggestions based on the analysis and
the

Interpretation of data.

PURPOSE, SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY:

The main purpose of the project is to study the after sales service of ICICI Pru in Kolkata
and to focus on improvement of customer relationship building.The scope of the project
has two parts first,analyzing the present after sales service and second finding out new
and innovative means to retain the existing customers by enhancing their satisfaction
level. The limitation of the study is the major perception of the people towards private
insurance players .

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY: The project is concerned with the Study on after
sales service and customer satisfaction of the ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company
in Kolkata. This study is very useful as the financial market become more sophisticated
and complex, investor needs a financial intermediary who provides the required
knowledge and professional expertise on successful investing and Life insurance is a
form of insurance that pays monetary proceeds upon the death of the insured covered in
the policy. As after sales service plays a very crucial role in generating more leads
because of obvious reason that it builds customer relationship more productive.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research in common parlance refers to a search for knowledge. One can also define
research as a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific topic.

The word research has been derived from French word Researcher means to search.

FRANCIES RUMMER defined “Research: It is a careful inquiry or examination to

discover new information or relationship and to expand or verify existing knowledge.

Research is the solution of the problem, whether created or already generated. When
research is done, some new out come, so that the problem (created or generated) to be
solved.

RESEARCH DESIGN:
Research Design is the conceptual structure within which research is conducted. It
constitutes the blueprint for collection, measurement and analysis of data. The design
used for carrying out this research is Descriptive.

DATA TYPE: In this research the type of data collection is

• Primary data
• Secondary data

SOURCES OF DATA

Primary Data: Filling up questionnaire by past and existing customers of ICICI Pru.

Secondary Data: Books,newspapers, Websites, and data from company officials.

SAMPLING PLAN:

It is very difficult to collect information from every member of a population .As time and
costs are the major limitation that the researcher faces.

A sample of 50 was taken the sample size of 50 individuals were selected on the basis of
convenient sampling technique. The individuals were selected from past and existing list
of the customers to form sample and data were collected from them for the research
study.

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION:

Data collection through questionnaire resulted in availability of the desired information

but these were useless until there were analyzed. Various steps required for this purpose
were editing, coding and tabulating. Tabulating refers to bringing together similar data
and compiling them in an accurate and meaningful manner. The data collected by
questionnaire was analyzed, interpreted with the help of table, bar chart and pie chart.

INDUSTRY PROFILE:

0VERVIEW OF THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY IN INDIA:

The economic reforms undertaken in the last 15 years have brought about a considerable
improvement in the health of banks and financial institutions in India. The banking sector
is a very important sector of the Indian economy. The sector has made a marked
improvement in the liberalization period. There has been extraordinary progress in the
financial health of the commercial banks with respect to capital adequacy, profitability,
asset quality and risk management. Deregulation has opened new doors for banks to
increase revenues by entering into investment banking, insurance, credit cards, depository
services, mortgage, securitization, etc.

The limit for foreign direct investment in private banks has been increased from 49% to
74%. In addition, the limit for foreign institutional investment in private banks is 49%.
Liberalization and globalization have created a more challenging environment in the
banking sector as well as in the other segments of the financial sector such as mutual
funds, Non Banking Finance Companies, post offices, capital markets, venture capitalists,
etc. Now the challenges faced by the sector would be gaining profitability, reinforcing
technology, maintaining global standards, corporate governance, sharpening skills, risk
management and, the most important of all, to establish 'Customer Intimacy'.

The insurance business is one of the most rapidly growing areas in the financial sector.
As an economy grows over the years, insurance sector intensifies and broadens its reach.
Every practical and futuristic individual would want himself, his family and his assets to
be insured. Insurance deals mainly with life and general insurance. India has a large
insurance market commensurate with its population. The IRDA Act 1999 (Insurance
Regulatory and Development Authority of India Act) has given new opportunities to
private players to enter into the market on the fulfillment of certain prerequisites. The
IRDA is the licensing authority in the sector; the current FDI cap/Equity in the sector
stands at 26 percent. There is no doubt the challenges ahead will become tougher with
more companies competing both in general and life Insurance. Also mortgage insurance
will soon be coming into the industry. New players have contributed to the launch of
innovative products, services and value-added benefits. Major foreign players have
entered the country and announced joint ventures in both life and non-life areas. These
include New York Life, Aviva, Tokio Marine, Allianz, Standard Life, Lombard General,
AIG, AMP and Sun Life among others.

Commercial banks are coming up with more and more vacancies, and the banking sector
now has more new jobs than any other sector. Right from the branch level to the highest
level, there is tremendous range of opportunities available in the sector.

PRESENT SCENARIO OF INSURANCE INDUSTRY

India with about 200 million middle class household shows a huge untapped
potential for players in the insurance industry. Saturation of markets in many
developed economies has made the Indian market even more attractive for global
insurance majors. The insurance sector in India has come to a position of very
 high potential and competitiveness in the market. Indians, have always seen life
insurance as a tax saving device, are now suddenly turning to the private sector
that are providing them new products and variety for their choice.

Consumers remain the most important centre of the insurance sector. After the
entry of the foreign players the industry is seeing a lot of competition and thus
improvement of the customer service in the industry. Computerisation of
operations and updating of technology has become imperative in the current
scenario. Foreign players are bringing in international best practices in service
through use of latest technologies

The insurance agents still remain the main source through which insurance
products are sold. The concept is very well established in the country like India
but still the increasing use of other sources is imperative. At present the
distribution channels that are available in the market are listed below.

