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Insurance companies harness women power for profits

The life insurance industry has woken up to women’s power of persuasion and better selling skills. Insurance companies are now hiring more women to sell their policies as they perceive them to be better sellers than men.

At present, there are over 29 lakh agents in the industry who sell life insurance policies. Of these, almost 30 per cent are estimated to be women. The latest entrants are more aggressive in recruiting more female agents in the rural and semi-urban areas to expand their reach and increase sales.

“Of the 5,000 agents that we have right now, around 28 per cent are women. In the last ten months of operation, we have found that women are better agents. Their productivity is double their male counterparts and there is also less attrition in their case. We plan to recruit more women from tier-II and tier-III cities,” says Yateesh Srivastava, chief marketing officer of Aegon Religare Life Insurance. The company plans to hire 7,000 more agents by the end of the current financial year.