Direct selling 

Corporate agents

Group selling

Brokers and cooperative societies

Bancassurance 

Customers have tremendous choice from a large variety of products from pure
term (risk) insurance to unit-linked investment products. Customers are offered
unbundled products with a variety of benefits as riders from which they can
choose. More customers are buying products and services based on their true
needs and not just traditional moneyback policies, which is not considered very
appropriate for long-term protection and savings. There is lots of saving and
investment plans in the market. However, there are still some key new products
yet to be introduced - e.g. health products.

The rural consumer is now exhibiting an increasing propensity for insurance

products. A research conducted exhibited that the rural consumers are willing to dole out
anything between Rs 3,500 and Rs 2,900 as premium each year. The perceived benefits
of buying a life policy range from security of income bulk return in future, daughter's
marriage, children's education and good return on savings, in that order, the study adds.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA):

Reforms in the Insurance sector were initiated with the passage of the IRDA Bill in
Parliament in December 1999. The IRDA since its incorporation as a statutory body in
April 2000 has fastidiously stuck to its schedule of framing regulations and registering
the private sector insurance companies.

The other decisions taken simultaneously to provide the supporting systems to the
insurance sector and in particular the life insurance companies were the launch of the
IRDA’s online service for issue and renewal of licenses to agents.

The approval of institutions for imparting training to agents has also ensured that the
insurance companies would have a trained workforce of insurance agents in place to sell
their products, which are expected to be introduced by early next year.

Since being set up as an independent statutory body the IRDA has put in a framework of
globally compatible regulations. In the private sector 12 life insurance and 6 general
insurance companies have been registered.

With the demographic changes and changing life styles, the demand for insurance cover
has also evolved taking into consideration the needs of prospective policyholder for
packaged products. There have been innovations in the types of products developed by
the insurers, which are relevant to the people of different age groups, and suit their
requirements. Continued innovations in product development has resulted in a wide range
of flexible products to meet the requirements for cover at different stages of life -today a
variety of products are available ranging from traditional to Unit linked providing
protection towards child, endowment, capital guarantee, pension and group solutions. A
number of new products have been introduced in the life segment with guaranteed
additions, which were subsequently withdrawn/toned down; single premium mode has
been popularized; unit linked products; and add-on/riders including accidental death;
dismemberment, critical illness, fixed term assurance risk cover, group hospital and
surgical treatment, hospital cash benefits, etc. Comprehensive packaged products have
been popularized with features of endowment, money back, whole life, single premium,
regular premium, rebate in premium for higher sum assured, premium mode rebate, etc.,
together with riders to the base products.

1.5 Historical Perspective

• Prior to 1956 -242 companies operating

• 1956 -Nationalization- LIC monopoly player -Government control
• 2001 -Opened up sector

1.6 Contribution to Indian Economy

• Life Insurance is the only sector which garners long term savings.
• Spread of financial services in rural areas and amongst socially less privileged.
• Long term funds for infrastructure.
 • Strong positive correlation between development of capital markets and
insurance/pension structure.
• Employment generation.

1.7 Insurance Industry prior to de-regulation

Prior to deregulation in 2000, market was a public monopoly.

• Public Monopoly

- 2000 Offices

- Over 800,000 agents

• Distribution through tied agents only

• Sales approach primarily on a tax savings platform
• Traditional style product offering : Endowment and money back plans
• Inadequate and inflexible products
• Pensions: Small part of product offer
• Limited focus on customer needs

1.8 Improving Service Standards

• Pre Deregulation – Limited Distribution

Channel Access Service Points Use of IT

• Advisors • Branch Network • Limited use of IT

• Post Deregulation – Service through Distribution

Multi Channel Access Multiple Service Use of IT
Points
• Advisors • Call Centers • Shorter time around
• Brokers & Corporate • Email time
agents • Website • Claims

• Bancassurance • Branch • Policy Issuance

Network
•

COMPANY PROFILE:

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Limited (‘the Company’) a joint venture

between ICICI Bank Limited and Prudential plc of UK was incorporated on July

20, 2000 as a company under the Companies Act, 1956 (‘the Act’). The Company

is licensed by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (‘IRDA’) for

carrying life insurance business in India.

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company is a joint venture between ICICI Bank, a
premier financial powerhouse and prudential plc, a leading international financial
services group headquartered in the United Kingdom (UK). The company brings together
the local market expertise and financial strength of ICICI Bank and Prudential’s
International life insurance experience. The company was granted a certificate of
Registration by the IRDA on November 24, 2000 and eighteen days later, issued its first
policy on December 12. ICICI Prudential was amongst the first private sector insurance
companies to begin operations in December 2000 after receiving approval from Insurance
Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA).
From its early days, ICICI Prudential seemed to have the wherewithal for a large-scale
business. By March 31, 2002, a little over a year since its launch, the company had issued
100,000 policies translating into premium income of approximately Rs. 1,200 million on
a sum assured of over Rs.23 billion. When the company began its operations, the need
was to build a brand that was relatable to, symbolized trust and was easily recognized and
understood. It launched a corporate campaign ICICI Prudential also made using the
theme of ‘Sindoor’ to epitomize protection, trust, togetherness and all that is Indian;
endearing itself to the masses. The success of the campaign, ‘the calling card of the
company’ saw the brand awareness scores almost at par with its 40 year old competitor.
The theme of protection was also extended to subsequent product and category specific
campaigns –from child plans to retirement solutions –which highlight how the company
will be with its customers at every step of life.

From day one, the company has unflinchingly focused on being mass-market player,
developing products, creating a distribution network and deploying resources that would
further its goal. Apart from ramping up thoroughly training its advisors, the company has
twelve ‘Bancasurance’ partners –the largest in the country. It swiftly revised and added to
its initial range of products, pioneering market-linked products and pension plans, to offer
customers the most flexible life insurance policies in the country. In February 2004,
ICICI Prudential increased its capital base by Rs. 500 million, its ninth capital hike,
bringing the total paid –up equity capital to Rs. 6,750 million. With the authorized capital
of the company standing at Rs. 12 billion, ICICI Prudential continues to have the highest
capital base amongst all life insurers in the country. The challenge ICICI Prudential now
faces is to retain its top-notch position and continue to deliver the finest life insurance
and pension solutions to its ever-growing customer base.

ICICI Prudential’s equity base stands at Rs. 1185 crore with ICICI Bank and Prudential
plc holding 74% and 26% stake respectively. For the year ended March 31, 2006, the
company garnered Rs.2, 412 crore of weighted new business premium and wrote 837,963
policies. The sum assured in force stands at Rs.45, 888 crore. The company has a
network of over 72,000 advisors; as well as 9 bancasurance partners and over 200
corporate agent and broker tie-ups.

ICICI Prudential is also the only private life insurer in India to receive a National Insurer
Financial Strength rating of AAA (Ind) from Fitch ratings. The AAA rating is the highest
credit rating, and is a clear assurance of ICICI Prudential’s ability to meet its obligations
to customers at the time of maturity or claims.

For the past five years, ICICI Prudential has retained its position as the No.1 private
insurer in the country, with a wide range of flexible products that meet the needs of the
Indian customer at every step in life.

Beginning operations in December 2000, ICICI Prudential’s success has been meteoric,
becoming the number one private life insurer within months of launch. Today, it has one
of the largest distribution networks amongst private life insurers in India, with branches
in 54 cities. The total number of policies issued stands at more than 780,000 with a total
sum assured in excess of Rs.160 billion.

ICICI Prudential closed the financial year ended march 31, 2010 with a total received
premium income of Rs. 9.9 billion; up 135% last years total premium income of Rs.4.20
billion. New business premium income shows a 106% growth at Rs. 7.5 billion, driven
mainly by the company’s range of unique unit-linked policies and pension plans. The
company’s retail market share amongst private companies stood at 36%, making it clear
leader in the segment. To add to its achievements, in the year 2009/10 it was adjudged
Most Trusted Private Life Insurer (Economic Times ‘Most Trusted Brand Survey’ by AC
Nielsen ORG-MARG). It was also conferred the ‘Outlook Money-Best Life Insurer’
award for the second year running. The company is also proud to have won Silver at
EFFIES 2009 for its ‘Retire from work, not life’ campaign. Notably, ICICI Prudential
was also short-listed to the final round for its ‘Sindoor campaign in EFFIES 2008.

ICICI Prudential’s success is rooted in its philosophy to always offer the customer a
choice. This has been the driving force behind its multi-channel distribution strategy,
which includes advisors, banks, direct marketing and corporate agents. In fact, ICICI
Prudential was the first life insurer to invest in multiple channels and offer the customer
choice and access; thus reducing dependency on any one channel, great strides in the
retirement solutions and pensions market.

The Company’s penetration of the retirement market was driven by the focused approach
towards creating awareness through sustained campaign; ‘Retire from work, not life’.
Within six months, the campaign rewarded ICICI Prudential with an increased share of
23% of the total pensions market and 78% amongst private players. ICICI Prudential has
one of the largest distribution networks amongst private life insurers in India, having
commenced operations in 132 cities and towns in India, stretching from Bhuj in the west
to Guwahati in the east, and Jammu in the north to Trivandrum in the south.

The company has 9 bank partnerships for distribution, having agreements with ICICI
Bank, Bank of India, Federal Bank, South Indian Bank, Lord Krishna Bank, and some
co-operative banks, as well as over 200 corporate agents and brokers, it has also tied up
with NGOs, MFIs and corporates for the distribution of rural policies.

ICICI Prudential has recruited and trained more than 72,000 insurance advisors to
interface with and advise customers. Further, it leverages its state-of-the-art IT
infrastructure to provide superior quality of service to customers.

About the Promoters

ICICI Bank (NYSE:IBN) is India’s second largest bank with an asset base of
Rs.2513.89 billion as on March 31, 2006. ICICI Bank provides a broad spectrum of
financial services to individuals and companies. This includes mortgages, car and
personal loans, credit and debit cards, corporate and agricultural finance. The Bank
services a growing a customer base of more than 17 million customers through a multi
channel access network which includes over 620 branches and extension counters, 2200
ATMs, call centers and internet banking (www.icicibank.com)

PRUDENTIAL plc, Established in London in 1848, through its business in the UK and
Europe, the US and Asia, provides retail financial services products and services to more
than 16 million customers, policy holder and unit holders world wide. As of December
31, 2005, the company had over US$ 400 billion in funds under management. Prudential
has brought to market an integrated range of financial services products that now includes
life assurance, pensions, mutual funds, banking, investment management and general
insurance. In Asia, Prudential is the leading European life insurance company with a vast
network of 23 life and mutual fund operations in twelve countries –China, Hong Kong,
India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand
and Vietnam.

Vision and Mission

Their vision is to make ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company the

dominant new insurer in the life insurance industry. This they hope to

achieve through their commitment to excellence, focus on service,

speed and innovation, and leveraging our technological expertise.

The success of the organisation will be founded on its strong focus on

values and clarity of purpose. These include:

• Understanding the needs of customers and offering them

superior products and service

• Building long lasting relationships with their partners

• Providing an enabling environment to foster growth and

learning for their employees

Management

Board of Directors

The ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Limited Board comprises reputed people
from the finance industry both from India and abroad.

Shri K.V. Kamath, Chairman

Mr. Mark Tucker

Smt. Lalita D. Gupte

Mr. Danny Bardin

Mrs. Kalpana Morparia

Shri M.P. Modi

Mr. John Caouette

Shri S.P.Subhedar, (Alternate Director to Mr. Danny Bardin)

Mr. Derek Stott, (Alternate Director to Mr. Mark Tucker)

Smt. Shikha Sharma, Managing Director

Management Team

Ms. Shikha Sharma, Managing Director

Mr. Kevin Wright, Executive Vice President - Sales & Distribution

Ms. Madhavi Soman, Chief - Strategic Initiatives

Mr. V. Rajagopalan, Appointed Actuary

Mr. Sandeep Batra, Chief Financial Officer & Company Secretary

Mr. Saugata Gupta, Chief - Marketing & Service

Mr. Shubhro J. Mitra, Chief - Human Resources

Corporate Office:

ICCI Prulife Towers,

1089, Appasahab Marathe Marg,
Prabhadevi,
Mumbai 400 025.
Telephone Number: 022-462 1600
Website : http://www.iciciprulife.com

DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM

Tied Agency

Tied Agency is the largest distribution channel of ICICI Prudential, comprising a large
advisor force that targets various customer segments. The strength of tied agency lies in
an aggressive strategy of expanding and procuring quality business. With focus on sales
& people development, tied agency has emerged as a robust, predictable and sustainable
business model.

Bancassurance and Alliances

ICICI Prudential was a pioneer in offering life insurance solutions through banks and
alliances. Within a short span of two years, and with nearly a large number of partners,

B & A has emerged as a vital component of the company’s sales and distribution
strategy, contributing to approximately one third of company’s total business.

The business philosophy at B&A is to leverage distribution synergies with our partners

and add value to its customers as well as the partners. Flexibility, adaptation and
experimenting with new ideas are the hallmarks of this channel.

CUSTOMER SERVICE AND OPERATIONS

The Operations department oils the work processes between the customer and the
company to ensure consistent and quality service to the customer. To streamline the
operations, the Operations department interfaces between the clients and the agents, the
branches and the underwriters, and manages work processes.

The Vision at Customer Service is to deliver ‘World Class Service’ at every opportunity.
Units such as the 9 to 9 contact centre, Outbound Call Centre, Customer Care and Query
Resolution Unit are all committed to providing effective solutions to over lakhs of
customers across the country.

Information Technology
The Information Technology function at ICICI Prudential is committed to enable
business through the use of technology. It is segmented into 4 groups to enable highest
levels of delivery to the customers: Life Asia Solutions Group that provides flexibility in
designing better product offerings to end-users, the Solutions Group- Web that provides
real-time information to customers and is responsible for customer relationship
management, IT Architecture & Corporate Solutions Group is in charge of developing
and maintaining a blueprint for the IT architecture for the enterprise as a whole. This
team works as an in house R&D Solution Group, exploring new technological initiatives
and also caters to information needs of corporate functions in the organization. IT
Infrastructure group is responsible for providing hardware, software, network services to
the whole organization. This group runs the 'Digital Nervous System' of the Enterprise at
the highest levels of efficiency and provide robust, scalable and highly available platform
for deployment of business application.

Marketing

The Marketing function at ICICI Pru covers an array of activities - brand and media
management, channel support, direct marketing and corporate communications. The
Brand and Communications team is in charge of advertising, consumer research, media
planning & buying and Public Relations; that helps develop and nurture ICICI
Prudential's corporate identity while effectively communicating its varied product
offerings to the customer. Channel marketing provides support to the sales force by
streamlining the design and development of collaterals and sales tools across distribution
channels. The Direct marketing team was set up to generate high quality leads for
profitable business. The team achieves this through target database acquisition and
communicating customized product information through e-mailers, telemarketing and
innovative direct mailers.

Finance
Finance function in ICICI Prudential is committed to create an infrastructure that is
aligned to shareholder expectations. Finance basically comprises of four functions. .
Corporate Planning and MIS provide feedback on business strategies. This includes
driving the budgeting process, providing strategic inputs for decision-making and
management reporting and analysis. The Accounts function includes preparation and
maintenance of financial records, funds management, and expense processing and
treasury operations. Compliance ensures that every action is within the regulatory
framework. This includes reviewing compliance requirements and supporting the ethical
framework of ICICI Pru life. Internal audit provides assurance to the management over
the organizations' control framework and includes process risk management, information
security assessment and business continuity assessment.

Human Resource
The people strategy of ICICI Prudential is “To build a committed team with a culture of
innovation, learning and growth. The Human Resource Function at ICICI Prudential
drives the people strategy of the business. With its initial focus on operational excellence
to deliver benefits and services to staff members, HR is now committed to building
capability through state of the art processes. A robust performance management system,
compensation system and a segmented training architecture enable it to deliver value to
the organization.

Business Excellence

The Business Excellence function is committed to building a quality mindset across the
organization. ICICI Prudential is the first organization in the Insurance Industry that has
adopted the Six Sigma Methodology for process efficiency and measurement. The team
is also driving the Malcolm Baldrige framework across the organization, an intervention
that examines management of key inputs for Business Excellence.

Bancassurance
One of the most significant advances in the financial services sector over the past
couple of years has been the growth of Bancassurance – which, in simplest terms,
means the distribution of insurance products through a bank’s distribution
channels. In other words, Bancassurance is a service which can fulfill both
banking and insurance needs at the same time.

Bancassurance as a concept first began in India with the opening up of the

insurance industry to private sector participation in December 1999 which saw the
entry of 20 new players - with 12 in the life insurance sector and 8 in the non-life
sector. Bancassurance has also seen significant rise in other Asian markets. For
example, Bancassurance accounted for 24% of new life insurance sales by
‘weighted’ premium income in Singapore in 2002. This is a significant increase
on the equivalent 2001 statistic of 15% and is as a result of growth in significant
bank-centric Bancassurance operations.

Although the concept of Bancassurance looks simple enough, it is far from that in
real life practice. Legislative differences, consumer behavior, impact of history
and culture, product complexity, employee work culture and many such other
factors have contributed to significant differences in results across countries. For
example, in France and Spain 60% to 80% of life insurance products are sold
through bank branches compared to 10% in UK and USA.

Bancassurance Models

Globally we have 4 kinds of Bancassurance business models:

• Distribution alliance between the insurance company and the bank

• JV between the two
• Merger between bank and insurer
 • Bank builds or buys own insurance products

Most of the Bancassurance operations in India fall into the first model, which in a way is
quite a prudent decision. The Indian Bancassurance scene as of now looks as promising
as perilous, being a vast, unexplored and uncharted expanse. As banks are quite risk
averse, it is but natural for them to withhold from making any long term commitment,
which would be quite costly if the Bancassurance business runs into trouble. In terms of
the present regulatory framework, one bank can tie-up with only one life and one non-life
insurer, while insurers have the choice to tie-up with any number of banks. We also have
examples of joint ventures between the bank and insurer such as SBI Life and ICICI
Prudential.

Stages in Policy Issuance

1) Proposal

A Proposal Stage is the First stage before the policy is issued at COPS. At this stage, the
application form is received by COPS, but it is pending for issuance due to further
clarifications required from the customer.

2) Login

A proposal which is complete i.e., duly filled with all necessary documents attached to it
& accepted by the Branch ops, is called a Login

3) Reject

An Application gets rejected at the Branch Ops level due to necessary details not filled in
the form or necessary documents not submitted is a Reject. It is then sent back to the
Advisor for completion.

4) Issuance

Issuance means a policy that is issued to the Customer by Central Ops.

5) Decline Status

When a customer refuses to take a policy post login but before Issuance is called a
Decline

6) Cancellation

When the cheque given by the customer bounces, it amounts to cancellation of the policy.

7) Lapse
A policy for which the Customer fails to pay subsequent premiums is a Lapsed Policy.

8) Freelook

Post issuance of the policy, the policyholder has the option to turn down the policy within
15 days from the date of issuance. This period of 15 days is called Freelook Period.

9) Surrender: When a customer wants to discontinue with the policy.

PRODUCT AND SERVICE PROFILE:

ICICI Prudential’s ultimate promise is financial security. A strong brand certainly boosts
sale, but without customer-friendly, innovative products, even the best brand would not
last long.

ICICI Prudential’s product range has been developed on the understanding that different
people have their own sets of needs at various stages of their lives. It has thus built a
flexible portfolio of products that can be customized to cater to varying needs of people
at each stage, and thus ensure protection in every step of life. The company’s philosophy
has been to help customers understand their financial needs and work closely with them
to customize a product that would meet. Advisors can offer a complete range of products
–Savings plans, Child plans, Market-linked plans, Protection plans, and Retirement plans
– and tailor a flexible solution to meet customers’ changing needs at every stage of life.
In fact, ICICI Prudential was the first to un-bundle product benefits, pioneering the
concept of ‘riders’ and soon after introduce comprehensive market-linked and retirement
plans.

ICICI Prudential has launched a handful of products that are analyzed below:

ICICI Prudential's life insurance products may be loosely categorized under three forms:
pure life insurance products without an investment angle to them; a product that is a mix
of a cumulative investment scheme and an insurance product; and, finally, standard
products such as money-back and endowment policies.

Single Premium Bond: The Single Premium Bond is the name of a policy that combines
the features of an investment in a cumulative deposit scheme with that of an insurance
product.

Policy-holders are required to pay a one-time premium based on a target sum assured. At
maturity, the policy-holder gets the sum assured and guaranteed additions that work out
to a compound return of 4.5 per cent the sum assured.
The insurance part of the package comes in the form of death benefits that are paid in the
case of the demise of the policy-holder. The size of the death benefit is linked to the
number of years left for the policy to expire. On maturity date, the maturity value is also
paid in addition to the death benefits that would have been paid earlier.

Life Guard policies: The company offers two pure life insurance products that have an
umbrella name, Life Guard. One of them involves a one-time premium for which there
are no maturity benefits. The other requires regular premium payments that are returned
at the end of the policy. Life Guard offers absolutely no investment-related return and is
suitable for individuals looking for an unadulterated insurance package.

Insurance Solutions for Individuals

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance offers a range of innovative, customer-centric products

that meet the needs of customers at every life stage. Its products can be enhanced with up
to 5 riders, to create a customized solution for each policyholder.

Savings Solutions

• Secure Plus is a transparent and feature-packed savings plan that offers 3 levels
of protection.
• Cash Plus is a transparent, feature-packed savings plan that offers 3 levels of
protection as well as liquidity options.
• Save ‘n’ Protect is a traditional endowment savings plan that offers life protection
along with adequate returns
• CashBak is an anticipated endowment policy ideal for meeting milestone
expenses like a child’s marriage, expenses for a child’s higher education or
purchase of an asset.
• LifeTime and LifeTime II offer customers the flexibility and control to customize
the policy to meet the changing needs at different life stages. Each offer 4 fund
options –Preserver, Protector, Balancer and Maximiser.
• LifeLink Super is a single premium Unit Linked Insurance Plan which combines
life insurance cover with the opportunity to stay invested in the stock market.
• Premier Life is a limited premium paying plan that offers customers life
insurance cover till age of 75.
• InvestShield Life is a Unit Linked plan that provides capital guarantee on the
invested premiums and declared bonus interest.
• InvestShield Cash is a Unit Linked plan that provides capital guarantee on the
invested premiums and declares bonus interest along with flexible liquidity
options.
• InvestShield Gold is a Unit Linked plan that provides capital guarantee on the
invested premiums and declares bonus interest along with limited premium
payment terms.
Protection Solutions

• LifeGuard is a protection plan, which offers life cover at very low cost. It is
available in 3 options –level term assurance with return of premium and single
premium.
• HomeAssure is a mortgage reducing term assurance plan designed specifically to
help customers cover their home loans in a simple and cost-effective manner.

Child Plans

• SmartKid education plans provide guaranteed educational benefits to a child

along with life insurance cover for the parent who purchases the policy. The
policy is designed to provide money at important milestones in the child’s life.
SmartKid plans are also available in unit-linked form – both single premium and
regular premium.

Retirement Solutions

• ForeverLife is a retirement product targeted at individuals in their thirties.

• SecurePlus Pension is a flexible pension plan that allows one to select between 3
levels of cover.
• Market-linked retirement products
• LifeTime Pension II is a regular premium market-linked pension plan.
• LifeLink Pension II is single premium market linked pension plan.
• InvestShield Pension is a regular premium pension plan with a capital guarantee
on the investible premium and declared bonuses
• Golden Years: is a limited premium paying retirement solution that offers tax
benefits up to Rs 100,000 u/s 80C, with flexibility in both the accumulation and
payout stages.

Health Solutions

o Health Assure and Health Assure Plus: Health Assure is a regular

premium plan which provides long term cover against 6 critical illnesses
by providing policy holder with financial assistance, irrespective of the
actual medical expenses. Health Assure Plus offers the added advantage of
an equivalent life insurance cover
 o Cancer Care: is a regular premium plan that pays cash benefit on the
diagnosis as well as at different stages in the treatment of various cancer
conditions.

Group Insurance Solutions

ICICI Prudential also offers Group Insurance Solutions for companies seeking to
enhance benefits to their employees.

ICICI Pru Group Gratuity Plan: ICICI Pru’s group gratuity plan helps
employers fund their statutory gratuity obligation in a scientific manner. The plan
can also be customized to structure schemes that can provide benefits beyond the
statutory obligations.

ICICI Pru Group Superannuation Plan: ICICI Pru offers a flexible defined
contribution superannuation scheme to provide a retirement kitty for each member
of the group. Employees have the option of choosing from various annuity
options or opting for a partial commutation of the annuity at the time of
retirement.

ICICI Pru Group Term Plan: ICICI Pru’s flexible group term solution helps
provide affordable cover to members of a group. The cover could be uniform or
based on designation/rank or a multiple of salary. The benefit under the policy is
paid to the beneficiary nominated by the member on his/her death.

Flexible Rider Options

ICICI Pru Life offers flexible riders, which can be added to the basic policy at a
marginal cost, depending on the specific needs of the customer.

1. Accident and disability benefit: If death occurs as the result of an accident

during the term of the policy, the beneficiary receives an additional
amount equal to the rider sum assured under the policy. If the death occurs
while traveling in an authorized mass transport vehicle, the beneficiary
will be entitled to twice the sum assured as additional benefit.
2. Accident Benefit: This rider option pays the sum assured under the rider
on death due to accident.
3. Critical Illness Benefit: Protects the insured against financial loss in the
event of 9 specified critical illnesses. Benefits are payable to the insured
for medical expenses prior to death
4. Income Benefit: This rider pays the 10% of the sum assured to the
nominee every year, till maturity, in the event of the death of the life
assured. It is available in SmartKid, SecurePlus, and CashPlus.
 5. Waiver of Premium: In case of total and permanent disability due to an
accident, the premiums are waived till maturity. This rider is available
with SecurePlus and CashPlus.

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE:

1st Question was asked to know for how long one has been the customer of ICICI
Pru?

The responses of the 50 customers are shown in the table and graph drawn below:

Option No.of people agreed Percentage%

0-3yrs 27 54
4-6yrs 12 24
6-9yrs 6 12
10-more yrs 5 10
Total 50 100

From the graph it can be clear it can be seen that more than 50% respondents have been
a customer for 0-3yrs. 24% have been a customer for4-6years and 12% for 6-9yrs and
only 10% have been a customer for 10years or more.The above question was asked to
know whether the customer satisfaction level high more for newly acquired customers or
whter the satisfaction level remains same over long duration.
2nd question was asked how satisfied a respondent is with the behavior of the
Customer Service Executive(CSE)?

The question was asked to have an insight into upto what extent

The responses of the customers are in the following table and graph:

Option No. of responses Percentage%

Highly Satisfied 10 20
Satisfied 24 48
Moderate 13 26
Unsatisfied 02 04
Highly Unsatisfied 01 02
Total 50 100

The graphical representation shows clearly that only 20% are highly satisfied. 48% were
satisfied which is really challenging for the organistion and 26% are moderately satisfied
and rest 4% and 2% are unsatisfied and highly unsatisfied with the behavior of the
CSE.

Q NO 3: was asked to know how satisfied the customers are with the
communication skill of their respective CSE’s as effective and adequate
communication plays a very important role in achieving desired customer satisfaction in
service sector like insurance.

The responses of the customers are as follows:

Option No. of responses Percentage%

Highly satisfied 12 24
Satisfied 28 56
Moderate 06 12
Unsatisfied 04 8
Highly Unsatisfied 00 0
Total 50 100
Here only 24% respondents said they were highly satisfied with the communication
skills of the CSE. However 56% were satisfied,12% were moderately satisfied and 8%
were unsatisfied with the communication skills of the respondents.It must be noted that
none of the customers were highly unsatisfied with the communication skills of their
CSE’s.

Q NO: 4 was asked to know the responsiveness of the CSE’s in processing the
requests of the customers.

The responses are as follows:

Option No. of responses Percentage

Highly Satisfied 15 30
Satisfied 20 40
Moderate 12 24
Unsatisfied 03 06
Highly Unsatisfied 0 00
Total 50 100

From the above graph it is clear that 30% respondents are highly satisfied with the CSE
as reagards processing of their requests,40% are satisfied 24% are moderately satisfied
and 6% are unsatisfied ,here also the number of highly unsatisfied customers are nil.

QN0:5 was asked to know how satisfied a customer is with the efficiency of the
CSE’s?

The question was asked to understand how the customers perceive the efficiency level of
the CSE’s.

The responses of the customers are as follows:

Option No.of responses Percentage.

Highly Unsatisfied 10 20
Satisfied 27 54
Moderate 10 20
Unsatisfied 2 4
Highly Unsatisfied 1 2
Total 50 100

From the graph it can be seen that only 20% are highly satisfied ,54% are satisfied,20%
customers are moderately satisfied with the efficiency level of their CSE’s however 4%
and 2% customers were unsatisfied and highly unsatisfied respectively with their CSE’s
efficiency.

The next phase of questions were asked regarding the behavioural aspect of sales
team.

QNo: 6 was asked to know how satisfied a customer is with the behavior of their
respective advisor/manager.

The responses were as follows:

Option No. of responses Percentage

Highly Satisfied 19 38
Satisfied 22 44
Moderate 6 12
Unsatisfied 3 6
Highly Unsatisfied 0 0
Total 50 100

It can be seen that 44% were satisfied ,38% were highly satisfied,12% were moderately
satisfied and 6% were unsatisfied with the behavior of their respective
advisor/manager.However none of the customers expressed highly unsatisfied in this
respect.

QNo 7 was asked to know how satisfied the customers are with the communication
skill of their respective advisor or manager?

The responses of the customers are as follows:

Option No. of responses Percentage%
Highly satisfied 16 32
Satisfied 25 50
Moderate 07 14
Unsatisfied 02 4
Highly Unsatisfied 00 0
Total 50 100

We can see that 32% were highly satisfied,50% were satisfied,14% were moderately
satisfied and 4% were unsatisfied with the communication skills of their
advisor/manager.

QNo8: was asked to know the responsiveness of the advisor/manager in processing

the requests of the customers.

The responses are as follows:

Option No. of responses Percentage

Highly Satisfied 10 20
Satisfied 28 56
Moderate 10 20
Unsatisfied 2 04
Highly Unsatisfied 0 0
Total 50 100

Thus we can see that 20% customers are highly satisfied,56% are satisfied,20% are
moderately satisfied and 4% are unsatisfied with the responsiveness of the
advisor/manager in processing the requests. However none of the customers opined that
they are highly unsatisfied in this regard.

Q No 9: was asked to know the efficiency level of the advisor/manager.

The various responses of the customers are:

Option No.of responses Percentage.
Highly Unsatisfied 08 16
Satisfied 30 60
Moderate 07 14
Unsatisfied 04 08
Highly Unsatisfied 01 02
Total 50 100

From the graph it can be seen that 16% customers are highly satisfied, 60% are satisfied,
14% moderately satisfied, 8% unsatisfied and rest 2% are highly unsatisfied with the
efficiency of the advisor/manager.

QNo: 10 was asked to know whether the advisors are in regular contact with their
customers so that paying of premiums, pitching of new products become easy.

The response to the above question is as follows:

Option No of responses Percentage

Yes 27 54
No 23 46
Total 50 100

QNo: 11 was asked how satisfied a customer is with respect to knowledge of the
their advisor/manager with regards to knowledge of the policies and products.

The various responses of the customers are as follows:

Option No.of responses Percentage.

Highly Unsatisfied 12 24
Satisfied 18 36
Moderate 16 32
Unsatisfied 3 9
Highly Unsatisfied 1 2
Total 50 100

From the graph below it can be seen that out of the total respondent 24% were highly
satisfied,36% were satisfied,32% moderately satisfied and rest 9% & 2% were unsatisfied
and highly unsatisfied respectively with respect to the above stated question.

QNo 12 was how satisfied a customer is regarding the suitability of the product
offered and their own requirements.

The reponses are as follows:

Option No.of responses Percentage.

Highly Unsatisfied 8 16
Satisfied 22 44
Moderate 11 22
Unsatisfied 5 10
Highly Unsatisfied 4 8
Total 50 100

16% were highly satisfied,44% were satisfied,22% were moderately satisfied & 10% &
8% were unsatisfied and highly unsatisfied respectivelyin this regard.

QNo 13 was asked how satisfied a customer is regarding the transparency of the
information & product features?

The responses are as follows:

Option No.of responses Percentage.

Highly Unsatisfied 6 12
Satisfied 18 36
Moderate 14 28
Unsatisfied 7 14
Highly Unsatisfied 5 10
Total 50 100
12% were highly satisfied, 36% were satisfied, 28% moderately satisfied and 14% were
unsatisfied and 10% were unsatisfied in this regard.

Q14was asked how satisfied a customer is in terms of refreshing new product

attributes and features by their respective advisor.

The responses are as follows:

Option No.of responses Percentage.

Highly Unsatisfied 6 12
Satisfied 17 34
Moderate 13 26
Unsatisfied 10 20
Highly Unsatisfied 4 8
Total 50 100

Only 12% respondents were highly satisfied in this regard,34% were satisfied,26%
moderately satisfied and 8% were unsatisfied in this regard.

QNo 15 was which factor the customer would give highest priority for being a
customer of ICICI Pru.

The responses are as follows:

Option No.of responses Percentage.

Behavior 11 22
Relationship 16 32
Product 8 16
Brand 2 4
Transparency 13 26
Total 50 100
 22% respondents gave behavior as the highest priority,32% said relationship is the
highest priority for them,16% said it was the product for them,4% opined it’s the
brandname & 26% said it is the transparency factor which they gave highest priority.

Q No 16 was “Do you think the promises made by ICICI pru are honoured?”

Option No of responses Percentage

Yes 31 62
No 19 38
Total 50 100

FINDINGS:

1)50% respondents have been a customer for 0-3yrs.

2)48% were satisfied with the behavior of the CSE.

3) 56% were satisfied with the communication skills of their CSE’s.

4)40% are satisfied with the CSE as regards processing of their requests.

5) 54% are satisfied with their CSE’s efficiency.

6) It can be seen that 44% were satisfied with the behavior of their
respective advisor/manager.

7) 50% were satisfied with the communication skills of their advisor/manager.

8) 56% are satisfied with the responsiveness of the advisor/manager in processing

the requests.

9) 60% are satisfied with the efficiency of the advisor/manager.

10) 54% respondents are in regular contact with their advisors.

11) 36% were satisfied with respect to knowledge of the advisor/manager with
regards to knowledge of the policies and products.

12) 44% were satisfied regarding the suitability of the product offered and their own
requirements.
 13) 36% were satisfied regarding the transparency of the information & product
features.

14) 34% were satisfied in terms of refreshing new product attributes and features by
their respective advisor.

15) 32% said relationship is the highest priority for them.

16) 62% respondents think that the promises made by ICICI Prudential are honoured.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

 The sales officials of the company should provide detailed and transparent
information to the customers which would help the customers to do their financial
planning. This would also help in building up of trust among the customers thus
helping in a formation of long term relationship between the customers and the
company.
 Before login of the policy the company should ensure to take a feedback from the
customers about the disclosure of all the details of the product. This could be done
by the customer care.
 The company should also focus on its traditional products rather than just heavily
focusing on ULIP products. This would improve the image of the company as one
with all kind of products under its kitty to suit each and every requirement of the
customers looking for any kind of insurance.
 The company should devise incentive plans for its employees to remind the
customers for premium renewal and collection of the same.
 For bancassurance channel ICICI Bank and ICICI Prudential both together should
devise some incentive and rewards plan for the bank staffs as they are the main
contributors for business through this channel. The management should action for
motivating the bank staff rather than just setting hard targets.